Professor Joseph M. DeSimone

Joseph M. DeSimone
Departments of Radiology and Chemical Engineering
Stanford University
Abstract

The Delicate Interplay Between Light, Interfaces and Design: The Complex Dance that Allows 3D Printing to Scale to Manufacturing

The production of polymeric products relies largely on age-old molding techniques. In this talk, I will describe a breakthrough in additive manufacturing—3D printing—referred to as Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP) technology (Science 2015). CLIP, and its recently introduced cousin injection CLIP (iCLIP; Science Advances 2022), embody a convergence of advances in software, hardware, and materials to bring the digital revolution to the design and manufacturing of polymeric products. CLIP uses software-controlled chemistry to produce commercial quality parts rapidly and at scale by capitalizing on the principle of oxygen-inhibited photopolymerization to generate a continual liquid interface of uncured resin between a forming part and a printer’s exposure window. Instead of printing layer-by-layer, this allows layerless parts to ‘grow’ from a pool of resin, formed by light. Compatible with a wide range of polymers, CLIP opens major opportunities for innovative products across diverse industries. Previously unmakeable products are already manufactured at scale with CLIP, including the large-scale production of running shoes by Adidas (Futurecraft 4D); mass-customized football helmets by Riddell; the world’s first FDA-approved 3D printed dentures; and numerous parts in automotive, consumer electronics, and medicine. At Stanford, we are pursuing new advances including digital therapeutic devices in pediatric medicine, new multi- materials printing approaches, recyclable materials, and the design of a high-resolution printer to advance technologies in the microelectronics and drug/vaccine delivery areas, including novel microneedle designs as a potent vaccine delivery platform and for the sampling of interstitial fluids for health monitoring and the early detection of disease.

Joseph M. DeSimone

Joseph M. DeSimone is the Sanjiv Sam Gambhir Professor of Translational Medicine and Chemical Engineering at Stanford. He holds appointments in the Departments of Radiology and Chemical Engineering with a courtesy appointments in the Department of Chemistry, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Graduate School of Business. Previously, he was a professor of chemistry at UNC-Chapel Hill and of chemical engineering at NC State University. He is also Co- founder, Board Member, and former CEO of the additive manufacturing company, Carbon. DeSimone has mentored 80 students through Ph.D. completion, half of whom are women and members of underrepresented groups in STEM. In 2016 DeSimone was recognized by President Barack Obama with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

Hosted by Professor Theresa Reineke

Learn more about the Margaret C. Etter Memorial Lecture in Materials Chemistry