3D Printing Industry has announced speakers for AMA: Software 2026, taking place online on 22 October 2026. Experts from NVIDIA, Materialise, Autodesk, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Markforged and other organisations will join the event to discuss how software is changing the design, simulation and production of 3D printed parts.
The programme will examine practical questions facing additive manufacturing users: where can AI improve engineering decisions? How accurately can software predict a printed part’s performance? And what does it take to connect design tools, production data and printer fleets into reliable manufacturing workflows? Speakers bring perspectives spanning industrial software, academic research, manufacturing and the platforms through which designers share and sell their work.
Live audience Q&A will give attendees the opportunity to put their questions directly to the people developing and applying these technologies. Meet the announced speakers below.
Free registration for the online event here.
Udo Eberlein, Executive Vice-President, Software, Materialise
Udo Eberlein is Executive Vice President of Software at Materialise, where he leads the company’s software business for industrial and healthcare additive manufacturing.
With more than 20 years of international experience, Udo has built and scaled software and technology businesses across Europe, North America, and Asia. His background includes SaaS, IoT, internet services, digital media, marketplaces, corporate development, strategic advisory, and venture capital. He has led private equity- and venture-backed companies, advised Fortune 100 organizations, and drawn on Silicon Valley approaches to growth, product development, and digital transformation.
At Materialise, he takes a practical, problem-led view of additive manufacturing. His focus is on how software can solve real production challenges, connect workflows, and make 3D printing easier to adopt at a manufacturing scale.
Steve Defibaugh, Manufacturing Marketing and Strategy Lead, NVIDIA
Steve Defibaugh leads product development and manufacturing go-to-market strategy at NVIDIA, working with partners and customers to accelerate AI adoption. He spent the last decade leading product marketing and strategy for CFD, FEA, and AI business units at a CAE/AI startup, Boeing, and Ansys, after beginning his career in manufacturing technical sales engineering. Steve holds a mechanical engineering degree and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Luke Scime, R&D Staff Scientist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Luke Scime is a research and development staff member at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Florida in 2014 and his doctorate, also in Mechanical Engineering, from Carnegie Mellon University in 2018. His research focuses on process monitoring and process development for advanced manufacturing technologies, with special emphases on powder bed additive manufacturing, image processing, data analytics, data visualization, and machine learning.
Alexander Oster, Director Additive Manufacturing, Autodesk Inc.
Alexander Oster is Director of Additive Manufacturing in the Autodesk Fusion R&D group. Before its acquisition, Alexander co-founded Netfabb, a widely popular data preparation software for Additive Manufacturing.
Q. Sean Huang, Professor, University of Southern California
Dr. Qiang (Sean) Huang is a Professor at the Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Southern California (USC). His research, detailed in his Springer monograph “Domain-informed Machine Learning for Smart Manufacturing”, has been focusing on AI and machine learning for smart manufacturing. He is an IISE Fellow, ASME Fellow, and a senior member of US National Academy of Inventors. He holds nine patents related to quality control in additive manufacturing. He has served as the Senior Editor for IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering and the General Chair of 2025 IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE 2025).
Ali Tamijani, CEO, Novineer, Inc.
Dr. Ali Tamijani is Founder and CEO of Novineer, Inc., and Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. An award-winning researcher, he has led Novineer in launching AI-driven tools for reverse engineering, generative design, and toolpath optimization, while securing federal support, building strategic partnerships with OEMs, and expanding the company’s footprint in defense and advanced manufacturing.
Mark Burhop, CTO, Makerengineer
Mark Burhop is a Siemens Inventor of the Year and an AI architect working at the intersection of additive manufacturing, industrial engineering, and advanced AI. Their work explores how large language models, physics-informed AI, world models, synthetic data, and agentic systems can improve the way physical products are designed, simulated, printed, and validated.
With deep expertise in manufacturing data—including STEP, STL, 3MF, G-code, finite-element meshes, and point clouds—Mark focuses on the critical bridge between complex engineering data and production-ready AI. Their current work includes intelligent design-to-print workflows, AI-assisted engineering automation, and the foundational technologies enabling more autonomous and predictive additive manufacturing systems.
Daniel Puchta, CEO and founder, Dolphin Printer s.r.o.
Daniel Puchta is the founder and CEO of Slicedog, a physics-based simulation software company focused on strength validation of FFF 3D-printed parts. With a background in mechanical engineering and CAD, his work focuses on making structural validation of printed parts practical for everyday engineering workflows.
Slicedog allows engineers to see where a part will be structurally weak before it is printed. The software accounts for layer orientation, anisotropy, perimeters, infill and printing parameters automatically, allowing engineers to use simulation directly in their design process without becoming specialists in FFF structural modeling.
Zach Simkin, President, Senvol
Zach Simkin is the President of Senvol, the industry leader in data for additive manufacturing (AM). At Senvol, Zach has overseen the development of Senvol ML, which is data-driven machine learning software for AM. Zach’s particular area of focus is on analyzing the correlation among material performance, process parameters, in-situ monitoring data, and feedstock properties. Zach has led AM programs for Government agencies such as the Navy, Army, Air Force, DLA, Oak Ridge National Lab, and NIST, and also for the commercial sector with customers spanning aerospace, medical, automotive, oil and gas, and consumer products. In addition to his role at Senvol, Zach has been called to serve in various leadership positions throughout the AM industry. He serves as Past Chair for SME’s Additive Manufacturing Advisory Board, and on the Governance Board of America Makes. Additionally, he has been a member of ASME’s Technical Advisory Panel, the ASTM F42 Committee, and the SAE AMS-AM Committee.
Brittney St.Germain, VP Software Engineering, Markforged
Brittney St.Germain is VP of Software Engineering at Markforged, where she leads the team behind Eiger.io, Markforged’s cloud platform spanning the full additive manufacturing workflow, from design and part geometry optimization, through print preparation, to managing a global fleet of connected 3D printers in production. She’s spent nearly 30 years building software and leading engineering organizations across manufacturing, fintech, and health tech.
Matteo Vezzali, Head of Partnerships, MyMiniFactory Ltd.
Matteo Vezzali is Head of Partnerships for MyMiniFactory and Thingiverse. He builds and maintains relationships with brands and industry partners to grow the 3D printing community at large.
Thomas Rees, Research and Innovation Manager, ToffeeX Ltd
Thomas is an aerospace engineer specialized in fluid dynamics, heat transfer, and optimization. He holds MEng, MRes, and PhD degrees from the Department of Aeronautics at Imperial College London and currently leads R&D efforts at ToffeeX. Known for combining rigor with curiosity and a sense of humour (he once tried to cook a steak in a hypersonic wind tunnel… it had a good sear, but was cooked blue), he has nearly a decade of experience building CAE tools and engineering processes.
Andre Wegner, CEO, Authentise
Andre Wegner is founder and CEO of Authentise, a leader in flexible, AI-powered workflows in the most agile manufacturing and engineering settings. He is also the former Chair of Digital Manufacturing at Singularity University in Silicon Valley. Andre has spoken at over 200 events on additive manufacturing and the digital thread, and has been quoted in publications such as BBC News, MIT Tech Review, Chicago Tribune, and Bloomberg. Prior to Authentise Andre invested in and supported capital raises of companies in Nigeria and India. Andre is a graduate of St. Andrews University (M.A. – UK), ESSEC (M.Sc. – France) and Singularity University (California).
Gavin Shipley, Technology Centre Director, Sarginsons
With more than 30 years’ experience across automotive, aerospace and industrial innovation, Gavin has spent his career turning ambitious ideas into high-performance, scalable and production-ready solutions.
As Technical Director at Sarginsons Industries, he leads programmes focused on the future of lightweight casting, combining advanced simulation, digital twin technology and low-carbon manufacturing to reshape how components are designed, tested and produced.
He’s currently leading the APC25 PIVOT programme alongside industry and academic partners, helping develop next-generation lightweight aluminium casting solutions designed to drive a step change in global manufacturing.
Gavin’s approach has always centred on connecting innovation with manufacturing reality, ensuring new technologies can be successfully applied in practical, commercially viable production environments.
Join our guests online on October 22nd at AMA: Software 2026.
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