Dr. David L. Bourell recently retired from The University of Texas at Austin, where he was the Temple Foundation Professor Emeritus and served for 43 years as a professor in the Walker School of Mechanical Engineering, and in the Materials Science and Engineering Graduate Program.
Dr. Bourell, a Fellow of ASM International (FASM), has always placed a high premium on ASM International Handbook development. He co-authored his first ASM Handbook article 25 years ago for ASM Handbook, Volume 7: Powder Metallurgy (1998 edition) and ASM Handbook, Volume 20: Materials Selection and Design (1997). Most recently, Dr. Bourell was a co-Volume Editor of the upcoming ASM Handbook, Volume 24A: Additive Manufacturing Design and Applications (scheduled to publish later in 2023). He also served as co-Volume Editor and authored several articles for ASM Handbook, Volume 24: Additive Manufacturing Processes (2020).
One of Dr. Bourell’s most appreciated awards was the 1986 ASM International Bradley Stoughton Award for Early Career Teachers. Later in his career, in 1999, he was awarded the University of Texas College of Engineering Lockheed Martin Award for Excellence in Engineering Teaching (awarded annually to one person from the 270-member faculty.)
Dr. Bourell is a pioneer in additive manufacturing (AM), and was one of the first materials researchers to enter this field. He developed advanced material systems for Laser Sintering (LS), a powder bed fusion process, having worked in this area since 1988. According to the Wohlers Report, polyamide feedstock for this process is the most popular AM material among commercial users. He was the lead author on the first materials patent for LS technology. Issuing in 1990, this patent has been cited by 315 other patents. He holds 10 primary patents and has published 290 papers. Dr. Bourell was the first person to use a modern AM fabricator to produce a fully metal part (1990).
Service has been a hallmark of Dr. Bourell’s career. He has advanced the field of AM in various ways. He was a founding member of the organizing committee for the Annual International SFF Symposium — an Additive Manufacturing Conference (1990), chairing this group from 1995 to 2022. (The SFF Symposium is the longest running, premier research conference on AM in the world.) Dr. Bourell is a founding member of the ASTM F42 Technical Committee on Additive Manufacturing and currently serves on the F42 Executive Committee and the ten-member ASTM/ISO Joint Group 51 on Terminology for AM. He recently received that organization’s Frank W. Reinhart Award for “outstanding and unusual contributions to the organization in the realm of terminology standardization” (2022).
Dr. Bourell is also active in and a fellow of The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society (TMS), serving on numerous technical committees and the Society’s Board of Directors. In 2017, he received the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Albert M. Sargent Progress Award for “significant accomplishments in the field of manufacturing processes.” He was the 2011 recipient of the SFF Symposium Freeform and Additive Manufacturing Excellence (FAME) Award. In recognition of his service to the profession, he was the 2012 Recipient of the University of Texas Cockrell School of Engineering Joe J. King Professional Engineering Achievement Award, given to a single member of the 270-member faculty.
For over 25 years, Dr. Bourell has served as a member and officer of the technical committee that writes the Principals and Practice exam for Materials and Metallurgy, used by many states as part of the professional engineering registration process (he currently chairs this committee). He also enjoys writing tests for use in the Texas high school STEM competition on Calculator Applications, which is the pre-engineering test given under the aegis of the University Interscholastic League; more than 4,000 high-school students compete in this event annually. He started as a co-director of the contest in 1982, and he has directed it since 1997.
Dr. Bourell enjoys playing bass guitar, and owns a 3D-printed electric bass guitar. He also enjoys traveling, having traveled 2.7 million miles and visited over 30 countries on six continents.
