Chuck Hull – The inventor of 3D printing

Rapid prototyping, 3D printing, additive manufacturing – terms that we use today as a matter of course, as if they had always been part of our everyday lives. But the production of components using the 3D printing process is younger than one might think. It was barely 35 years ago that 3D printing was invented. Called “stereolithography” at the time, the technology laid the foundation for what we now call the “Fifth Industrial Revolution.” While in 2018 even private households are 3D printing what their printers can print, the inventor behind the technology is largely unknown outside of specialist circles.

The inventor of 3D printing: Chuck W. Hull
Only someone who has invented something special shines like this: Chuck Hull, the inventor of 3D printing (Image source: industryweek.com)

Biography

On May 12, 1939, a certain Charles W. Hull was born in Clifton, Colorado. The son of Lester and Esther Hull, he spent his carefree childhood in Clifton, and later Gateway, before leaving home to attend high school in Grand Junction, Colorado. The natural sciences had taken a liking to the young Charles W. Hull from an early age, so it was only logical that he enrolled in the University of Colorado in the late 1950s – to study physics. In 1961, Charles W. Hull, now 22, graduated with a degree in applied physics and started his professional life.

The inventor in Chuck Hull awakens

After several job changes, Hull landed at a small company in the early 1980s that used UV light to give tables a tough plastic finish, as well as repairing tablecloths, floor coverings and the like. The effect that UV light has on photosensitive surfaces fascinated the now-not-so-young Chuck Hall (as Charles was known to his colleagues) – and he began experimenting. From then on, Hull spent his evenings and weekends in a small laboratory provided by his company – not always to the delight of his wife, who more or less enthusiastically supported her husband's creative talent despite all the time involved.

How he invented 3D printing

It is not known exactly when the breakthrough in Chuck Hull's research occurred, but one night he found the optimal link between UV light and photopolymers. The world's first ever printed component was created. Hull woke his wife from a deep sleep, called her to him in the laboratory and delightedly presented the result of his work to her. Even if his wife's enthusiasm was limited according to his own statements – Chuck Hull was now fully convinced of his invention. So he filed the patent for this 3D printing process in 1984.

SLA-1, the first 3D printer
This is the first 3D printer called SLA-1 (Image source: 3dhubs.com)

Foundation of 3D Systems

What does a gifted inventor like Chuck Hull do when he invents a breakthrough technology? That's right – he starts his own business! In 1986, just two years after the patent was filed, Hull launched his company, 3D Systems, in Valencia, Calif. The company can rightfully be called the world's first commercial rapid prototyping company.

Chuck Hull - inventor and founder of 3D Systems
A dream became the now world-renowned company 3D Systems

Chuck Hull – A Man of Multiple Awards

Chuck Hull is not a man who seeks publicity. However, that doesn't stop the public from showering him with accolades. The last award, the European Inventor Award, was presented to him in Berlin in 2014. Of course, Chuck Hull also included the award in his world of 3D printing – and printed it himself several times, in “black, in red and in white”.

Chuck Hull today

At the end of his 70s, Chuck Hull is still far from being old hat in 2018. Currently, he is focusing primarily on improving his stereolithography. Higher speeds, better materials, there's still a lot Chuck Hull wants to research. He has also already made plans for the future. At the “Sugar Lab” in California, research is being conducted into printing food – and Hull is working in parallel on the development of food printers, which in the not too distant future are likely to revolutionize retailing in the same way that the invention of 3D printing did more than 30 years ago.

We say“Thank you Chuck!

Sources:

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Hull
  • https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=308410&privcapId=308402
  • https://patents.google.com/patent/US4575330#v=onepage&q&f=false
  • https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jun/22/chuck-hull-father-3d-printing-shaped-technology
  • https://motherboard.vice.com/de/article/aek9x4/wir-haben-chuck-hull-den-erfinder-des-3d-druckers-getroffen
  • https://www.epo.org/learning-events/european-inventor/finalists/2014/hull.html
  • https://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/13/tech/innovation/the-night-i-invented-3d-printing-chuck-hall/index.html

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