Dr. David Bourell is Professor of Mechanical Engineering (ME) and Materials Science and Engineering (MS&E) at The University of Texas at Austin. He is currently the Temple Foundation Professor Emeritus.

Dr. Bourell received his Bachelor's degree in ME from Texas A&M University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in MS&E from Stanford University. Dr. Bourell's areas of research include particulate processing with emphasis on sintering kinetics and densification, and materials issues associated with Laser Sintering (LS), a popular additive manufacturing process. Professor Bourell is a leading expert in advanced materials for Laser Sintering, having worked in this area since 1988. He holds 14 patents dealing with materials innovations in LS. He was the lead author on the original materials patent for LS technology. Issuing in 1990, this patent has been cited by 288 other patents, and it represents the original intellectual property for mixed and coated powders for LS, including binders. He has edited or published over 280 books, book chapters, journal articles and conference proceedings. In 2024, Dr. Bourell was elected a Knight of Laser Technology at the 13th CIRP Conference on Photonic Technologies in Fürth, Germany. He was the 2023 recipient of the ASTM Center of Excellence Advanced Manufacturing Lifetime Achievement Award. Professor Bourell was the 2022 recipient of the ASTM Frank W. Reinhart Award for “outstanding and unusual contributions to the organization in the realm of terminology standardization”, He was the 2017 recipient of the Albert Sargent Award from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and the 2009 recipient of the TMS/MPMD Outstanding Scientist/Engineer Award. He was the 2012 recipient of the Cockrell School of Engineering Joe J. King Professional Engineering Achievement Award. Professor Bourell received a Japan Society for Promotion of Science Fellowship in 2006. He was the 1999 recipient of the UT College of Engineering Lockheed Martin Award for Excellence in Engineering Teaching. This award is given annually to one faculty member in the College to recognize outstanding teaching. He was elected Fellow of ASM International in 1997 and Fellow of TMS in 2011. In 1991, he was the recipient of a prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship to the Max Planck Institute Powder Metallurgy Research Lab in Stuttgart, Germany. He won the ASM International Bradley Stoughton Award for Outstanding Young Teachers of Metallurgy in 1986. He is internationally recognized in the field of Additive Manufacturing (AM) and is chair of the Organizing Committee of the Annual Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) Symposium, the leading research conference in the world on this subject. In 2011, he received the International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium Freeform and Additive Manufacturing Excellence (FAME) Award, given annually to an outstanding AM researcher worldwide.

He serves on several technical and administrative committees of TMS, including the Powder Metallurgy Committee and Professional Registration Committee. He recently served on the Board of Directors for TMS. He is a registered Professional Engineer (Texas). He is a founding member of the ASTM F42 Technical Committee on Additive Manufacturing and currently serves on the ten-member ASTM/ISO Joint Group 51 on Terminology for AM.

Most Recent Publications

1. R. K. Leach, D. Bourell, S. Carmignato, A. Donmez, N. Senin, W. Dewulf, “Geometrical metrology for metal additive manufacturing”, CIRP Annals Vol. 2, 68 (2019) pp. 677-700. DOI: 10.1016/j.cirp.2019.05.004
2. D.L. Bourell and D.K. Leigh, “Improving Property Consistency and Reliability for Polyamide Processed using Powder Bed Fusion”, CIRP Procedia 94 (2020) 144-148.
3. J. Beaman, D. L. Bourell, C. Seepersad, D. Kovar, Additive manufacturing review: Early past to current practice, Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering 142 (11) (2020).
4. D. Bourell, Division Editor, ASM Handbook, Volume 24, Additive Manufacturing Processes, D. Bourell, W. Frazier, H. Kuhn, M. Seifi, editors, ASM International, Materials Park OH, 2020.
5. Hui Zhang, David L. Bourell, Yanling Guo, “Analysis and Optimization of Mechanical properties of laser-sintered cellulose/PLA parts”, Materials, 14#4 (Feb. 2021) 750
6. Michael Schmidt, Narendra B. Dahotre, David Bourell, Ehsan Toyserkani, “Laser-based additive manufacturing: Processes and materials” Optics and Laser Technology, v. 139, July 2021, p. 106999.
7. Dongdong Gu1, Xinyu Shi, Reinhart Poprawe, David L. Bourell, Rossitza Setchi, Jihong Zhu, “Material-structure-performance integrated laser-metal additive manufacturing”, Science, v. 372, Issue 6545, 28 May 2021, p. abg1487. DOI: 10.1126/science.abg1487
8. D. Bourell, “Part 7: The Future of Additive Manufacturing”, Wohlers Report 2021, Wohlers Associates, Fort Collins CO, pp. 287-295.
9. Hongwei Gao, Jin An, Chee Kai Chua, David Bourell, Che-Nan Kuo, Dawn T.H. Tan, “3D Printed Optics and Photonics: Processes, Materials and Applications”, Materials Today, 2023, ISSN 1369-7021.
10. D. Bourell, Division Editor, ASM Handbook, Volume 24A, Additive Manufacturing Design and Applications, M. Seifi, D. Bourell, W. Frazier, H. Kuhn, editors, ASM International, Materials Park OH, 2023, ISBN: 978-1-62708-437-6.