3D Systems, headquartered in Rock Hill, South Carolina, is a company that engineers, manufactures and sells 3D printers, 3D printing materials, software, and 3D scanners. The company was founded by Chuck Hull, the CTO and former president, who pioneered the first 3D printing technology –  stereolithography and obtained a patent for the technology in 1986. 3D Systems creates product concept models, precision and functional prototypes, master patterns for tooling, as well as production parts for direct digital manufacturing. It uses proprietary processes to fabricate physical objects using input from computer-aided design and manufacturing software, or 3D scanning and 3D sculpting devices.