Industry veteran Dr. David Leigh has been named to the new position of chief technology officer at 3D Systems, the company announced in a June 28 press release. Leigh will lead efforts to expand application development and product innovation for production-scale additive manufacturing solutions.
Leigh has more than 30 years of experience in the additive manufacturing industry. He was CTO and chief operations officer (North America) for EOS, an additive manufacturing equipment vendor. He has a doctorate in Materials Science and Engineering, a Master of Science in Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.
“Over the last year we have made tremendous progress through our intense focus on additive manufacturing (AM)—reorganizing our business, restructuring our operations and divesting assets that are not core to AM,” said Dr. Jeffrey Graves, president & CEO of 3D Systems, in a press release. “As we look to the future, with a strong balance sheet and operating cash flow we are accelerating our investments in people, processes, infrastructure and technologies that position us for continued growth and profitability.”
3D Systems’ co-founder Chuck Hull said he would increase his emphasis on biotechnology as CTO for Regenerative Medicine. Through the company’s partnership with United Therapeutics, a broad range of human applications are emerging, ranging from tissue implants to human organs, in addition to laboratory applications that offer the potential to accelerate the development of new drug therapies.
This expansion of technology leadership capacity is a reflection of the accelerating rate of additive manufacturing adoption across healthcare and industrial markets. As more technologies and applications of additive manufacturing emerge, more organizations are leveraging 3D printing for medical use. Some are researching its potential applications in biotechnology and others are using it to print medical devices in the time of need.