Scott Crump is the founder of Stratasys and inventor of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), a 3D printing technology. Crump grew up in Connecticut. His father was a chemical engineer who encouraged Crump to be involved in business and technology at an early age. Crump studied Mechanical Engineering at Washington State University. In 1982, he found the company IDEA, later called SI Technologies, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

 

Scott Crump and Stratasys Ltd.

 

Crump had the idea for FDM when he created a toy frog for his daughter by using a mixture of polyethylene and candle wax and depositing it into layers with a glue gun. He discovered how to automate the system and in 1989, patented FDM technology. Crump and his wife Lisa founded the company Stratasys in 1989. Stratasys went public in 1994 and partnered with IBM in 1995 to create a 3D printer. In 2002, Stratasys introduced the Dimension 3D printer and in 2004 introduced the Dimension SST. In 2012, Stratasys Inc. merged with Objet Ltd. and became Stratasys Ltd.