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Ping Fu (born 1958) is the co-founder and CEO of Geomagic, a software development company focused on 3D software and technology for design and engineering. Since 2010, she has served on the National Advisory Council for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She also sits on the board of the Long Now Foundation.

Personal Biography

Ping Fu was born in 1958 in Nanjing, China. Her father was a professor at the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and her mother an accountant. They sent Ping to Shanghai to be raised by her aunt and uncle, who had five children all older than Ping. In 1966 when she was eight years old, Ping's upbringing was interrupted by the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. She was taken from her Shanghai family and returned to the city of her birth. She arrived in Nanjing to find that both of her parents had been sent to the countryside for "re-education." Ping was left to care for herself and her birth sister, four-year-old Hong.

For the duration of the Cultural Revolution, Ping Fu took care of her little sister and managed their household with little parental supervision. She received very little formal education, but instead attended study sessions of Mao's Little Red Book led by Red Guards, performed mandatory military service, and worked on farms and in factories.

In 1976, Mao Zedong died and the Cultural Revolution came to an abrupt end. Universities in China soon re-opened, and Ping took China's first university entrance exams in a decade. In 1977 she gained admission to study literature at Suzhou University. For her thesis, Ping traveled the countryside researching the effects of China's newly implemented one-child policy. She spent two years interviewing hundreds of villagers, barefoot doctors, and medical staff, and found that the practice of female infanticide was widespread. She submitted her findings to her supervisor in 1980, and soon thereafter, her research gained domestic and international media attention. A story based on Ping's research was published in Shanghai's largest newspaper, and another in the People's Daily. When reports of female infanticide reached the international community, however, they prompted strong condemnation, as well as sanctions from the United Nations. The government briefly detained Ping Fu, and then exiled her to the United States.

Ping arrived in America in 1983 at age 25 on a student visa with no money and no English language skills. She enrolled in English as a Foreign Language classes and then as a master's student in computer science at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She paid her way through school by working first as a babysitter and cleaning lady, then, as her English improved, as a waitress. Shortly before completing her MS degree, she decided to move to San Diego to attend the University of San Diego as an undergraduate. She enrolled in the computer science program and simultaneously began working for Lane Sharman, founder and CEO of Resource Systems Group.

Ping was married to Herbert Edelsbrunner in 1991 and they divorced in 2008. They have one daughter Xixi Edelsbrunner who was born in 1993.

Professional Biography

In 1988, Ping graduated with a BS and MS in computer science from UCSD and accepted an offer from Bell Labs in Naperville, Illinois. While working there and taking classes at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ping met her future husband and Geomagic co-founder, computational geometry professor Herbert Edelsbrunner. In 1990, Ping accepted an offer from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications on the UIUC campus. Her work there contributed to advancements in the fields of virtual reality, image processing, scientific visualization, massive storage, and user interface. Ping hired undergraduate Marc Andreessen to work in her lab in 1992. Marc developed NCSA Mosaic, the web browser credited with popularizing the World Wide Web. When Marc graduated in 1993, he went on to found Netscape Communications and launch the flagship web browser Netscape Navigator.

NCSA and UIUC administrators began asking employees if they had any ideas for start-ups, vowing to back any ventures financially. Ping volunteered to start one. Drawing upon 3D imaging technology she had developed while working at NCSA, which was based on the mathematical formulations of her co-founder Herbert, Ping founded Geomagic in 1997. Her goal was to develop software that could take the data from 3D scanners, process it, and output it on 3D printers, doing for 3D printing what Adobe did for desktop publishing. By 1999, Geomagic had partnered with Boeing and Mattel, and raised $6.5 million in venture capital financing from Franklin Street Partners. The company also moved to Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

Ping briefly stepped down as CEO Geomagic in the spring of 2000, remaining Chairman of the Board and Chief Technology Officer. She returned to the CEO position early in 2001, signing a contract with Align Technologies, manufacturers of Invisalign removable, clear dental devices. In 2003, Geomagic opened its first wholly owned subsidiary, Geomagic GmbH in Germany and completed its first acquisition, of Cadmus Consulting in Hungary. In 2005, Ping was selected by Inc. magazine as its Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2010, she joined the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. In early January 2013, 3D Systems announced an agreement to acquire Geomagic.

Controversies

After Ping Fu's multiple media interviews and book publications, particularly recent book titled "Bend, not break" and the book promotions angried the Chinese communities around the world. The well-known fraud hunter Dr. Shiming Fang (aka Fangzhouzi) posted a blog to suspect her truthness of her stories. More and more digging and reasoning of her life stories in China lead to conclusion of her stories fake, fabricated. Her credibility and integrity in two worlds of China and US are on the line as well.

Awards

References

1. Kathleen Schalch (March 18, 2006). "Ping Fu: Recreating the World in All Its Dimensions". NPR - Technology. NPR. Retrieved 26 Sep 2012.
2. ^ John Brant (Dec 1, 2005). "Entrepreneur of the Year: Ping Fu". Inc. Mansueto Ventures LLC. Retrieved 26 Sep 2012.
3. ^ Ping Fu and MeiMei Fox. "Bend, Not Break: A Life in Two Worlds". Portfolio Hardcover. p. 288. ISBN 978-1591845522. Retrieved 26 Sep 2012.
4. Monica Chen (August 26, 2011). "Ping Fu - Geomagic: Lifetime Achievement Winner". Triangle Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 26 Sep 2012.
5. "Geomagic opens German subsidiary to provide support for Europe, Middle East, Africa". Geomagic Press Release. COLOGNE, Germany. November 3, 2003. Retrieved 26 Sep 2012.
6. "Geomagic acquires Cadmus Consulting; names Dr. Tamás Várady chief technology officer". Geomagic Press Release. BUDAPEST. 21 October 2003. Retrieved 26 Sep 2012.
7. "Management Team". About. Geomagic. Retrieved 26 Sep 2012.
8. "3D Systems acquires Geomagic". 03 January 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
9. "Ping Fu of Geomagic selected as leading businesswoman in N.C.'s Triangle". RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. August 4, 2005. Retrieved 26 Sep 2012.

External links

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