science

Stratasys

Stratasys is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Stratasys rather than just read about it. In short: Stratasys, Ltd. is an American-Israeli manufacturer of 3D printers, software, and materials for polymer additive manufacturing as well as 3D-printed parts on-demand. The company is incorporated in Israel.

Key takeaways

Stratasys belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Stratasys to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Stratasys from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Stratasys, Ltd. is an American-Israeli manufacturer of 3D printers, software, and materials for polymer additive manufacturing as well as 3D-printed parts on-demand. The company is incorporated in Israel. Engineers use Stratasys systems to model complex geometries in a wide range of polymer materials, including: ABS, polyphenylsulfone (PPSF), polycarbonate (PC), polyetherimide and Nylon 12.

Stratasys manufactures in-office prototyping and direct digital manufacturing systems for automotive, aerospace, industrial, recreational, electronic, medical and consumer product OEMs.

History Stratasys was founded in 1989, by S. Scott Crump and his wife Lisa Crump in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The idea for the technology came to Crump in 1988 when he decided to make a toy frog for his young daughter using a glue gun loaded with a mixture of polyethylene and candle wax. He thought of creating the shape layer by layer and of a way to automate the process. In April 1992, Stratasys sold its first product, the 3D Modeler. In October 1994, Stratasys had an initial public offering on Nasdaq; the company sold 1.38 million shares of common stock at $5 per share, netting approximately $5.7 million. In January 1995, Stratasys purchased IBM's rapid prototyping intellectual property and other assets and employed 16 former IBM engineers, who had been developing a small 3-D printer that relied on an extrusion system very similar to Crump's patented fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology. In 2003, Stratasys fused deposition modeling (FDM) was the best-selling rapid prototyping technology. FDM is a process that the company patented, which is used to produce three-dimensional parts directly from 3D CAD files layer-by-layer for use in design verification, prototyping, development and manufacturing. In 2007, Stratasys supplied 44% of all additive fabrication systems installed worldwide, making it the unit market leader for the sixth consecutive year. In January 2010, Stratasys signed an agreement with HP to manufacture HP-branded 3D printers. In August 2012, the HP manufacturing and distribution agreement was discontinued. In May 2011, Stratasys announced that they had acquired Solidscape, a leader in high-precision 3D printers for lost wax casting applications. In 2012, Defense Distributed, an unrelated project to produce a working firearm by 3D printing, was intended to use a Stratasys printer. Stratasys refused to permit this and withdrew its license for use of the printer, citing that it did not allow its printers "to be used for illegal purposes". In 2014 the Israeli fashion designer Noa Raviv featured grid pattern centered couture garments which were created employing Stratasys' 3D printing technology. Some selections from the aforementioned collection were exhibited in 2016 at the exhibition "Manus X Machina" at the Anna Wintour Costume Center at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2019, the J750 model was recognized as the Enterprise 3D Printer of the Year in the polymer printer category at the 2019 3D Printing Industry Awards in London, England. In May 2023, Stratasys agreed to combine with Desktop Metal in an all-stock transaction worth at $1.8 billion, in which existing Stratasys shareholders will own around 59 percent of the combined company. Prior to, and following the acquisition announcement, Stratasys received multiple unsolicited bids to be acquired by part-owner Nano Dimensions, and in June, received another offer for $1.2 billion from its competitor 3D Systems. Stratasys terminated the acquisition in September after its shareholders voted against the Desktop Metal acquisition as both major proxy advisory firms Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services recommended against the deal. In August 2024, Stratasys filed a suit against Chinese 3D printing company Bambu Lab, alleging patent infringement. In January 2025, Stratasys launched its TrueDent solution in Europe, bringing monolithic digital dentures to the regional dental market In March 2025, the company expanded its dental presence in Europe through new distribution agreements with Galimplant, Gold Quadrat, and Métaux Précieux Fast Company named Stratasys one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2025 for its advancements in polymer 3D printing technologies.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Stratasys

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Stratasys claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Stratasys before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Stratasys ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Stratasys

In research: Stratasys appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Stratasys in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Stratasys is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1989 establishments in Minnesota, 1994 initial public offerings, 3D printer companies, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Stratasys outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Stratasys in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Stratasys means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Stratasys out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Stratasys in simple terms?

Why does Stratasys matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Stratasys?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Stratasys.