Former Fremont Mayor Lily Mei joins Velo3D Board of Directors

Velo3D has appointed Lily Mei as an independent member of its Board of Directors, effective with the announcement on June 15, 2026. Mei, who served as Mayor of Fremont, California from 2016 to 2024, currently serves as Executive Director of the Emerging City Leaders Institute for Partnership & Strategic Empowerment (ECLIPSE) at San Francisco Bay University. Her background includes private-sector leadership roles at 3Com Corporation and the Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit Abatement, as well as elected service on the Fremont Unified School District Board. CEO Arun Jeldi stated that Mei’s experience in public-private partnerships and domestic manufacturing advocacy will support Velo3D’s expansion in strategic markets.

This appointment arrives at a critical juncture for Velo3D, which emerged from its post-SPAC restructuring phase with a narrowed focus on mission-critical metal AM applications for aerospace and defense. The company’s Sapphire family of LPBF systems has found its strongest traction in programs where qualification burden and supply-chain security outweigh pure cost-per-part considerations — precisely the segments where relationships with municipal and state economic development agencies, workforce training institutions, and defense primes matter most. Mei’s Fremont tenure included active engagement with advanced manufacturing clusters in the Bay Area, a region that hosts both Velo3D’s headquarters and a dense network of semiconductor, aerospace, and defense electronics suppliers. Her board seat signals an intentional effort to strengthen Velo3D’s institutional ties rather than pursue a pure technology narrative, reflecting a broader industry pattern where post-restructuring AM companies must rebuild credibility through governance and ecosystem access rather than machine specs alone.

For Velo3D, the practical value of this hire will be measured not in press releases but in whether it accelerates facility permitting, workforce pipeline agreements, or joint development programs with government end-users. The company’s immediate execution challenge remains converting its installed base of Sapphire printers into repeatable production cells for qualified defense and aerospace parts — a task that benefits from board-level familiarity with how public-sector procurement and workforce development actually operate. This is a governance move, not a product move, and its impact will become visible over quarters, not weeks.