 For Marine Corps aviators, hydraulics are critical for all the heavy lifting that happens during aircraft operations. Two hydraulic mechanics from Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 29 in Jacksonville, North Carolina came up with an idea to streamline hydraulic line maintenance, and their idea brought them to an Army research facility at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. We're aircraft mechanics. We specifically work on the hydraulic systems, and the majority of our jobs come from bending tubes. Metal tubes push hydraulic liquids under high pressure and make things happen on an aircraft. All the birds rely on heavy hydraulic systems for landing gear, for flaps. Teru and Herrera Gonzalez entered their idea for improving how they shape and form hydraulic lines to the 2016 Marine Corps Logistics Innovation Challenge. Out of more than 300 entries, their idea was one of 18 to move on to the next level. The Corps partnered with various DOD laboratories, such as the Army Research Laboratory and its sister organizations, the Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center and the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center to leverage 3D printing and additive manufacturing capabilities. One of our biggest benefits is actually getting to work with the boots on the ground. We don't often get to do that. We're stuck in our labs. We're doing our science projects. So when we're able to get input and say, hey, we need something, that's a little bit extra exuberance when we do our job. It's like, these guys need it. Let's go out there and let's make it happen for them. Army engineers worked closely with the Marines for a week and came up with a 3D printed flexible tube that can be shaped on site and then brought back to the shop where a metal tube can be bent in the same exact shape, replicating the tube being replaced. 3D printing is really the essential part of our project right now because all the tools we used to manufacture the prototype we have right now are printed out in 3D and it really helped us in a way that we weren't able to do in the first place. Sheru's week-long experience working alongside Army researchers gave him insight about the future of 3D printing. The DOD community soon will be heading into that additive manufacturing route because you can't just be sitting around and waiting for parts. You should make it available to a point where any soldier or any Marine can out there deploy wherever they are. They can just get the specs and manufacture the parts as needed. Sheru said it would take some time and training to get there. I'm pretty sure we're going to get there because from what I've seen the job that takes us a while with 3D printing it was done just like that. Additive manufacturing has always been known for fast iteration time so you get more iterations out in less time, less money. It's going to continue to do that. The big, pious guy future idea is to have additive manufacturing in the field. The purpose of the Marine Corps Logistics Innovation Challenge is to inspire solutions and then mature those ideas into a fielded capability. There's no bad idea out there because it's really up to the Marine to take the initiative and take it to the next step. With us we had the idea for a long time but whenever the Marine Corps came out with Innovation Challenge that was our opportunity to go out there and it actually paid off because what we had as a small idea in our back mind is actually something worth pursuing after. For ARL TV, I'm David McNally.