This week, I began a new position. Entirely separately from Additive Integrity, I've signed a new sort of contract: full-time employment. Newer still, the employment is directly within the industry.
I'm delighted to join the brilliant team at Nexa3D as the new Senior Director, Strategic Communications and Ecosystems.
For more about the position and what it means for Nexa3D, here's our press release.
For more about the whys, hows, and whats behind Nexa3D, I wrote this to share through my new team:
We already know Nexa3D offers unparalleled ultrafast production capabilities for manufacturing-scale polymer 3D printing. The technology is there – and so is a brilliant team working tirelessly to promote more sustainable manufacturing practices and processes.
I’ve known the team since they came onto the 3D printing scene in 2016. I met Avi in my capacity as an industry journalist – at that point, I was the Editor-in-Chief of 3DPrint.com. I knew Avi’s name, of course, having followed his journey as the CEO of 3D Systems and his follow-up entrepreneurial efforts at XponentialWorks and Nexa3D. I was fascinated by the drive and vision he brought – and by the way he inspired and galvanized those around him. Here was someone who didn’t just talk the talk; he grew a remarkable company by focusing on talent and a shared mission to create better manufacturing for a better world. That’s walking the walk.
As my own career continued in this space, our paths continued to cross. In my role as the Managing Editor of Fabbaloo, I visited the Nexa3D HQ in 2019. Spending time on-site with the team was eye-opening. Sure, they always put on a great display at Formnext, RAPID + TCT, and other major industry events, but it was something else entirely to be in, as it were, the room where it happens.
There’s something special at Nexa3D. It’s not just the coffee or the regular team-wide happy hours and genuine connections immediately visible among everyone there. It’s also not just the parts and 3D printers everywhere you look. There’s something in the air, a buzz of possibility, a palpable sense of creation.
I’ve been in this industry since 2014, and have visited teams and sites the world over. I’ve been deeply involved in the nonprofit Women in 3D Printing since 2018, serving on the Board of Directors, building up our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, and working on the executive committee of our TIPE 3D Printing conference. This work has been critical for me as a person, and I see it as nonnegotiable, as vital to the growth of this industry we all love so much.
I’ve found a great deal of pushback in working to shape the future of the workforce.
But when I spoke with Avi about the possibility of my joining the team at Nexa3D, he said something that stuck with me: “I’m fully supportive of what you do at Women in 3D Printing. Let me know what we can do there, and with DEI. How can we help?”
Other teams I spoke with in considering a career transition said they “wouldn’t stand in the way of” my continued work with Women in 3D Printing.
There’s a very real difference between not getting in the way of progress and actually supporting it.
That ethos underscores the reality of what I’ve seen at Nexa3D first-hand. It’s an attitude that transcends any single area.
There’s a real dedication to the future: of the workforce, of a sustainable and circular economy, of shortened supply chains, of the future not just of manufacturing-scale polymer 3D printing but the future of manufacturing.
That’s the Nexa3D difference: reality.
That’s why I was delighted for the opportunity to work with this team, to become part of the change.
In my new role, I’ll be working closely with Avi and with leaders of every area of the company to continue to build the Nexa3D vision. I’ll be taking a lead on projects like our involvement with industry groups and organizations, our external messaging to shine a light on what’s really happening internally, and to develop our approach to product launches and event showings. I’ll be working with our teams to build up the recently-launched Nexa Level magazine series as well as our partner relationships for the recently-announced NEXTFACTORY full-scale AM customer center with Henkel.
I can’t wait to see the industry from another side: the inside.
I’m fortunate to work now with an incredible team of brilliant individuals who together are creating something great. It’s a shared vision, and it’s one I can’t wait to shout from the mountaintops.
Let’s get started.
(We’re hiring! Come join this remarkable team. Reach out to me any time, too!)