I have heard of your facility/service, At NASA Langley I am working in development of a similar fabrication technique that uses an electron beam and wire feed to create parts near net shape directly from CAD/CAM file with no molds or forging dies needed. It is a five axis machine housed in a large vacuum chamber and has two wire feed systems so it is possible to vary the alloy content in the part created. You could have a titanium center gradually changing to an aluminum alloy at the outer edges for example. The electron beam creates a melt pool in a base plate that the wire is fed into and the machine will move to produce the part layer by layer, it is fast and not much wire is wasted at all.
We have tested the aluminum parts made and they seem to have a T4 heat treat condition right out of the machine!
No chance of bringing this machine to a Nationals event! (Heavy)
but we are researching/developing a small version that will fly on the KC 135a Zero Gravity aircraft hopefully in '04!
I applaud your efforts to bring this rapid prototyping technology to the FIRST community of students, teachers, and mentors!
Dave Fahringer
Team 122 NASA Knights
d.t.fahringer@larc.nasa.gov