3D printing inventor Chuck Hull accepts nomination as winner of 2017 Washington Award

×

Expand

Chuck Hull

Chuck Hull, the inventor of the first 3D printing technology, Stereolithography, has accepted his nomination as the 2017 winner of the Washington Award.

The Washington Award is presented to an engineer whose innovation and accomplishments have had a positive impact on humankind. Later this week, Hull will become the 98^th recipient of the award for his invention of 3D printing some 30 years ago, and continued work in the industry since.

Co-Founding 3D Systems in 1986, Hull kick-started the 3D printing industry three years earlier with his delivery of a solid imaging process, which came to be known as Stereolithography. And although other 3D printing technologies have also been developed since, Stereolithography has remained a common technique throughout the 3D printing field. Hull and his 3D Systems team also developed the .stl file format on which most 3D models are printed.

Likewise, Hull has continued to be a mainstay in the world of 3D technology. 3D Systems has established itself as a leading 3D technology developer, with Hull a named inventor on 85 United States patents, plus several other patents across the globe.

While his career in 3D printing has spanned 34 years, his background in wider engineering goes back even further. Prior to establishing 3D Systems, Chuck was the vice president of engineering at UVP, Inc., a systems manufacturing company, for six years. Previous to this, he spent ten years as an engineering manager at DuPont’s Photo Products Division, where he concentrated on the development of analytical equipment for chemists, including mass spectrometer and GC/MS systems. Having graduated with an engineering physics degree from the University of Colorado in 1961, Hull went on to receive an honorary Doctorate in Engineering from Loughborough University in the U.K. in 2005, as well as an honorary Doctorate in Science from the University of Colorado in 2016.

On Friday 24^th February, Hull will be presented with the Washington Award at a joint banquet of the members and guests of the Western Society of Engineers; the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers; American Society of Civil Engineers; American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers; National Society of Professional Engineers; and the American Nuclear Society. The banquet will take place at the Hilton Chicago.

Nominations and bookings for the inaugural TCT Awards can now be made on the TCT Awards website.