By Geoff Giordano
While excitement continues to build around new, more efficient and more profitable uses of lasers, such as with additive manufacturing or ultrafast processing, traditional welding and joining applications are still at the forefront of the 21st-century photonics repertoire.
Emphasizing this major segment of laser-based manufacturing, the Laser Institute of America has added a comprehensive two-day workshop to its second-annual Lasers for Manufacturing Event (LME™). It will run concurrently Oct. 23-24 at the Renaissance® Hotel and Convention Center Resort in Schaumburg, IL.
Chaired by Prof. Eckhard Beyer of the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology, IWS in Dresden, the Laser Welding & Joining Workshop will spotlight the latest uses of lasers in key industries: aerospace, automotive, defense, energy, health care and heavy manufacturing. Current research and practice will focus on general macro laser applications, remote welding and brazing, hybrid welding and joining of multiple materials, micro welding and welding of thin sheets.