3D Printing Innovator Charles Hull to Deliver IMECE Opening Keynote
3D Printing Innovator Charles Hull to Deliver IMECE Opening Keynote
Aug. 11, 2017
Additive manufacturing pioneer Charles W. Hull, co-founder and chief technology officer of 3D Systems, has been selected as the speaker for the Opening Keynote at the ASME 2017 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE). IMECE 2017, the world’s largest interdisciplinary mechanical engineering conference, will take place from Nov. 3 to 9 at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Fla.
The Opening Keynote, titled “Then and Now: What It Takes to Innovate,” will offer attendees a historical overview of additive manufacturing as well as a look at trends that are shaping the future of the field, including the shift to make 3D production a reality, precision metals in industries such as aerospace and medical device manufacturing, and additive manufacturing’s potential impact on society through applications such as bio printing. The session will take place Monday, Nov. 6, from 8:00 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.
The creator of sterolithography, the first commercial 3D printing technology, Hull originated the 3D printing industry when he founded 3D Systems in 1986, and remains a leader in the areas of precision healthcare and medical 3D printing, on-demand parts manufacturing and digital design tools. Introduced in 1987, 3D System’s SLA-1, the first commercial 3D printer, was designated as an ASME Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark in 2016.
Before starting 3D Systems, Hull served as vice president of engineering at the systems manufacturing firm UVP Inc., engineering manager of the Photo Products Division at DuPont, and senior engineer at Bell & Howell.
The owner of 85 U.S. patents and numerous international patents in the fields of ion optics and 3D printing, Hull was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2014. He also received the Manufacturing Leadership Lifetime Achievement Award from Frost & Sullivan’s Manufacturing Leadership Council in 2016, the European Patent Office’s European Inventor Award in 2014, and The Economist’s Innovation Award in 2013.
Hull, who earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from the University of Colorado in 1961, received an honorary doctorate in engineering from Loughborough University in the United Kingdom in 2005 and an honorary doctorate in science from the University of Colorado in 2016.
The Opening Keynote is just part of a IMECE 2017 program that includes more than 450 technical sessions and 200 social and networking activities. For more information on the ASME 2017 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, or to register, visit www.asme.org/events/imece.
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