10-26-2023: Fried Vancraen retired as Materialise CEO and was succeeded by Brigitte de Vet-Veithen
de Vet-Veithen was the Executive Vice President of Materialise Medical
On October 26, 2023, Fried Vancraen, co-founder of Materialise and its CEO for 33 years, announced his resignation from the position and transition to the Board of Directors, where he would take on the role of Chairman. He was succeeded by Brigitte de Vet-Veithen, an experienced manager with over 30 years of experience across various industries, who joined Materialise in 2016 and served as the Executive Vice President of Materialise Medical.
Fried Vancraen is considered one of the legends of the AM industry, alongside Charles Hull, S. Scott Crump, Carl Deckard, and Hans Langer. In 1990, he co-founded Materialise with his wife Hilde Ingelaere – one of the first companies in the world to offer rapid prototyping services based on 3D printing. It was also the first company of its kind established in Belgium and this region of Europe. Materialise’s first 3D printer was the SLA 1 from 3D Systems.
However, what truly established Vancraen and Materialise as leaders was software. In 1992, Materialise began digitally mapping human anatomy in three dimensions using sliced CT image data. This laid the foundation for the creation of the first 3D medical image processing software, Mimics. At the same time, Materialise was also developing its industrial version, Magics. Both became fundamental to the growth of 3D printing in both medical and manufacturing sectors. Materialise's solutions are (or have been) used by all major AM system manufacturers worldwide.
Over 33 years of leading the company, Vancraen elevated Materialise to the top of the AM industry. He also took the company public on the NASDAQ in New York in July 2014. Today, Materialise operates on three independent pillars: software development, software and applications for advanced medicine, and comprehensive 3D printing services.
Vancraen’s successor, Brigitte de Vet-Veithen, had been with Materialise since 2016, where she served as the General Manager of Materialise Medical. Previously, she spent most of her career in the medical field. This transition has so far proven beneficial for the company. In recently published financial results for Q3 2024, Materialise recorded a 14% year-over-year increase in revenue and 3 million euros in profit.
Source: www.materialise.com