Jennifer Lawton Becomes President of MakerBot

Jennifer Lawton has been named president of MakerBot – the 3D printing company. Prior to the new position, she had been the company’s chief strategy officer. 

As the chief strategy officer, she was responsible for overall strategy and growth of the company, including strategic partnerships, product development and retail. 

Her appointment comes as the company is being acquired by Stratasys (News - Alert).  MakerBot will remain an independent brand and will still be led by Bre Pettis, CEO and co-founder, as well as by Lawton.

The acquisition is expected to lead to more businesses and individual users getting involved in 3D printing, according to a report from 3D Printing View.

Under the deal (estimated at $403 million or more), MakerBot will keep its own products.

The parties have signed a definitive merger agreement that will turn the privately held MakerBot into a subsidiary of Stratasys. The acquisition is likely to be completed during Q3 of 2013, pending regulatory approvals. MakerBot has sold more than 22,000 3D printers.

“Jenny is a huge asset to MakerBot,” Pettis said in a recent company statement. “She’s my right hand.  Without Jenny we wouldn’t be where we are today. She has helped lead us to the next exciting phase for MakerBot. And she is building an infrastructure that helps the team innovate, invent and improve on a daily basis.”

In her new role, Lawton will oversee the acquisition and a six-member team that manages products, sales, marketing, technology, finance and manufacturing operations.

In 1991, Lawton co-founded Net Daemons Associates (NDA), an information technology consulting firm. She was CEO of NDA. In 2001, Lawton was the owner of two independent bookstores in Greenwich, Conn. In 2011, she became COO for Rockin’ Water and RAM (News - Alert) Scientific, and then was senior vice president of operations for Mercury Solar Systems.

In addition, Lawton is a board member of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership.  She has a degree in Applied Mathematics from Union College.

MakerBot is a Brooklyn-based company, founded in 2009. Stratasys is a key company in the 3D printing (additive manufacturing) sector.