Volker Steger
XJet Schetman
Prof Shechtman’s will help steer XJet’s material and application development roadmap.
XJet has announced the appointment of Nobel Prize-winning scientist Professor Dan Shechtman to lead the company’s Scientific Advisory Board.
Professor Shechtman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2011 for his discovery of quasicrystals, ordered structures which are most often found in aluminium alloys. He joins up with XJet to help direct the company’s materials and application development roadmaps.
Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Prof Shechtman made his quasicrystals discovery in 1982 and for many years had to endure the scrutiny his findings had come under from a host of peers including two-time Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling, who once quipped ‘there is no such thing as quasicrystals, only quasiscientists.’ Over time, Prof Shechtman’s conclusions began to be accepted by fellow chemists, with quasicrystals having since been applied in the manufacture of non-stick frying pans, surgical instruments and LED lights. In 2011, Prof Shechtman's work for the proceeding three decades was recognised with a Nobel Prize.
XJet has sought to bring Prof Shechtman on board to leverage his chemical and material science expertise to enhance its product portfolio and facilitate the development of new applications with users of its NanoParticle Jetting (NPJ) technology.
“I’ve long been fascinated with additive manufacturing and the way it enables innovation and turns many concepts on their head,” Prof Shechtman commented. “I feel there’s still a huge untapped potential for pushing this technology through the materials. XJet’s NPJ technology grabbed my heart, mind and imagination and is particularly intriguing to me. Because it jets a liquid in tiny droplets, it allows for innovation to surpass the level of a single material and involve new mixtures and complex structures.”
“My vision for NanoParticle Jetting technology is to solve ‘impossible’ manufacturing challenges,” added XJet CEO Hanan Gothait. “We look at existing manufacturing methods and we are bringing additive manufacturing solutions that deliver time and cost efficiencies, but we do much more than that. We are enabling innovation and the creation of things that have, up to now, not been possible. This is fascinating and exactly why the appointment of Professor Shechtman to the XJet team is so momentous.
"His knowledge of materials and innovation is unrivalled; thus, his unique perspective will be priceless to the business. With Professor Shechtman’s expertise and understanding of science, chemistry and its challenges and his approach to innovation, I can only start dreaming of what else we can achieve.”
