Adeola Olubamiji

2020 STEP Ahead Honoree

Senior Additive Manufacturing Engineer
Cummins Inc.

Additive manufacturing (AM) offers a new perspective to manufacturing through the use of digital tools. I am excited about the different value proposition associated to AM and how these can drive efficiency gains, mass customization and improved functionality. This design freedom, the associated benefits and how the new and the old are integrating to help drive manufacturing excellence makes it such a good time to be a manufacturing engineer.

Adeola has been instrumental in additive manufacturing (AM) development at Cummins. Though the company had been exploring AM for three years without Adeola at the helm, there were no firm plans in place. Adeola developed an AM technology development roadmap and has led the way in its implementation. Along the way, she accomplished feats such as improving Cummins’s laser-printed 316L stainless steel to a quality level that no other company can match through additive manufacturing.

Adeola has become known throughout Cummins as an AM subject-matter-expert and has helped many company teams with AM development. She informally leads and mentors in such areas as design engineering, material science, and simulation and analysis, demonstrating how AM affects those disciplines. She is a tireless worker who gives her time to all who want to learn the basics of AM or who need extra help understanding AM concepts.

Adeola is a passionate advocate for access to STEM education and opportunities, especially for people who traditionally face educational and employment obstacles. She is the founder of the not-for-profit STEMHub Foundation (Canada), which provides free STEM skills development programs with the goal of encouraging girls, members of minority groups and underserved young people to pursue STEM careers. STEMHub has helped thousands of young people, in Canada and also in Nigeria, to find and seize scholarship and employment opportunities, and Adeola plans to build on the program in the U.S. as well.

In addition to her extensive work with STEMHub, Adeola is a board member at the Health & Science Innovation Inc, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her engagement within this non-profit has brought  about hosting STEM outreach as part of the Martin Luther King Day celebration in Columbus Indiana. In addition, she has participated in the Columbus Enrichment Program and in the Pacers STEM Fest showcasing 3D printing. She also hosted the Indy 2019 Young Innovators Quest visit to Cummins for a 3D printing exploration and tour, introducing more young people to career opportunities both at Cummins and in the engineering field overall.