Carl R. Deckard

Carl Robert Deckard, Ph.D, ME (1961 - December 23, 2019) was an American inventor, teacher, and businessman, best known for inventing and developing Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), a method of 3D printing. He died at the age of 58, on 23 December 2019.

Career Deckard initially came up with the idea for SLS as an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). He continued developing the technology as a Masters and PhD student with the help of Dr. Joe Beaman, a professor at UT Austin. After several years of trial-and-error, Deckard's machine was capable of manufacturing real parts. He licensed the technology from UT Austin and co-founded Desk Top Manufacturing (DTM) Corp. in 1987. Deckard became an engineering professor at Clemson University after DTM's acquisition.

Patents Selective Laser Sintering with Assisted Powder Handling (U.S. 4,938,816) Method and Apparatus for Producing Parts by Selective Sintering (U.S. 4,863,538) Multiple Material Systems for Selective Beam Sintering (U.S. 4,944,817)