Eliana Fu is the Senior Raw Materials Supply Chain Engineer at Relativity Space.
If you are not familiar with Relativity Space, they are creating the rocket factory of the future, using additive manufacturing! Educated at Imperial College, University of London (Masters and PhD in Materials Science), Eliana also holds a Post Docs from Loughborough University (UK) and Clemson University (USA).
Before joining Relativity Space, Eliana worked at Firth Rixson Rings (Rotherham, UK), TIMET (Henderson, NV) and SpaceX (Hawthorne, CA).
Nora Toure: Eliana, could you let us know about your background and what brought you into 3D printing in the first place?
Eliana Fu: I am a metallurgist with specialization in titanium. I spent most of my career working in traditional wrought product metallurgy but 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing is the next exciting development for materials science. I really wanted to get involved and play a part in developing this exciting technology.
Nora Toure: What was your very first experience with 3D Printing?
Eliana Fu: I was first exposed to this technology when working as a project leader at TWI Ltd in Sheffield UK, where Additive Manufacturing technologies were being developed at the AMRC (Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre) in partnership with other organizations such as TWI and CTI (Casting Technologies).
It is a disruptive technology that has helped to regenerate the metals industry in Sheffield and other places in the world which have been home to traditional metals production. It is also changing the way we want to think about manufacturing launch vehicles for space exploration and overturning the way we design parts, increasing the speed of iterative development and reducing waste.
Read the rest at Women in 3D Printing
Elizabeth C. Engele (Lizzy) is a designer for social good, and a founder of MakerGirl.