3D Systems appoints Dr David Leigh as CTO
3D Systems, Rock Hill, South Carolina, USA, has expanded its executive leadership team with the addition of Dr David Leigh as Chief Technology Officer for Additive Manufacturing. Effective immediately, Dr Leigh will be responsible for expanding and accelerating application development and product innovation including all hardware, software, and materials development for production-scale Additive Manufacturing solutions.
Dr Leigh has more than thirty years of experience in the AM industry and, prior to joining 3D Systems, he served as the Chief Technology Officer (global) and Chief Operations Officer (North America) for EOS. He also founded Harvest Technologies, a provider of end-use parts applications in aerospace and established one of the first AS9100 certified AM facilities. Harvest was acquired by Stratasys in 2014, at which time Dr Leigh assumed the role of senior vice president of Emerging Technologies. He holds a Doctorate in Materials Science and Engineering, a Master of Science in Engineering, and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering – all from the University of Texas at Austin.
With Dr Leigh’s appointment, the company explains that its co-founder, Chuck Hull, will increase his emphasis on biotechnology as Chief Technology Officer for Regenerative Medicine, leading the development of solutions that create new opportunities in regenerative medicine. Hull will also continue to support government programmes with the company’s next-generation large-scale metal AM platform.
“Over the last year we have made tremendous progress through our intense focus on Additive Manufacturing – reorganising our business, restructuring our operations, and divesting assets that are not core to AM,” stated Dr Jeffrey Graves, president & CEO, 3D Systems. “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 has tremendous potential to revolutionise the industrial and healthcare markets through the enablement of production-scale Additive Manufacturing, and delivering breakthrough innovation is essential to achieving our potential,” he continued. “We are very fortunate to have David and Chuck in these executive leadership roles to drive application and technology development. Over their distinguished careers, both have demonstrated their ability to rethink processes, advance technology, and create solutions that change the way organisations operate and deliver products and services to customers.”
“David will be an outstanding asset to our leadership team and 3D Systems. He is a recognised leader in additive technology with a track record of building high-performance teams that drive innovation and product development. Chuck, who pioneered 3D printing, is now taking us into the new frontier of regenerative medicine – a market that will change our company and the world in the years ahead. There has never been such an exciting time for our company and our industry.”
