Dana McCallum has a history in manufacturing, beginning her career in injection molding and 3D printing.
You may know her as the Head of Production Partnerships at Carbon, or as the Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG). She is also an active member of Women in Manufacturing (WiM) and is the Director for WiM’s California chapter. She definitely is one woman shaping today and tomorrow’s manufacturing.
Nora Toure: Dana, could you let us know about your background and what brought you into 3D printing in the first place?
Dana McCallum: I graduated from the Miami University of Ohio with a Strategic Communications degree thinking I wanted to go into HR but found out quickly through an internship that policy writing was not for me. Long story short, the CEO of Thogus in Avon Lake, Ohio asked me if I would be interested in creating their marketing department. Not having any background in manufacturing or even knowing what injection molding was I said “Yes, of course!” At the same time I began working at Thogus, CEO, Matt Hlavin was starting up a 3D printing service bureau called rapid prototype and manufacturing (rp+m) and a medical device company, JALEX where I was also responsible for marketing. The lack of knowledge didn’t stop me from jumping hurdles to understand injection molding and 3D Printing. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work on the program management team, being a liaison between the customers and operations. I also worked a few shifts as an operator. Both of these gave me a hands-on learning experience, which was critical for my career success.
Between the injection molding side, 3d printing and medical device design, I fell in love with manufacturing. I didn’t have any knowledge of manufacturing growing up so I took little things for granted, such as brushing your teeth. Do you know how much work goes into making a toothbrush?
My passion developed not only from the appreciation of manufacturing but also because of the people I surrounded myself with. I expanded my network by being nominated and elected onto the Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) Board of Directors (Thank you, Terry Hoppe and Patrick Gannon). The board and the members who attend AMUG every year are absolutely amazing. The team at Thogus and it’s family of companies, the AMUG Board, my mentors and my network pushed me to learn more and more every day.
In 2015, I joined Carbon to continue my passion within 3D manufacturing. My colleagues at Carbon are second to none. I can proudly say they are the most talented people and we are having so much fun pushing the boundaries of additive manufacturing in many different markets. The learning has not stopped.
Read the rest at Women In 3D Printing
