At its 32nd annual conference, the Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) bestowed its prestigious President’s Award to two individuals, Terry Hoppe and Vince Anewenter. Over its 33-year history, AMUG has named just ten individuals as recipients of this award.
Terry Hoppe, formerly Stratasys’ director of North American applications team, received the award posthumously. Sadly, Hoppe succumbed to pancreatic cancer in December 2020. Scott Crump, co-founder of Stratasys, accepted the award on Terry’s behalf.
In his remarks, Crump recounted stories that captured Hoppe’s contributions as the first Stratasys employee and in the early years of the company. Crump also shared memories of Hoppe that described his approachable, likable personality that drew people to him. Upon retiring from Stratasys in 2015, Hoppe had been a key contributor to the company for over 25 years.
In part, AMUG’s President’s Award recognized Hoppe’s years of service in the additive manufacturing industry. However, the award was presented primarily to recognize his role in transitioning AMUG from a supplier-specific users group to one that embraces additive manufacturing users of all technologies.
Gary Rabinovitz, AMUG chairperson, was vice president and president during the transition years. He stated, “The future of AMUG was far from certain at that time, and sponsor support was minimal. Yet, we needed support from additive manufacturing companies representing a range of technologies to make the reinvented AMUG Conference work. And that is when Terry Hoppe’s contributions were pivotal.”
“The AMUG Conference is unique in that it is a forum for information exchange, but potential sponsors were evaluating it for its lead generation potential,” Rabinovitz said. “We invited Terry as a guest of our event so that he could experience what we were trying to do. From that exposure, he became a believer and advocate. Terry took that conviction back to Stratasys and championed the AMUG way. He was effective; Stratasys became a foundational sponsor and has remained a strong supporter over the past nine years,” said Rabinovitz.
Carl Dekker, AMUG president, said, “The addition of Stratasys to the users group supported our ability to grow membership to include users of all industrial systems. Terry’s selfless efforts to facilitate our growth continue to expand the impact we all have with additive manufacturing technologies. His character and embrace of everyone in additive manufacturing is an excellent example of what our President’s Award embodies.”
Vince Anewenter of Milwaukee School of Engineering has served as AMUG treasurer for nine years. It is in that capacity that he was honored with the President’s Award. Through his financial stewardship, AMUG has realized ten-fold growth in conference attendance while maintaining the organization’s financial health. His skills and dedication were critical to the successful navigation of the pandemic-induced impact on conferences and events.
According to Rabinovitz, in his first year as treasurer, Anewenter was handed a box containing paperwork and a laptop that he had to decipher before building the financial systems and fiscal policies that guide the organization. Rabinovitz said, “Starting with very little, Vince has guided and managed AMUG operations through transitions, growth, and challenges. And he has done that collaboratively…as part of the team… where he listens to others and works hard to satisfy divergent goals.”
“When it comes to finances, there is no one I trust more than Vince to make the correct decision to benefit AMUG’s longevity. He works proactively, not reactively,” concluded Rabinovitz.
The years of service and achievements made Anewenter a candidate for the President’s Award, but the pandemic made it evident that Anewenter was more than deserving. Rabinovitz said, “Because of COVID-19, we postponed our 2020 event and then moved the 2021 conference to a new location. With each change came numerous financial transactions, negotiations, and problem resolutions. Vince got us through all of that and kept AMUG in a healthy financial position.”
“It was Vince’s work before and during the pandemic that made that possible,” Rabinovitz said. “Losing one conference and operating another at half capacity was a major challenge, financially. But with Vince’s diligence, we weathered the storm and emerged financially secure.”
Past recipients of the President’s Award are Thomas A. Sorovetz (2000), Patti Brown (2006), Guy E. Bourdeau (2007), Robert Zubrickie (2010), Timothy Gornet (2013), Gary Rabinovitz (2014), Mark Abshire (2016) and Elizabeth Goode (2019).
Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG)
www.amug.com
Filed Under: Make Parts Fast
