Dr. Decker received his BS, MS, and PhD from the University of Michigan with a thesis on nickel based alloys. He is the founder and former chairman of Thixomat, Inc., former Vice President of Inco, former Vice President of Michigan Tech University, and former President of ASM International. He is currently the Chief Technical Officer of Thixomat, chairman of ASM Materials Education Foundation, and an adjunct professor for Materials Science and Engineering at University of Michigan.

Thixomat has licensed world-wide production of Thixomolded net shape Mg for electronic/communication, auto, hand tool and sports markets. They are now diversifying into manufacturing wrought products for autos, battery and biomedical applications.