Stewart Lane, corporate manager at global engineering company Renishaw, has been appointed chairman of a European trade body's new Additive Manufacturing (AM) Committee.

Also called 3D printing, additive manufacturing is a process used to create three-dimensional parts from a digital file. It usually involves building up, or solidifying, thin layers of material to create complete parts

Mr Lane is on the board of CECIMO, the European group that represents national associations of machine tool builders and related manufacturing technologies.

The committee he chairs will discuss EU policy challenges and drive AM forward in Europe.

After joining Wotton-under-Edge based Renishaw in 2000, Mr Lane was first appointed to the boards of the UK's Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) and CECIMO in 2015.

Renishaw has shared its specialist AM knowledge as part of CECIMO's AM Working Group and at multiple industry events.

Mr Lane said: "New and innovative manufacturing techniques are crucial to drive European industry forward. To achieve productivity and competitiveness, we must industrialise additive manufacturing.

"We are currently on the verge of this, as the technology moves from prototyping to serial production. However, we must first address the challenges in the AM industry and use these to shape industrial policy.

"CECIMO will be critical to ensuring Europe develops the right ecosystem to make the most of the technology."

Filip Geerts, director general of CECIMO, said: "Stewart has the right blend of skills and experience to chair our new AM Committee. His proven track record and international experience provides the right overview to chair a pan-European committee. His knowledge of the whole value chain of AM alongside his technical and commercial knowledge means he can work across all aspects of the committee's work."