Story highlights
Chuck Hull is the American engineer who invented 3D printing
Hull created the first 3D printer in 1983 and has been refining his creation ever since
He says the process has "blossomed" in the last few years
Call him Charlie, Charles, Chuck – whatever you want. It’s all okay with him.
Beaming a warm smile from beneath his push-broom mustache, the softly spoken 74-year-old doesn’t strike you as a pioneering innovator – the man responsible for a breakthrough that’s now driving forward the world of manufacturing.
But Chuck Hull – “in this kind of environment, it’s usually ‘Chuck’,” he says, as he sits down with CNN in Frankfurt, Germany – is executive vice president and chief technology officer of 3D Systems, a company built on his creation: the 3D printer.