Terry Wohlers

Industry consultant, analyst, author, and speaker Terry Wohlers is president of Wohlers Associates, Inc., an independent consulting firm he founded 22 years ago. Through this company, Wohlers has provided consulting assistance to more than 150 organizations in 20 countries. For more than a decade, he has served as a voice in the additive fabrication industry. He has been quoted in the Business 2.0, BusinessWeek, Chicago Tribune, Discovery News from the Discovery Channel, The Economist, FORTUNE, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Scientific American, The Wall Street Journal, and countless domestic and foreign magazines, journals, and newspapers. 

In August 2007, Wohlers was voted the #1 most influential person in rapid product development and rapid manufacturing by TCT Magazine (UK) in its TCT Top 25 Influential People survey. More than 1,000 industry professionals from around the world voted. The results were published in the August issue of the magazine.

Wohlers has authored nearly 350 books, articles, and technical papers on engineering and manufacturing automation. Also, he has been given the opportunity to speak to thousands of engineers, scientists, and executives around the world. Wohlers has given more than 50 keynote presentations on five continents in cities ranging from Frankfurt and Cape Town to Beijing and Tokyo. He has visited more than 200 organizations worldwide to witness their capabilities, best practices, and challenges. To satisfy his appetite for adventure, Wohlers has climbed the Great Wall of China, hiked the rain forests of New Zealand, dived among sharks in Belize, and bathed in the Dead Sea. He has also ridden elephants in Thailand, encountered lions and rhinos in Africa, and explored ancient pyramids in Egypt.

In May 2004, Wohlers received an Honorary Doctoral Degree of Mechanical Engineering from Central University of Technology, Free State (Bloemfontein, South Africa). Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize winner, received this honorary degree in 2002. In 2005, Wohlers became a Fellow of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Less than 1% of the SME membership is granted this distinction, making it one of the most prestigious honors presented by the Society.

In 1992, Wohlers led a group of 14 individuals from industry and academia to form the first association dedicated to rapid prototyping. In 1993, the association joined the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) to become the Rapid Prototyping Association (RPA) of SME. In 1998, Wohlers co-founded the Global Alliance of Rapid Prototyping Associations (GARPA) involving 22 member nations around the world. Today, GARPA serves as a catalyst for the exchange of information on rapid prototyping and tooling across international borders.  

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