S. Scott Crump

S. Scott Crump is the inventor of fused deposition modeling (FDM) and co-founder of Stratasys, Ltd. Crump invented and patented FDM technology in 1989 with his wife and Stratasys co-founder Lisa Crump. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Stratasys, which produces additive manufacturing machines for direct digital manufacturing (a.k.a. rapid manufacturing); these machines are popularly called “3D printers.” He took the manufacturing company public in 1994 (Nasdaq:SSYS). He also runs Fortus, RedEye on Demand, and Dimension Printing – business units of Stratasys.

Mr. Crump served on the board of directors for the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) and is a frequent speaker at domestic and international educational events related to engineering, prototyping and manufacturing. In 1982, Crump co-founded IDEA, Inc., a leading manufacturer of force, load and pressure transducers, and served as the company’s vice president of sales until 1988. IDEA later changed its name to SI Technologies, Inc., and Crump continued as a director and shareholder of SI Technologies until its sale to Vishay Intertechnologies, Inc. (NYSE:VSH) in April 2005.

While at IDEA, Crump automated design with AutoCAD and accomplished most of the company’s manufacturing utilizing CNC. He experienced difficulty getting prototypes to test new product designs, and consequently invented a 3D printer driven by CAD to solve the problem.

Crump managed the early work on another innovation used by FDM machines, the ABS plastic filament, which allows engineers to formulate fully functional parts that have up to 75% of the strength of an actual molded part. In addition, Crump is responsible for other innovations including: Breakaway Support System (BASS), WaterWorks Support System, the coupling to the CAD/CAM industry for CNC tool path software, a baffled oven for high temperature build environments and a benchtop 3D Printer (Dimension).