Please introduce yourself and what you do at TRUMPF Inc.
David Havrilla, Lead Instructor of Laser Technology.
We understand that TRUMPF Inc. is the Registration sponsor this year at ICALEO. How long has TRUMPF Inc. been participating in this conference?
Not exactly sure, but they have been involved at least since we were established in the Detroit area back in 1996, and perhaps earlier via our Connecticut presence.
What made you feel so passionate about the event as to sponsor the attendee’s registration cost?
ICALEO is a well-established event with a reputation of attracting outstanding leading edge academic and hands-on laser application experts from around the globe to share their experience and insights. We are hoping that sponsoring the registration costs will allow more individuals to join and learn about laser technology and how it can help overcome challenges, add design value to components (like light weighting or unique features), and improve quality in the manufacturing sector.
What are your impressions of the event transitioning to a virtual event this year?
For this particular season, which the world has not experienced in the last century, this was the only and right way to move forward with the event.
Can you tell us about the importance of companies like yours attending events like ICALEO?
The event is important on several fronts. First, to connect with our own team from headquarters, and with academic and industry experts from around the globe. Second, to gain insights from the latest research and experiences from various experts. Third, to contribute to the overall knowledge base and growth of industrial laser processing by presenting the latest advancements from TRUMPF’s perspective, and finally, to connect with industry attendees and have a chance to talk with them about their on-going projects, or potential laser applications.
Has TRUMPF Inc. been impacted in any other ways due to the pandemic?
Of course, we have instituted all the government mandated protocols, which has required many of our employees to work remotely. We also saw a significant reduction of orders and service missions during the first couple months of COVID. These have now returned to normal and even above anticipated levels.
Do you anticipate any long-term changes due to COVID-19 that TRUMPF Inc. will make moving forward?
We are evaluating a new paradigm for remote work and also how we might better utilize our office space in lieu of this new reality, even post-COVID.
Has the pandemic had any unexpected positive effect on your company?
I would say that the flexibility of remote work, and less geographical constraints for future talent base because of our new posture regarding remote work, are two positive effects. In addition, many people are saving commute time, fuel costs, have more personal flexibility, etc., and in the end, I believe employees will have greater job satisfaction and we will have reduced turn-over.
Is TRUMPF Inc. currently working on anything that you think our readers should know about?
I can only speak for the Training Department. We have launched a new portfolio of courses for our lasers and systems as of July 1st, and are currently working on several e-Learning courses for customers who are unable to travel. We will offer the e-Learning courses at 50% off, and also offer the same in-person course at 50% off if the customer takes the same course within a year of completing the e-Learning course.
If so, how do you see this shaping our industry going forward?
Greater accessibility to training should lead to quicker and higher levels of competency, leading to higher equipment uptime, greater confidence in utilization of laser material processing lasers and systems, and in the long-term (combined with the on-going reduction of laser prices) should lead to an expansion in the market.
Is there anything else you think worth discussing?
Hot topics within the TRUMPF organization at the moment are:
OEM laser advancements: increasing green wavelength laser to higher CW powers, high CW powers for various ultra-short pulse lasers in the TRUMPF portfolio
Sensor technology for part & seam detection with remote welding, weld depth monitoring, advanced monitoring for 3D metal printing
Industry 4.0 topics like Condition Monitoring and OPC-UA interface
SPI Laser product integration into the TRUMPF portfolio
This interview was done by the Laser Institute of America as part of a sponsorship package offered at the ICALEO conference. To find out more about how you can sponsor at ICALEO 2021, please visit icaleo.org or reach out to marketing@lia.org.
ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — The Laser Institute (LIA)’s 38th International Congress on Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics (ICALEO) was recently held in Orlando, Florida and featured the conference’s many firsts. A meeting of laser industry experts and decision-makers from around the world, the event hosted dialogue with a deeper industry foci, more expansive technical sessions, and a new Business Conference that addressed laser end-users while highlighting solutions from the manufacturing community.
A collection of Live User Solutions Forums, Market Drivers Symposia, and Live User Solutions Round Tables discussions, the Business Conference acted as a complement to ICALEO’s traditional Technical Conference. Regarded as a concentrated effort of participants from the Aerospace, Biomedical, Microelectronics, and Automotive industries, ICALEO’s Business sessions allowed laser manufacturers, integrators, and end-users to engage in the discussion on the unique challenges and revolutionary applications in the industry.
To further emphasize the attendee-friendly approach of this year’s ICALEO format, the Business Conference also presented a four-day tradeshow that connected all members of the laser marketplace. An accomplishment at dedicating whole days to each of its selected industries, the tradeshow hosted over 40 international exhibitors from the likes of IPG Photonics, II-VI, and more.
Spanning the duration of the conference to maximize the attendee’s opportunity to network with these leading brands, the assembly of exhibitors also included Han’s Laser Smart Equipment Group (ICALEO’s Diamond Sponsor), Coherent Inc. (ICALEO’s Platinum Sponsor), as well as TRUMPF Inc., Kentek, and Edgewave (ICALEO’s Gold Sponsors).
Meanwhile, the ICALEO Technical Conference enhanced its focus on the innovative and novel uses of lasers and photonics via its subdivided tracks. These are comprised of the Laser Additive Manufacturing, Laser Materials Macroprocessing, Laser Materials Microprocessing, Laser Nanomanufacturing, and Battery Systems and Energy Conversion tracks.
An approach that allowed the conference speakers to deliberate on how laser applications can push the envelope of modern technology while advancing key industries in their accuracy, efficiency, and speed, the Technical Conference’s new format also gave engineers and materials processing experts the chance to discover new processing techniques, acquire new skills, and collaborate to ensure their organization stays up-to-date and on the leading edge of productivity.
These innovations and advancements were envisioned in the opening addresses of the plenary speakers from all four industries. Peter Boeijink of XYREC opened the aerospace-focused conference with his speech on “The Largest, Highest-Power, Mobile, Industrial, Laser Materials Processing Robot in the World” while Dr. Christoph Leyens from Fraunhofer IWS discussed the “Innovative Aerospace and Space Structures Made by Additive Manufacturing.”
Similarly, the esteemed Professor William Steen presented his speech “The Coming of the Age of Optical Engineering” during the biomedical conference, alongside Fraunhofer Institute of Laser Technology (ILT)’s Dr. Nadine Nottrodt who spoke on “Laser in Biofabrication – How Laser Technology Can Help to Build Artificial Tissue.” They were joined by Dr. Chris Bashur of the Florida Institute of Technology who elaborated on the “Photonic Needs in Regenerative Medicine.”
Participants from the microelectronics industry mulled over the words of Dr. Kumar Patel of Pranalytica Inc. during his plenary speech on “Recapturing the Excitement of High Power Infrared Lasers,” while Dr. Markus Arendt of SUSS MicroTec Photonic Systems spoke on the “Excimer Laser Ablation for High-Density Routing in Advanced Packaging.”
During the automotive-focused conference, Ethan Sprague from the University of Michigan presented his thoughts on “Laser Aided Manufacturing: Atom to Automobile” before Dr. Ted Reutzel of Pennsylvania State University described the “Progress Towards Sensing and Mitigating Flaw Formation in Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing.” Their presentations joined the observations on “Bottoms Up Digital Design: The Quiet Revolution of the Additive Manufacturing Age” by Dr. Jason Carroll of Eaton, a power-management company that provides energy-efficient solutions to managing electrical, hydraulic, and mechanical power.
To view the highlighted content from ICALEO 2019, including recorded interviews, panels, and speeches, follow LIA’s social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The 39th ICALEO will be held at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois USA from Oct 19, 2020–Oct 22, 2020. Call for papers and Tradeshow booth bookings will be made available soon, and interested parties may contact icaleo@lia.org for further information.
ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 30, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Laser industry professionals from academic and industrial settings will be meeting in Orlando, Florida for the 38th annual International Congress on Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics (ICALEO) conference from Oct 7, 2019–Oct 10, 2019. Organized by The Laser Institute (LIA), the revamped iteration features the four industry foci of Aerospace, Biomedical, Microelectronics, and Automotive.
This year’s ICALEO will introduce a new Business Conference that addresses laser end-users while presenting solutions to challenges that various manufacturing industries are experiencing. A complement to the Technical Conference and its workshops, the Business Conference will allow manufacturers, integrators, and suppliers to selectively engage in the discussion on the unique challenges and revolutionary applications for advanced laser materials processing.
Co-chairs Klaus Löffler of TRUMPF Laser- und Systemtechnik GmbH, and Dr. Henrikki Pantsar from TRUMPF Inc. describe the event as an opportunity to bridge manufacturing and applied research, as well as a platform to highlight laser providers with leading solutions. The exhibitors that attendees will have the opportunity to engage with during the Trade Show include TRUMPF, II-VI, NASA, IPG Photonics, Han’s Laser, and more.
In addition to the Trade Show that will go on across the four days of the conference, conversations will also revolve around the business plenary addresses from the likes of Dr. Christoph Leyens. The Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology in Dresden, Dr. Leyens will speak on the innovative aerospace and space structures made by additive manufacturing during the Aerospace Business Conference day on Oct 7.
He will be joined by Dave Hudson, the President and CEO of Joining Industries and the head of three manufacturing subsidiaries that specialize in different categories of laser-based manufacturing. Mr. Hudson’s presentation will revolve around the expanding use of industrial lasers in aerospace manufacturing.
During the Biomedical Business Conference day on Oct 8, Professor William Steen, the ‘Father of Laser Materials Processing’ and namesake of the inaugural William M. Steen Award will be in attendance to present his talk on the coming of the age of optical engineering. A plenary speech by Dr. Chris Bashur of Florida Institute of Technology will also enlighten the audience on the lasers and optics applications in regenerative medicine.
Dr. Markus Arendt, the President of SUSS MicroTec Photonic Systems, will then elaborate on the practicality of excimer laser ablation for high-density routing in advanced packaging during the Microelectronics Business Conference day on Oct 9.
On the next day, the University of Michigan’s Dr. Jyoti Mazumder will present his plenary address “Laser Aided Manufacturing: Atom to Automobile” for the Automotive Business Conference day. Dr. Jason Carroll, the Global Technology Director for Materials and Manufacturing at Eaton, will follow with his thoughts on the bottom-up digital design for additive manufacturing.
The LIA has introduced a set of annual awards dedicated to Professor William Maxwell Steen, a veteran and pioneer of laser technology.
This year the Laser Institute (LIA) announced a new set of awards that it plans to confer annually to user organisations that demonstrate significant innovation in the use of lasers for advanced materials processing. Finalists and recipients of the awards will present their innovations at the International Congress on Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics (ICALEO) on 7-10 October.
The awards will be conferred across each of the following industries: aerospace; automotive; medical devices; microelectronics; specialised manufacturing and services; research and development; life sciences; defense; academic and public sector.
They are dedicated to Professor William Maxwell Steen, a pioneer of laser materials processing research who is commonly referred to as ‘the father of laser materials processing’ in the industrial laser community.
Steen, in addition to founding the world’s first university-based research group in laser material processing at Imperial College London in 1968, can be accredited with the invention of laser chemical vapour deposition, laser arc hybrid welding, and with his research group, the development of blown powder laser cladding and laser direct casting – processes which formed the foundation of laser additive manufacturing for metallic materials, more commonly known today as 3D printing.
Emma Johnston being presented with the AILU Young Engineer’s Prize by John Bishop (left) and Professor Steen, who was Emma’s PhD supervisor at Liverpool University and AILU president at the time
He also co-founded the Association of Industrial Laser Users (AILU) in 1995 and served as its president for the first eight years. In addition, in 1997 Steen was the first European to be awarded the Arthur Schawlow Award by LIA, and at ICALEO 2008 there was a tribute session to his lifetime achievements. He has a laboratory named after him at the University of Vigo, Spain, and has received a medal from Pelacky University in Oloumouc, Czech Republic, for his pioneering work on lasers.
Steen’s textbook Laser Material Processing – the fourth edition of which was published in 2010 – has for years been a vital source of information for students, researchers and engineers learning laser material processing. Many of Steen’s ex-students (and even their ex-students) now either run their own business, teach, or make money from laser material processing.
On hearing the announcement of the new award, Laser Systems Europe approached Steen to find out more about his many experiences exploring the realm of laser technology.
When did you first begin working in laser technology?
In 1964 I was appointed lecturer at Imperial College London in process metallurgy. I became interested in metal extraction by volatile compounds, such as chlorides, and this led to trying to make patterns by depositing metal from volatile compounds, such as nickel carbonyl. I realized that the pattern created using shaped jets on hot plates was very blurred, and thus needed to make a shaped hot spot. I bought a glass tube with mirror mounts from Ealing Scientific, built my own power supply and I had a very unstable 5W CO2 laser on which I invented the process of laser chemical vapour deposition (LCVD), which worked but obviously needed more power.
In working this up I won a contract for the first industrial fast axial flow 2kW CO2 laser from BOC developed by The Welding Institute (TWI). That gave me the most powerful university-based laser in the UK. Students and contracts flowed from this with the wide-open space for research using this entirely new form of industrial energy.
As a pioneer of laser technology for industrial materials processing, how has industry’s view of laser technology changed?
The very early years were dominated by numerous small start-up laser companies wishing to sell their lasers and compete to find useful applications at sensible prices, this was the main challenge – a solution looking for a problem. Cutting and welding were the only applications at that time with some curious results.
Martin Adams, at TWI, was publishing cutting figures significantly better than everyone else, but because of the atmosphere of competition, this was explained as commercial optimism. Later we came to realise he was able to cut nearly twice as fast as others because TWI had not the space for the cutting table other than in line with the laser, and the beam polarisation favoured his layout as opposed to those with transverse tables; a feature of optical energy not fully understood in those exciting times. There were many more surprises to be found as we explored this new form of energy!
For the next 20 years or so, the reliability and ease of maintenance of lasers improved, with most industries keeping a watching brief on what was going on. I felt at the time I could go to any company and sell the idea of a laser application as a result of this interest.
In the 1990s the fibre laser arrived on the scene and the game changed. The fibre laser was smaller, required less cooling, had no alignment problems and a superb loworder mode beam. To some extent it was like a dream come true.
Today, reliability and quality are taken for granted, and the only thing holding the laser back now is cost, which is rapidly coming down as more units are required. It used to be good to see the look of awe on people’s faces when you said you worked with lasers, now it is not really regarded as unusual. In summary, the opinion of industrialists today is that the laser has arrived, and they are learning to live and work with it.
Are there any particular applications of laser technology you’ve enjoyed watching develop since your retirement in 1998?
There are many applications I have enjoyed working on, but additive manufacturing comes immediately to mind as something special – a game changer in the thinking of how to make things. In the 1980s Rolls Royce asked us to blow powder into the laser beam and so we invented the laser cladding process. It worked
Professor Steen being presented with an Honorary Fellowship to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers by the institute’s president Carolyn Griffiths
so well it became similar to writing with metal, then one day one of my students, Mark McLean, repeatedly overlaid a clad line and produced a wall. One look at that wall, particularly after a metallurgical examination showed the columnar grains running up the wall instead of across the wall – as in a standard casting – showed that we had a serious new manufacturing process on our hands.
Mark went onto make a stainless-steel wine glass, and additive manufacturing was born. Students of mine over the world have now worked on this promising development.
I watch with both amazement and joy at the ingenuity of what is being done with additive manufacturing, and await the day that someone makes a hand-held device, either wire or powder-fed whereby the craft community can actually sculpt in reverse – building things up instead of chiselling material away. The precision is such that in the hands of a craftsman, stunning works of art would be created. If the price is right there would be a huge market for such equipment.
Are you satisfied with how university laser research groups around the world are interacting and collaborating?
There is quite a network of friends among my ex-students based at various institutes around the world who have a strong collaboration, while still remaining competitive, which is as it should be.
One of my main concerns is the lack of imagination at universities. It is obvious to me and others working with lasers that they are dealing with an unusual and highly flexible form of energy available in a uniquely controllable form which can be of almost unlimited power, from milliwatts to petawatts, deliverable in times ranging from continuous to femtoseconds or even less, over a huge range of wavelengths.
The applications of this energy range from material processing through to sensing, metrology, communications, medicine, fluorescence, interferometry, holography and x-rays. This is far more than electricity has to offer, and yet there are currently very few or no university departments dedicated to optical energy – amazing!
Could you give an example from you career where academia has interacted well with industry?
One of our most successful developments came from the work of Professor Lin Li – a past president of LIA and AILU now at Manchester University – who while exploring the possibility of sealing concrete by surface melting – for ease of cleaning, sterility etc – found that thermal cracking made this difficult.
In expanding the beam to try and avoid this he found that he could explosively remove the top centimetre of the surface in reasonably large lumps. Such a simple process was taken up by British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) for scabbling the walls of radioactive tanks prior to decommissioning. Lin Li proved the process worked and BNFL developed it further at TWI and finally used it for real in their works.
This initiative of the LIA in instituting annual awards for the best developments coming from industry or universities should further enhance academia’s connectivity with industry, and it is very flattering that the LIA has named these awards after me!
Do you have any pearls of wisdom for those looking to start their own entrepreneurial laser journey?
It is certainly stimulating to watch my students set up a business. Those that succeed either need good financial backing and/or a great determination to win. For example, Dr John Powell started Laser Expertise in Nottingham with two friends, they were young, energetic and disciplined in work habits and finance. They spent within their budget by buying a second-hand laser and worked several years for very little return while they expanded the business of a laser job shop. John had a partner for finance, a partner for sales, and he himself had a talent for invention and much more. Together the three of them made a success of the company, which I believe now employs some 60 people.
So, if there is any pearl of wisdom, it is to have a belief in yourself and a determination to win, even when the going is tough. In the laser business the rewards can be great, with much excitement and potential novelty at any time.
A full version of this interview can be found online at www.lasersystemseurope.com
Throughout the world, scientists are rising to the challenge of developing new techniques to improve the eco-friendliness of products and production lines. Germany has been among the strongest supporters of the movement to be more environmentally responsible. Innovations resulting from this momentum may lead to more efficient manufacturing, which could ultimately cut costs without compromising quality. Hybrid materials are growing in importance in the search for strong, lightweight materials that produce fewer CO2 emissions. Dominic Woitun of the German-based Bosch is among the researchers investigating techniques for effective thermal direct joining of hybrid materials. Joining dissimilar materials such as metals and plastics can pose a challenge; this challenge is often solved with the use of adhesives or screws with sealants. Adhesives may work, but according to Woitun, they leave a larger carbon footprint. This is where thermal direct joining comes in. The process that Woitun is researching involves using laser ablation to shape macroscopic structures into a metal surface; the structures are then penetrated with a molten polymer which enables mechanical fastening, for instance. After solidification, a strong joint is obtained, which replaces the need for an adhesive. The shapes, or geometries, created by the laser play an important role in the strength and reliability of the joint, so better understanding the relationship between these geometries and the resulting joint will help make this a viable alternative to adhesives. Woitun shared with LIA TODAY why he started researching the impact of laser geometries on thermal direct joining of hybrid materials, and why companies could consider this an answer to adhesives.
LIA:For some in our community, the term ‘thermal joining’ brings to mind laser welding of metals; for those who are new to the concept of thermal direct joining of hybrid materials, could you describe what this process can look like, step-by-step?
DW: Thermal direct joining is a joining technique for metals and polymers. The adhesive forces of a thermoplastic melt to metals is used to join both partners. No additional adhesive is needed. However, to achieve strong joints, some form of surface pretreatment is needed. Laser structuring is a promising approach.
The process steps to a finished part could look like this:
Preparation: prior surface treatment (e.g. by laser ablation)
Joining: Many different techniques are possible! The only premise is a somehow molten polymer in the joining interface that can penetrate the structure. This can be achieved, for example, by heating the metal part with some kind of heat source and then pressing it onto the plastic part. Or, in my case, by using injection molding and overflowing the metal part with molten polymer in the molding tool.
Finishing: the molten polymer solidifies instantly and directly after joining the joint has almost its final strength
LIA:Tell us about what drove you to research thermal direct joining?
DW: In order to meet today’s requirements for weight reduction and thus emission reduction, hybrid components are becoming increasingly important. Especially in the context of electrification. One main challenge for the production readiness of hybrid composites is the joining technology. Currently, hybrid parts are often joined by adhesives or screws in combination with sealants. Therefore, the interfaces need to be handled with special care and must be cleaned before joining. After joining, the parts need a certain curing time before they can be further processed. When it comes to recycling, there is almost no way to separate the often used and recyclable thermoplastic material from the duroplastic adhesives. This makes the current solutions time-consuming and costly.
LIA:What are you researching right now and how does it help to solve these challenges?
DW: Direct joining of metals and polymers based on a laser-pretreatment bypasses these problems and produces strong and media tight joints directly after the joining process. However, the enormous variety of laser sources, in combination with their adjustable parameters, open up endless possibilities for structures on the metal surface. This often ends in time-consuming empirical studies to find the best settings for one specific use case. That’s why I’m investigating the influence of largely separated surface characteristics on the joint properties by generating well-defined structures on the metal surface by laser ablation. My aim is to find the best weighting and composition of surface characteristics to define the optimal structure for an application.
LIA:What benefits could companies gain from utilizing direct joining?
DW: If direct joining would replace adhesives, it would mean re-planning our production lines. Manufacturing chains could be shortened and combined because the components can be manufactured, joined and further processed in-line.
LIA:What further research is needed in this area?
DW: Fully describing the interdependencies in the boundary layer of the metal-polymer joint exclusively with experimental research will be difficult. For this reason, we are currently working on a multiscale simulation approach to gain better understanding of the interdependencies. One main challenge is to transfer the effects of different surface characteristics (microscale) to strength predictions at component level (macroscale).
LIA: What could this research mean for the future?
DW: Direct joining in general allows redesigning joints in comparison to adhesive bonds. If, in addition, the capability of the joint can be predicted, manufacturing processes can be optimized and the confidence in those joints will be increased.
Photo of Dominic Woitun, Bosch
See Dominic present, “Precise Laser Structures as a Tool to Understand Metal-Polymer Joints“ (Authors: Dominic Woitun, Michael Roderus, Thilo Bein, Elmar Kroner) at the Laser Macroprocessing Conference Track on October 8, 2019. Register for ICALEO here: www.lia.org/conferences/icaleo
