Stacey DelVecchio, F.SWE is President of Stacey D Consulting, focused on the business of additive manufacturing.
She is a technical advisor with the Society of Manufacturing’s Additive Manufacturing Community and an industry peer review panelist for Oakridge National Labs Manufacturing Development Facility. She is our Women in 3D Printing Guest #283!
Nora Touré: Stacey, could you let us know briefly about your background and your journey into Additive Manufacturing?
Stacey DelVecchio: In 2014, my employer of 25 years, Caterpillar, made the decision to increase their investment in additive manufacturing to be sure they stayed current with this emerging technology.
I was just coming off a special assignment during my term as the world-wide President of the Society of Women Engineers and was looking for a new assignment in the company.
While I had no experience in additive, I did have 25 years of product development and manufacturing leadership in the component area at Caterpillar. They felt my background was a good fit for me to lead the efforts in this area, creating a strategy and then putting the strategy in place.
I did this role for five years, before retiring from the company and starting my own consulting business, focusing on deploying additive in the industrial sector.
Nora Touré: To date, what would you say is your greatest achievement in Additive Manufacturing?
Stacey DelVecchio: My greatest achievement in additive was the establishment of the additive manufacturing group at Caterpillar and the resulting 3D printed production parts.
Nora Touré: Have you run into any challenges from being a woman 3D Printing?
Stacey DelVecchio: I think any woman in a STEM field has certain challenges, but when I look back over the 30+ years I’ve been an engineer, the challenges I’ve faced are trivial compared to those of the women that went before me. And thanks to their efforts, these challenges are manageable.
There’s always room for improvement, more in some areas than others, but the rewording work and constant innovation in a field such as additive far out way any issues I may have encountered.
Nora Touré: What is the most impressive or impactful use of 3D printing you’ve seen so far?
Stacey DelVecchio: I continue to be fascinated by the advances in printing for the medical industry, especially where a 3D printed part is being used in the body.
Printing these implants from scans of the body so they are a perfect fit is something that just can’t be done in any other way. Amazing.
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