ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING (AM) IS AFFORDING NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO MANUFACTURE NEAR-NET SHAPED, CUSTOM, ON-DEMAND PARTS IN SMALL LOTS TO REDUCE MACHINING COSTS AND IMPROVE EFFICIENCIES, PROCESS METAL ALLOYS DIFFICULT AND/OR EXPENSIVE TO MAKE BY CASTING AND/OR WROUGHT PROCESSING, AND TO REPAIR LEGACY PARTS – ALL IMPORTANT TO STOCKPILE STEWARDSHIP. WITH AM COMES SIGNIFICANT, YET UNREALIZED, OPPORTUNITY TO OPTIMIZE MICROSTRUCTURE AND PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF PARTS UNDER EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS LIKE SHOCK, IF THE LINKS BETWEEN PROCESSING AND MICROSTRUCTURE ARE WELL UNDERSTOOD. COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES (CSM) WILL OPTIMIZE MECHANICAL PERFORMANCE DURING DYNAMIC (SHOCK) LOADING BY THE PREDICTION AND CONTROL OF SOLIDIFICATION AND SOLID-STATE MICROSTRUCTURE AND DEFECT DEVELOPMENT IN METALS AND ALLOYS MADE BY AM PROCESSES OF SIGNIFICANT INTEREST TO THE U.S. DOE/NNSA WEAPON’S COMPLEX.