BAAM 3D Printer Manufacturer, Cincinnati Inc., Names Carey Chen new CEO

Last month, Local Motors 3D printed the first car, the Strati, within a 44 hour time frame. In doing so, they received a tremendous amount of publicity, and rightfully so. The vehicle was printed with a carbon fiber/ABS thermoplastic composite, using a machine which is not much different from a typical desktop 3D printer, besides the fact that it’s enormous, and a heck of a lot faster.

Although Local Motors took the spotlight at the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago, where the actual printing took place, the technology behind the this amazing 3D printed vehicle was provided by a company called Cincinnati Inc., who worked alongside the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Cincinnati Inc. provided the Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) machine which fabricated the Strati, laying down as much as 40 pounds of the composite material each hour.

Andrew Jamison, the man who has led Cincinnati Inc. as CEO for this amazing project and numerous others, has decided to retire, leaving an eventual opening at the CEO position for the company. Today Cincinnati Inc. announced that they have selected a replacement for Jamison, and that replacement is a man named Carey Chen. Chen, who will join the company in early January of next year, will also have a seat on the board of directors.

“After a comprehensive search process, the board is pleased to have found the best individual to assume leadership of our company,” said Christina March, chair of the Cincinnati Inc. board of directors. “Carey has a strong track record and is uniquely qualified to lead Cincinnati Incorporated into the future.”

Chen, who is coming from Hypertherm Inc. after serving as both their chief financial officer, and general manager of light industrial businesses, began his career working for AlliedSignal, later renamed Honeywell. He has an applied mathematics degree from the University of California at Los Angeles, an M.B.A from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, and is currently on the board of directors of J.P Nizzen Co.

It will be interesting to see what role Chen takes, if any, in the company’s continued development of the BAAM platform, a technology which current CEO Jamison was extremely proud of.

Let’s hear your thoughts on this recent executive announcement. Will Chen’s appointment affect the company’s work on the BAAM platform? Discuss this story in the Cincinnati Inc. forum thread on 3DPB.com.