David Karl

Adjunct Professor, Space Resources Program
David Karl

Prof. David Karl currently serves as the Additive Manufacturing Research Group Leader at the Chair of Advanced Ceramic Materials at Technische Universität Berlin and as an Adjunct Professor in the Space Resources Program at Colorado School of Mines. His diverse academic background uniquely combines scientific and artistic disciplines. Initially, he started his academic career with a distinguished diploma in Fine Art at Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig, followed by a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from the Slade School of Fine Art at University College London. Dr. Karl then transitioned into materials science, completing his PhD summa cum laude in Materials Science and Engineering at Technische Universität Berlin. His dissertation, titled “In situ resource utilization of Martian regolith simulants through wet-processing for unfired clay structures and sintered ceramics,” highlights his expertise in additive manufacturing and advanced ceramics applied to space resource utilization.

Prof. Karl’s academic contributions include numerous peer-reviewed articles, a review article, an editorial, three conference papers, and a book chapter. He actively participates in the scientific community as a peer reviewer for a number of journals such as Open Ceramics, Powder Technology, Journal of the European Ceramic Society, Advances in Space Research, New Space, Frontiers in Space Technologies, Progress in Additive Manufacturing, Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Acta Astronautica, and Icarus. Additionally, he has co-edited two special issues for Open Ceramics and served as a scientific reviewer for project proposals from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the UK Space Agency, specifically related to exploration science and lunar activities.

In teaching, Prof. Karl holds various educational responsibilities at Technische Universität Berlin and the Colorado School of Mines, notably as the lecturer for the “Introduction to Additive Manufacturing (3D printing)” course and its practical lab module. Since 2025, he has been teaching a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) course titled “Off-Earth Additive Manufacturing (Space, the Moon, Mars)” for students from TU Berlin’s materials science program and Colorado School of Mines’ Additive Manufacturing and Space Resources program.

Actively involved in the broader scientific community, Prof. Karl has co-organized several international conferences, forums, and workshops dedicated to ceramic additive manufacturing for the European Ceramic Society and space resource utilization for ESA and LSA. In 2025, he serves as President of the Board for the European Ceramics Society’s “Europe Makes Ceramics” topical network.

Throughout his career, Prof. Karl has received numerous prestigious awards for his research contributions. TU Berlin nominated him as a candidate for the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize 2024, Germany’s premier scientific award supporting promising researchers toward professorship. He also received the Best Scientific Paper Award (James Zhijian Shen Prize) from Elsevier’s Open Ceramics during the 18th European Ceramic Society ECerS) conference. His academic excellence was further recognized by a Visiting Postdoctoral Scholarship from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) and the Hans-Walter-Hennicke-Preis from the Deutsche Keramische Gesellschaft (DKG). Additionally, his artistic achievements were acknowledged with the Robert Ross scholarship from the University College London and the first prize in the European Competition in Art by the European Council for his submission “Fortress Europe.”

Prof. Karl’s multidisciplinary research spans various disciplines and institutions, primarily focused on processing techniques, starting from powder materials and emphasizing Additive Manufacturing (AM). His key research areas include powder synthesis, advanced ceramics, sophisticated powder characterization, and functional sheet-silicate materials. He also specializes in the processing of AM-produced components, with particular emphasis on in-situ resource utilization.

Contact

David.Karl@ceramics.tu-berlin.de

Programs and Research Centers

Education

  • Diploma in Fine Art (Dipl. FK, 5-year programm), Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig, Germany (2010)
  • Master of Fine Art (MFA), Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, United Kingdom (2012)
  • B. Sc. in Materials Science, Technischen Universität Berlin, Germany (2015)
  • Direct Track Doctoral Degree for academically outstanding candidates with only a B.Sc. (starting 2015)
  • Ph.D. degree awarded with summa cum laude in Materials Science and Engineering, Technischen Universität Berlin, Germany. Dissertation entitled: In situ resource utilization of Martian regolith simulants through wet-processing for unfired clay structures and sintered ceramics (2021)

Research Interests

  • In-situ resource utilization
  • Planetary regolith simulants
  • Multidisciplinary additive manufacturing
  • Advanced processing methods for ceramics
  • AM powder development and characterization
  • Cultural anthropology, renaissance and conceptual art

Teaching

  • Off Earth Additive Manufacturing (SPRS 598)

Selected Publications

View full list on ORCID (link): https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7481-5128

J. Patzwald, R. Kleba-Ehrhardt, F. Schiperski, T. Griemsmann, S. Linke, T. Neumann, L. Overmeyer, E. Stoll, und D. Karl,Properties of Novel LX Lunar Regolith Simulant System — The Base Simulants: Part 1, Acta Astronautica 231 (2025): 200–222,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2025.02.030

P. Junge, E.M. Heppke, R. Kleba-Ehrhardt, D. Karl, G. Cios, und C. Rupprecht, Phase Evolution and Microstructure of Suspension HVOF-Sprayed Alumina Coatings, Surface and Coatings Technology 499 (2025): 131885, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfcoat.2025.131885

H.T. Tan, E. Lopez, A. Selbmann, D. Karl, L. Stepien, and F. Brueckner, Parameter analysis to correlate density with surface roughness and productivity in Powder Bed Fusion–Laser Beam (PBF-LB) of AlSi10Mg, Procedia CIRP 124 (2024), 157-162, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2024.08.090

N. Jain, J. Schmidt, O. Goerke, D. Karl, A. Gurlo, and F. Schmidt, Surface modification of bioactive glasses for successful incorporation with poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid)(PLGA), RSC Applied Interfaces 1 (2024), 748-758, https://doi.org/10.1039/D3LF00273J

D. Karl, K.M. Cannon, A. Gurlo, Leaching of Lunar Regolith for Synthetic Phyllosilicates on the Moon, in: Earth and Space 2022, Denver, Colorado, (2023), pp. 291–297, ISBN: 9780784484470. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784484470.027

D. Karl, Triple Point, in: S. Bürkle, A. Gross, K. Wegemann (Eds.), Eigensinnige Orte: Stubborn places, Verlag Kettler, Dortmund, (2023), pp. 112–119. ISBN 9783987410789. https://tu-berlin.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/1ljtibe/TUB_ALMA_DS21677245410002884

L. Karacasulu, D. Karl, A. Gurlo, C. Vakifahmetoglu, Cold sintering as a promising ISRU technique: A case study of Mars regolith simulant, Icarus 389 (2023) 115270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115270

D. Karl, K. Cannon, A. Gurlo, Review of space resources processing for Mars missions: Martian simulants, regolith bonding concepts and additive manufacturing, Open Ceramics 9 (2022) 100216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceram.2021.100216

D. Karl, In situ resource utilization of Martian regolith simulants through wet-processing for unfired clay structures and sintered ceramics, Technische Universität Berlin, Advanced Ceramic Materials 6 (2022), Doctoral thesis. http://doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-12276

G. Franchin, A. Zocca, D. Karl, H. Yun, X. Tian, Editorial: Advances in additive manufacturing of ceramics, Open Ceramics (2022) 100277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceram.2022.100277

I. Baesso, D. Karl, A. Spitzer, A. Gurlo, J. Günster, A. Zocca, Characterization of powder flow behavior for additive manufacturing, Additive Manufacturing 47 (2021) 102250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2021.102250

D. Karl, A. Gurlo, Synthetic H2O weathering of simple feldspar lunar regolith simulants aiming to build high strength ‘sandcastles’ using fusion drying, in: Earth and Space 2021: Space Exploration, Utilization, Engineering, and Construction in Extreme Environments, Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Eng. (2021) 958-969. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483374.087

D. Karl, F. Kamutzki, P. Lima, A. Gili, T. Duminy, A. Zocca, J. Günster, A. Gurlo, Sintering of ceramics for clay in situ resource utilization on Mars, Open Ceramics 2 (2020) 100008. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceram.2020.100008

D. Karl, T. Duminy, P. Lima, F. Kamutzki, A. Gili, A. Zocca, J. Günster, A. Gurlo, Clay in situ resource utilization with Mars global simulant slurries for additive manufacturing and traditional shaping of unfired green bodies, Acta Astronautica 174 (2020) 241-253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2020.04.064

D. Karl, F. Kamutzki, A. Zocca, P. Lima, O. Goerke, J. Guenster, A. Gurlo, Ceramics from wet-processing of Martian soil simulant using slip casting or AM for ISRU on Mars: Proc. of the 8th Europ. Conf. for Aeronautics and Space Sci. in Madrid Spain, 1-4 July (2019). https://doi.org/10.13009/EUCASS2019-769

D. Karl, B. Jastram, P.H. Kamm, H. Schwandt, A. Gurlo, F. Schmidt, Evaluating porous polylactide-co-glycolide/bioactive glass composite microsphere powders for laser sintering of scaffolds, Powder Technology 354 (2019) 289–300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.powtec.2019.06.010

D. Karl, F. Kamutzki, A. Zocca, O. Goerke, J. Guenster, A. Gurlo, Towards the colonization of Mars by in-situ resource utilization: Slip cast ceramics from Martian soil simulant, PloS one 13 (2018) e0204025. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0204025