David Dean from the start of his academic career, research has focused on improving medical procedures and devices. His PhD thesis presented a novel, methods for averaging and measuring shape on 3D surface images of organs such as the skull. His postdoctoral research at the Institute of Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery (New York University) used average skull images as targets for surgical simulation and intra-operative guidance. In July 1994, Dr. Dean joined Case Western Reserve University where he began using average skull images to design and fabricate cranial plates in the Department of Neurological Surgery. Indeed, Dr. Dean was the first person to use an anatomical template to design and 3D print a patient-specific cranial implant. Dr. Dean’s career has since grown with the field of regenerative medicine to include research into biomaterials, skeletal progenitor cells, and the elusive search for a bone tissue engineering (i.e., bone substitute) strategy. In August 2013 Dr. Dean joined The Ohio State University faculty where he continues his research in bone tissue engineering as well as research into the use of two bio metals. The first of those two bio metals is NiTi (nitinol or nickel-titanium). This research is currently investigating the use of 3D printed, stiffness-matched, NiTi skeletal devices as skeletal fixation. The second area of bio metal research is Mg alloys for resorbable skeletal reconstruction devices. These two technologies portend significant improvements in reconstructive skeletal surgery (e.g., bone grafting) and joint replacement (e.g., hip, knee, spine, and shoulder) outcomes. Dr. Dean is also the Lead of the NSF-funded HAMMER Engineering Research Center's Point-of-Care Manufacturing Testbed which is implementing novel Virtual Surgical Planning software for robotic fabrication of personalized skeletal fixation hardware at the point-of-care.