Stratasys’ Jesse Roitenberg on Why Additive Manufacturing Is Becoming a Basic Skill

After nearly two decades working at Stratasys — and most of that time focused on education — Jesse Roitenberg has seen additive manufacturing (AM) move from novelty to necessity. 3DPrint.com spoke to Stratasys education and workforce leader Roitenberg about how schools are using 3D printing today, what employers actually need, and why additive is becoming a basic skill, not an optional extra.

Stratasys often talks about additive manufacturing as “the new industrial literacy.” For Roitenberg, that shift became clear more than a decade ago.

“I’ve been with the company for 20 years, and about 13 years ago we started hearing it from customers and partners,” he said. “Certifications were emerging. Students wanted credentials. Schools were being asked to teach engineering and manufacturing without enough preparation. That’s when it stopped being just a cool tool and started becoming something people needed.”

Training the teachers first

One of the biggest mistakes schools make, Roitenberg explained, is buying a 3D printer without building a real program around it.

“A lot of schools get a printer and think they can only do one thing with it. They don’t realize the power of it: design, nursing, microfluidics, chemistry. All these areas can use this technology.”

That realization pushed Stratasys to build its education certifications: not to train students directly, but to train educators.

“We didn’t build it to sell training,” said Roitenberg. “We built it so educators are confident. They understand when to print, when not to print, what material to use, and what technology to use.”

That confidence matters. Schools that use certification-based programs end up using their machines more effectively and even calling for less technical support. As the expert noted, they understand the printers better, and they teach that knowledge to students.

From classroom to factory floor

Roitenberg now sees something unexpected happening: industrial companies using educational content to train their own employees.

“We’ve had companies like Rivian, Polaris, Parker Hannifin reach out,” he indicated. “They’re asking, ‘Who’s teaching this? Where is our next workforce coming from?’ In some cases, companies don’t even pursue the formal certification. They adapt the material into internal training programs because they want people to understand where additive fits, how it helps, and when it makes sense.”

Roitenberg described his role as part connector, part translator: “I joke that I’m like ‘match.com.’ We connect people who love additive with companies that need it.”

Seeing the impact up close

Because Roitenberg spends much of his time visiting schools, he often sees firsthand how AM changes the way students learn and work. For example, at the University of Southern California, he walked into a Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) lab and met a student working on a race car. She wasn’t using AM yet, but after Stratasys provided materials, that changed.

“A year and a half later, she reached out from her new job at an EV company and told me they were using low-end printers, but that her experience working with Ultem showed they needed more capable systems,” Roitenberg remarked.

“That moment captures the problem,” he said. “If students only use PLA, they think 3D printing is just 3D printing. They don’t understand how materials change everything.”

Meanwhile, at the University of Minnesota, Roitenberg saw how 3D printed anatomical models are being used to educate students and encourage organ donation. By scanning real organs and reproducing them physically, programs can show students the real impact of disease on the body, making the learning experience far more tangible than images on a screen.

This approach is also reducing reliance on cadavers. Because most available cadavers come from much older donors, 3D printing allows educators to simulate younger bodies instead, an essential shift for medical training, military applications, and even veterinary science.

The biggest misconception about manufacturing

When asked about the skills gap, Roitenberg focused on how manufacturing is still misunderstood.

“People still think manufacturing is dirty, low-skilled. Pushing brooms. That couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, modern manufacturing requires creativity, programming, automation, and problem-solving. In one school I work with, every student must design, 3D print, and program a robotic end effector. That integration is the key,” he said. “Manufacturing today is high-level thinking.”

He sees the same mindset in robotics competitions such as FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), where students learn to work within constraints and solve real engineering problems.

Roitenberg is especially enthusiastic about community and technical colleges. He explains that “They adapt quickly. They listen to industry advisory boards, and their students graduate and go straight into those companies.”

In some regions, community colleges are even producing parts for industrial partners. These schools already have trained technicians and hands-on additive experience, while many companies are still in the process of building those capabilities internally. The relationship gives students real-world exposure and helps companies bridge the gap.

What schools risk by waiting

Stratasys updates its education certifications every year: new materials, new technologies, new use cases.

In 2026, the company plans to roll out a Level 2 certification focused on PolyJet, with strong ties to healthcare. Future modules will focus on tooling, manufacturing, aerospace, drones, and dental applications.

“This industry changes fast,” Roitenberg said. “We have to keep listening.”

Meanwhile, for schools that still see 3D printing as optional, Roitenberg’s message is: “If you don’t build it into your curriculum, you’re losing students.”

Near the end of the conversation, Roitenberg shared a story that captured the human side of additive: a high school student who used 3D printing to create parts for her prom dress as a way to raise awareness about mental health after losing a friend to suicide.

Rather than designing the dress alone, the student asked her classmates, especially those affected by mental health issues, what they wanted in the design. She then used 3D printing to create custom elements that carried those messages into the finished dress. For Roitenberg, the project showed how AM can give students a way to translate personal experiences into something tangible that they can also share.

That’s the real takeaway, he told me: “Additive manufacturing isn’t just about machines or materials. It’s about giving students tools to solve problems and the confidence to use them. And when you see that, you know we’ll be okay.”