The Formnext 2025 AMbassador Award has gone to an educational initiative from Germany. Irena Heuzeroth, Senior Trainer at the SKZ Plastics Center in Würzburg, was honored for the course “Certified Industrial Technician specializing in Additive Manufacturing”, which she developed together with the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Würzburg. The AMbassador Award within the Formnext Awards 2025 recognizes individuals or organizations that exert a distinctive influence on the additive manufacturing industry and its users through innovative training and education formats or committed advocacy.
Additive manufacturing has become an established processing technology, yet it remains a highly dynamic field with continuous technological and organizational developments. This was reflected at Formnext 2025 in Frankfurt am Main, where innovation was not only evident in new machines, materials and process solutions, but also in how companies and institutions are addressing qualification and professional development. In this context, the AMbassador Award highlights the growing strategic importance of structured education concepts for securing skilled labor and ensuring the effective industrial use of additive manufacturing.
Closing a qualification gap in additive manufacturing
The course “Certified Industrial Technician specializing in Additive Manufacturing” is positioned at the intermediate education level and is intended to close a key qualification gap between completed vocational training and academic study programs in 3D printing technology. The curriculum focuses on practical knowledge along the entire process chain, from material selection and design for additive manufacturing to occupational safety and production management.
The qualification is designed for professionals already working in industry and can be completed part-time over a period of two years. As part of the program, participants complete two weeks of practical training, which cover both plastic and metal 3D printing. By avoiding academic barriers to entry and concentrating on application-oriented content, the program aims to enable skilled workers to assume more demanding operational and coordination tasks in additive manufacturing environments.
Addressing the shortage of skilled workers
The central objective of the course is to provide industry with skilled workers trained in line with demand and to contribute to combating the shortage of qualified personnel. The qualification is classified at level 6 of the German Qualifications Framework (DQR), which also opens up perspectives for further study for graduates. An interdisciplinary team of experts from the field of additive manufacturing contributes to the development and delivery of the content, which is intended to ensure both topicality and quality.
According to SKZ, this creates a practice-oriented educational offering that is unique at national level and is designed to sustainably strengthen the innovative capacity of companies using additive manufacturing. The course is offered jointly by the SKZ Plastics Center and the Würzburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce, underlining the cooperation between industry-oriented research and the regional business community.
Selection process and justification for the award
The winner of the AMbassador Award is determined by a combination of an expert jury and online voting, with the latter counting as an additional vote. In 2025, Irena Heuzeroth from SKZ prevailed in this process. In her statement on receiving the award, she emphasized the importance of qualification and knowledge transfer for the successful industrial application of additive manufacturing.
Heuzeroth commented: "Winning the AMbassador Award makes me very proud and confirms how important knowledge transfer and qualification are in additive manufacturing. Technology alone is not enough, as the key to success lies in education and expertise. I am therefore all the more delighted that our course meets the needs of the industry and will hopefully pave the way to success for many participants and their companies. I would like to express my special thanks to my wonderful team at SKZ, without whose support this success would not have been possible."
Broader educational activities in additive manufacturing
Beyond the award-winning industrial technician course, SKZ offers a wide range of practice-oriented day courses and seminars in additive manufacturing. These formats are aimed at different target groups and are intended to provide companies with flexible options for further training of their employees in specific aspects of 3D printing technologies.
In addition to her role at SKZ, Irena Heuzeroth is also active in higher education. She supports the master's program “Product and System Development” at the Technical University of Würzburg-Schweinfurt as a lecturer, covering topics related to additive manufacturing. This connection between industrial further training and academic education contributes to networking the various qualification levels and to aligning teaching content with current industrial practice.
Proud winner: Irena Heuzeroth has been honored with the AMbassador Award at Formnext 2025. (Photo: Luca Hoffmann, SKZ)
