David L. Bourell is the Temple Foundation Professor of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. His areas of research include materials issues associated with laser sintering (LS) and particulate processing. Bourell holds nine primary patents and has published 250 papers in journals and conference proceedings, or as book chapters. He is a founding member of the ASTM F42 Technical Committee on Additive Manufacturing and currently serves on the ten-member ASTM/ISO Joint Group 51 on Terminology for Additive Manufacturing. Bourell is a Fellow of TMS and ASM International and a recipient of the TMS Materials Processing & Manufacturing Division Distinguished Scientist/Engineer Award. In 2017, he received the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Albert M. Sargent Progress Award for "significant accomplishments in the field of manufacturing processes."

Bourell has been an active member of TMS for more than 35 years. He was the charter faculty advisor for The University of Texas' TMS student chapter. Since 1982, he has consistently been a member or officer of at least one TMS technical or functional committee. Bourell is a current member of the Powder Materials, Professional Registration, and Additive Manufacturing (AM) Committees. He has completed officer rotations in all three committees, including as founding chair of the AM Committee, TMS's first technical committee to span three or more of the Society's five technical divisions. He is actively engaged in offering a popular, recurring workshop on additive manufacturing as part of the TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition and Materials Science & Technology Conference, and is the lead editor for a special topic with JOM.

Bourell received his B.S. (1975) in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M Univeristy, and his M.S. (1976) and Ph.D. (1979) both in materials science and engineering from Stanford University.