The Laser Institute of America's Laser Additive Manufacturing (LAM) Conference and Lasers for Manufacturing Event (LME) will be held in Schaumburg, IL, next week. I will personally have a lot of opportunities to interact with the attendees, as I will be in involved in several of the venues.
The first is a tutorial on laser micromachining held on Wednesday morning from 8:30 to 10 a.m. During this time, I will spend some time on micromachining basics, and then focus on mostly picosecond and femtosecond laser processing. Follow-up questions will be taken after the presentation, or you can come see me at the Laser Expert booth from 12 to 1 p.m. on the same day. The Laser Expert booth is available during the entirety of the show, and the booth will be manned by industrial laser experts from across the spectrum of the laser industry. On Thursday at 11 a.m., I will be presenting an Industrial Laser Market Overview on the main stage, presenting information provided by myself, Industrial Laser Solutions editor-in-chief David Belforte, and PennWell publications.
Wednesday of the show should be particularly exciting, as the two events are co-located on this day and the vendor exhibition begins—so there will be a lot of overlap. On Wednesday night from 5:30 to 8 p.m., Trumpf will be hosting an offsite venue showcasing their new facility, which is located only 10 minutes from the show. Until now, many people have believed that fully networked production is only possible in theory. The company will present proof to the contrary, and demonstrate in Chicago how it actually works in practice. People, machines, automation, and software already perfectly interact together in the new Trumpf technology center. In the Smart Factory, sheet-metal workers experience networked production solutions in a realistic environment. Sign up for this event by contacting [email protected]—and more information on it is available at www.trumpf.com/en_us/products/smartfactory/chicago.
Last week, the LASER World of PHOTONICS China 2018 trade fair was held in Shanghai. While I did not personally attend, feedback was that the show was incredibly busy and still growing year by year. ILS Editorial Advisory Board member Dr. Bo Gu will undoubtedly be presenting much more detail in his follow-up reports and at the LAM/LME shows. My primary feedback comes from noted industrial laser industry expert and well-known entrepreneur Jeff Sercel, who has attended the show for 14 years! According to Jeff, the show continues to grow and amaze, and it is certainly on my hit list of venues to attend in the near future. Fiber lasers are everywhere, with numerous companies offering both lasers and laser systems incorporating fiber lasers. One company in particular says they sold over 500 systems for wafer scribing with picosecond lasers. The big U.S. companies are all there and in general have the biggest and nicest booths, emphasizing the importance of the Chinese market.
Trumpf had an 18th anniversary (China) celebration at their big and beautiful booth, where industry luminaries Christian Schmidt and Peter Leibinger were present and mingled with the crowd. They gave a talk about their road to China, as well as their plans for new products and future growth.
I am always interested in hearing your thoughts concerning laser micromachining, the laser industry, comments on entrepreneurial endeavors, etc. AND … we are always looking for fresh, publishable material. Please feel free to contact me at [email protected].
Ron Schaeffer
Ron Schaeffer, Ph.D., is a blogger and contributing editor, and a member of the Laser Focus World Editorial Advisory Board. He is an industry expert in the field of laser micromachining and was formerly Chief Executive Officer of PhotoMachining, Inc. He has been involved in laser manufacturing and materials processing for over 25 years, working in and starting small companies. He is an advisor and past member of the Board of Directors of the Laser Institute of America. He has a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Lehigh University and did graduate work at the University of Paris. His book, Fundamentals of Laser Micromachining, is available from CRC Press.