Joseph DeSimone
Professor of Operations, Information & Technology (by courtesy)
Sanjiv Sam Gambhir Professor of Translational Medicine, School of Medicine
Professor of Chemical Engineering and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering (by courtesy), School of Engineering
Professor of Chemistry (by courtesy), School of Humanities and Sciences
Academic Area:
Research Statement
I will be launching a webinar class entitled “Entrepreneurs Getting Coffee at Stanford” (a play on Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”). The key is to interview fellow entrepreneurs to engage in frank discussions about lessons learned, team dynamics, pivotal moments and lessons for others.
Research Interests
- Entrepreneurship
- Business Models
- Supply Chain Disruption
- Circular Economy
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion on Teams and BODs
- Peer Accountability (i.e. Business Plan Review)
Bio
Joseph DeSimone joined Stanford University in 2020 and is the Sanjiv Sam Gambhir Professor of Translational Medicine and Chemical Engineering. He holds appointments in the departments of radiology and chemical engineering with courtesy appointments at Stanford Graduate School of Business and the department of chemistry. Previously, DeSimone was a professor of chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and of chemical engineering at North Carolina State University. He is also cofounder, board chair, and former CEO (2014–2019) of the additive manufacturing company, Carbon.
DeSimone and his trainees have made significant scientific breakthroughs in green chemistry, medical devices, nanotechnology, and most recently in 3D printing. An author of over 370 scientific publications and a named inventor on >200 issued patents, DeSimone has cofounded several companies based on his research, including BVS (biodegradable stent; sold to Guidant, then Abbott); Liquidia Technologies(precision medicines for pulmonary diseases; NASDAQ: LQDA); Blue Current (solid-state batteries); Advanced Chemotherapy Technologies (interventional oncology targeting pancreatic cancer); and Carbon (3D printing that is taking the industry from a prototyping-only industry to digital manufacturing). Additionally, DeSimone has mentored over 80 students through PhD completion, half of whom are women and members of underrepresented groups in STEM.
DeSimone was named the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 U.S. Overall National Winner for his leadership at Carbon. Chemical & Engineering News also named Carbon their Company of the Year for 2019. DeSimone’s other major recognitions include the U.S. Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, the Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment, the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize, and the Harvey Prize in Science and Technology. He is one of only 25 individuals elected to all three branches of the U.S. National Academies (Sciences, Medicine, and Engineering). In 2016 President Obama awarded him the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest U.S. honor for achievement and leadership in advancing technological progress.
Academic Degrees
- PhD in Polymer Chemistry, Virginia Tech, 1986–1990
- BS in Chemistry, Ursinus College, 1982–1986
Academic Appointments
- Professor of Chemistry (by courtesy), Stanford University School of Humanities and Science, 2021
- Sanjiv Sam Gambhir Professor of Translational Medicine, Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 2020–present
- Professor of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University School of Engineering, 2020–present
- Professor of Operations, Information & Technology (by courtesy), Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2020–present
- Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Chemistry Emeritus, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2008–2020
- William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering Emeritus, North Carolina State University, 2008–2020
- William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina, 2008–2020
- Faculty Member, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, 2005–2020
- Founding Director, Institute for Nanomedicine at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2008–2014
- Director, Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, Kenan Flagler Business School, 2012–2013
- Founding Director, Institute for Advanced Materials, Nanoscience and Technology at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2003–2012
- Director, National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center for Environmentally Responsible Solvents and Processes,1999–2009
- William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1999–2008
- William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University, 1999–2008
- Mary Ann Smith Professor of Chemistry at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1996–1999
- Mary Ann Smith Professor of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University, 1996–1999
- Mary Ann Smith Associate Professor of Chemistry at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1995
- Mary Ann Smith Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University, 1995
- Assistant Professor of Chemistry at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1990–1994
Awards and Honors
- Member, the National Academy of Medicine, 2014
- Member, the National Academy of Sciences, 2012
- Member, the National Academy of Engineering, 2005
- Member, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2005
- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2006
- Phi Beta Kappa (Tau of Pennsylvania Chapter at Ursinus College)
- Harvey Prize in Science and Technology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, 2020
- Charles Goodyear Medal, American Chemical Society Rubber Division, 2020
- Entrepreneur of the Year U.S. Overall National Winner, EY, 2019
- Wilhelm Exner Medal, Austrian Industry Association, 2019
- Award for Convergent Science, National Academy of Sciences, 2018
- Heinz Award in the Technology, the Economy and Employment Category, 2017
- Frost & Sullivan Manufacturing Leadership Award for Visionary Leadership, 2017
- National Medal of Technology and Innovation, presented by President Barack Obama, 2016
- Kabiller Prize in Nanoscience and Nanomedicine, Northwestern University, 2015
- IRI Medalist, Industrial Research Institute, 2014
- Kathryn C. Hach Award for Entrepreneurial Success, American Chemical Society, 2014
- ACS National Award, American Chemical Society, 2014
- Paul Harris Fellow, Rotary Foundation of Rotary International
- Harrison Howe Award, Rochester Section of the American Chemical Society, 2011
- AAAS Mentor Award, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2010
- Director’s Pioneer Award, National Institutes of Health, 2009
- North Carolina Award, State of North Carolina, 2009
- Lemelson-MIT Prize, Lemelson-MIT, 2008
- One of the “One Hundred Engineers of the Modern Era,” American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2008
- 2007/2008 Impact Entrepreneur of the Year for the Triangle, Business Leader Magazine, 2008
- American Chemical Society Award for Creative Invention, American Chemical Society, 2005
- John Scott Award, City Trusts, Philadelphia, 2002
- Engineering Excellence Award, DuPont, 2002
- Wallace H. Carothers Award, Delaware Section of the American Chemical Society, 2002
- Entrepreneur of the Year in Technology (Carolinas), Ernst & Young, 2001
- Inventor of the Year Award, Triangle Intellectual Property Law Association, 2001
- Esselen Award for Chemistry in the Public Interest, Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society, 2001
- Oliver Max Gardner Award, University of North Carolina, 2000
- Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997
- Presidential Faculty Fellow Award, National Science Foundation, 1993
- National Science Foundation Young Investigator — Division of Materials Research, National Science Foundation, 1992
Publications
Journal Articles
In the Media
The world as we know it has changed drastically in just a moment of time. The global COVID-19 pandemic is devastating economies, communities, and families, and putting healthcare workers on the front lines at the greatest risk of facing a virus we are still trying to understand.
The Carbon Digital Light Synthesis™ process enables the development of functional prototypes and end-use parts on a single machine.
Carbon executives Ellen Kullman and Joseph DeSimone sit down with CNBC’s Jim Cramer to discuss how the company has pushed the 3D printing industry forward.
Digital manufacturer and 3D printing poster child Carbon has raised $260 million in a growth round of funding co-led by Madrone Capital Partners and Baillie Gifford, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Adidas Ventures, Johnson & Johnson Innovation (JJDC), Fidelity Management & Research Company, JSR Corporation, Temasek, and Arkema.
Reports emerged back in April that the Redwood City, California-based company was seeking to raise up to $300 million, which we now know was in the ballpark. This round takes Carbon’s total raised to $680 million and follows its $200 million series D raise from 2017, when it claimed a $1.7 billion valuation. Pitchbook estimated earlier this year that Carbon could now be valued at up to $2.5 billion, and we’re told the company has in fact reached a valuation of $2.4 billion with this latest round.
Reports emerged back in April that the Redwood City, California-based company was seeking to raise up to $300 million, which we now know was in the ballpark. This round takes Carbon’s total raised to $680 million and follows its $200 million series D raise from 2017, when it claimed a $1.7 billion valuation. Pitchbook estimated earlier this year that Carbon could now be valued at up to $2.5 billion, and we’re told the company has in fact reached a valuation of $2.4 billion with this latest round.
Carbon, the 3-D printing unicorn, said today that it had raised more than $260 million, at a valuation of more than $2.4 billion, led by Madrone Capital Partners and Baillie Gifford. That funding—Carbon’s Series E and likely its last investment before going public—makes the company the highest-valued, venture-backed 3-D printing company at a time when the technology for industrial uses is booming.
Jim Cramer sits down with Carbon CEO Joseph DeSimone to hear about the tech unicorn’s partnerships with Adidas, Ford, Ridell and more.
Vitamix, a leader in high-performance blending equipment, wanted to redesign and produce innovative nozzles used to rinse their commercial blenders in stores. Partnering with Carbon and The Technology House (TTH), and catalyzed by an unconstrained product design mindset, Vitamix was able to reimagine and redesign the nozzle. The nozzles are being manufactured at-scale, and tens of thousands will be deployed across the U.S.
The latest innovation in 3D printing technology.
Using his background in chemistry, CEO Joseph DeSimone has taken a whole new approach to advanced manufacturing, enabling Carbon, number 18 on our list of the 50 Smartest Companies, to print materials with a broad range of useful properties.
With an obsession to help athletes make a difference, Adidas unveils FUTURECRAFT 4D. The world’s first high performance footwear featuring midsoles crafted with light and oxygen.
To create FUTURECRAFT 4D, adidas’ experience in sport and design was combined with Carbon’s pioneering digital light synthesis technology to create the ultimate running shoe for all athletes. This technology will reshape the footwear manufacturing universe.
To create FUTURECRAFT 4D, adidas’ experience in sport and design was combined with Carbon’s pioneering digital light synthesis technology to create the ultimate running shoe for all athletes. This technology will reshape the footwear manufacturing universe.
What we think of as 3D printing, says Joseph DeSimone, is really just 2D printing over and over ... slowly. Onstage at TED2015, he unveils a bold new technique — inspired, yes, by Terminator 2 — that's 25 to 100 times faster, and creates smooth, strong parts. Could it finally help to fulfill the tremendous promise of 3D printing?