WVU ETEC team claims inaugural national title at Project MFG Additive Manufacturing Championship

Demonstrating coordination and resilience, a team of students from the West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources earned first place at the inaugural Project MFG Additive Manufacturing National Championship.

Engineering technology students Seth Massey, Cole Newland, Heath Rye and Kinsey Momeyer represented the winning WVU ETEC team, capturing the national title against top additive manufacturing teams from across the country May 6-7 at EOS North America in Pflugerville, Texas

The Project MFG Additive Manufacturing Series began with regional competitions held in Texas, St. Louis and West Virginia. Teams competed in real-world additive manufacturing challenges involving design, cost analysis, slicing, post-processing, assembly and change orders. The top three teams from each regional event advanced to the national championship, where nine finalist teams competed for national placements, cash prizes and equipment awards.

During the regional competition, teams were tasked with reading detailed engineering drawings, sourcing hardware and manufacturing a robotic arm through additive manufacturing processes. The project mirrored robotic arms commonly used in manufacturing environments to increase production efficiency and improve safety in hazardous work areas.

At the national competition, teams were challenged to create an additional robotic arm component known as an end effector, or end-of-arm tool. Attached to the wrist of the robotic arm, the device allows the robot to grip and move objects for specific manufacturing applications. The end effector included 3D-printed components and simulated hydraulic connection points designed to grip finished parts from assembly lines for palletizing.

Throughout the 2026 season, 32 teams competed nationwide, including two post-secondary teams from Texas A&M University and St. Charles Community College.

"The competition provided students with hands-on experience that closely mirrors the demands of modern manufacturing environments," Kelsey Crawford, teaching instructor in the WVU engineering technology program, said.

"The experiences and expertise needed to complete this competition directly translate into the manufacturing field, both additive and subtractive. This competition showed students the issues and problems they may encounter in manufacturing while also challenging them to solve problems under pressure using their additive manufacturing skills."

Crawford said the team's ability to quickly develop chemistry, organization and communication played a major role in the national championship performance.

"Since we brought the team together quickly before the regional competition, the team really grew over the last month and each person developed into an important role," Crawford said. "They worked the night before to develop a strategy going into the competition to stay organized and efficient."

He added that one of his proudest moments came from watching his students support other teams throughout the event.

"Our team shared tools, ideas and competition details with other West Virginia schools to help them complete the project in time," Crawford said. "That mentality to help others while competing at the highest level says a lot about our students and the culture we are building."

Kinsey Momeyer, a junior member of WVU ETEC team, said the National Championship presented a much more intense environment than the regional competition, requiring teams to remain focused and adaptable throughout the seven-hour event.

"Since there were only nine teams total at nationals, everyone there was highly skilled and prepared," Momeyer said. "The environment was a lot more competitive and fast-paced, which pushed us to stay focused the entire time."

One of the biggest challenges the team faced came when they were forced to remake multiple components during the competition while racing against the clock.

"That ended up putting us under a lot of pressure and caused us to work all the way down to the final seconds of the competition," Momeyer said. "Even with that challenge, our team stayed calm and worked through the problems together instead of getting frustrated."

Momeyer credited the team's preparation and communication as key factors in the victory.

"The night before the competition, we had a long meeting where we planned out exactly who was responsible for each task and how we wanted to approach the competition overall," Momeyer said. "Everyone trusted each other and worked together really well, which made a huge difference when unexpected problems came up."

Crawford also highlighted the role the Lane Innovation Hub had in preparing students for the national competition.

"The Lane Innovation Hub played a huge role in preparing the team to succeed in the competition," Crawford said. "The expertise and advice from the Hub staff were essential in teaching the students new skills that were necessary to win the national title."

He added that the Hub dedicated Bambu P1S printers to help the WVU ETEC team prepare for the championship.

"The competition was extremely tight, and without the support of the Statler College and Lane Innovation Hub, this would not have been possible," Crawford said.

"Winning nationals against the top teams from all three regional competitions is something we are really proud of," Momeyer said. "The experience gave us valuable hands-on manufacturing and engineering experience, but it also taught us a lot about teamwork, problem solving and performing under pressure. I think it really showed what WVU students are capable of on a national stage."

Project MFG was created to develop and showcase the next generation of manufacturing talent by providing students with hands-on experience in real-world manufacturing environments while helping strengthen the future workforce pipeline in the United States.

Find more information about engineering technology at WVU.

-WVU-

er/5/13/26