Mike Lander
Mike Lander
About Mike Lander
Mike is Senior Scientist at Skyward Ltd, located in Dayton, Ohio. Mike has been active in the field of optics and photonics for over 37 years. Mike has significant experience in laser physics specializing in high power (above 100KW) laser systems development, optical system design, electro-optical sensing solutions, laser-materials interaction testing and characterization, and laser-based additive manufacturing. Mike has developed and enhanced multiple high power laser systems applied to laser-materials interaction testing, and laser-systems engagement testing. Mike has developed related testing methods, laboratory and range laser safety practices, materials response sensing systems, and commercial additive manufacturing products relating to laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) processing and process monitoring. Mike’s most recent work at Skyward Ltd involves fire protection for air and ground vehicles, and interaction with Skyward’s multi-disciplined engineering and scientific teams dedicated to scanning and reverse engineering for additive manufacturing design, advanced modeling and simulation, machine learning, and ordinance range testing activities.
Mike received the BS in Physics from Earlham College in 1985 and the MS in Electro-Optics from the University of Dayton in 1987.
Specialties: Electro-optics, laser physics, laser-materials interaction, materials-state sensing, research and development, technology transition, business development.
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Welcome to the 2024 LAM® Workshop!
We are excited to announce the 12th year of the Laser Additive Manufacturing workshop (LAM) will include an emphasis on three key technology areas (Lasers, Optics, and Sensors) relating to the advancement and validation of Laser Additive Manufacturing. The event will be held 15-17 July 2024 in Dayton, Ohio, with a kickoff reception planned the evening of July 15th. This unique workshop will dive deeply into the latest technology advancements relating to laser/multi-laser processing, operational wavelengths, beam shaping, and process event sensing with related technology demonstrations accompanying presentations. The workshop will highlight:
Lasers: Advancements in laser operational modes, wavelength generation, and multi-beam implementation considerations for Laser Additive Manufacturing including effects resulting from temporal pulse shaping, operational wavelength, wavelength variation, and multi-beam processing/interactions.
Optics: Laser resonator-based and post-laser optical beam shaping options effecting spatial energy distribution including resonator-based modulation, multi-beam interference modulation, and optical energy redistribution.
Sensors: Imaging and thermal sensing technologies providing measurements and/or representations of pre-melt powder state, post melt process state, and in-situ melt pool temperature/profile characterization including material heating, melt, consolidation, and cooling.
In addition, the LAM 2024 Workshop will highlight regional workforce training initiatives relating to the incorporation of educational materials covering Advanced Photonics Manufacturing from 6th grade through college-level academic and licensing/certification programs. Don’t miss this opportunity to meet up with other professionals from around the world to learn, share, and to make new friends. See you in Dayton!
Program Tracks
Lasers
Rick Neff
Rick Neff
About Rick Neff
Hi I’m Rick Neff. I am originally from Philadelphia and have a Mechanical Engineering Degree from
Lehigh University. I started my career crisscrossing the country and lived in San Francisco, L.A., Buffalo,
Rochester and Boston before settling in Cincinnati in 1992. Working for three Fortune 500 companies
and a family owned machine tool company brought lessons about helping customers solve their
problems with technology solutions in capital equipment or aerospace components. In 2019 I started a
consulting business to capitalize on my expertise in advanced manufacturing and marketing. I have a
great group of customers like Thermwood Corporation, OpenAdditive, ASME and Firehawk Aerospace.
Speaking at conferences is one of the best ways to share knowledge with a larger audience.
Advancements in laser operational modes, wavelength generation, and multi-beam implementation considerations for Laser Additive Manufacturing including effects resulting from temporal pulse shaping, operational wavelength, wavelength variation, and multi-beam processing/interactions.
Sensors
John Middendorf
John Middendorf
About John Middendorf
Dr. John Middendorf, Director of Additive Manufacturing – Dr. Middendorf has been developing his own Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) machines since July 2014 and currently leads the additive manufacturing division at the Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence at The Ohio State University. John was the technical leader behind the development of the Open Additive (OA) brand, selling the PANDA LPBF machines and AMSENSE sensor suite, and in his past has develop several other innovations such as Selective Laser Ablation & Melting (SLAM) and Graded Alloy Processing (GAP).
Imaging and thermal sensing technologies providing measurements and/or representations of pre-melt powder state, post-melt process state, and in-situ melt pool temperature/profile characterization including material heating, melt, consolidation, and cooling.
Optics
John Taranto
John Taranto
About John Taranto
John Taranto received his B.S. in physics and his M.S. in electro-optical engineering from the University of Dayton and has been working in the photonics industry for more than 35 years. After graduating, John worked for several government contractors. He was part of a team that built a 100+kW quasi-CW CO2 laser at the Laser Hardened Materials Evaluation Laboratory (LHMEL) facility at Wright-Paterson Air Force Base, OH. John joined Thorlabs in 1994 as a design engineer and has since enjoyed various roles within the organization.
At Thorlabs, John had been the leader of the Fiber Optic Business Unit, after which he took on a role within the Advanced Systems Technology Group, focusing his efforts on adaptive optics-based imaging systems. When Thorlabs teamed with Boston Micromachines Corporation (BMC) to help offer their advanced MEMS-based deformable mirrors to the photonics research community, John developed algorithms that integrated BMC’s MEMS-DMs with a Shack-Hartman wavefront sensor into fully functional and affordable Adaptive Optics kits. Additionally, John integrated a MEMS-DM into a 2-photon microscope kit and supported a research project at Boston University where he was involved with the design and implementation of MEMs-DM based adaptive optics multiphoton microscope system. John has been with the Vytran division of Thorlabs since January 2019, after the acquisition of the fiber inspection product line from Norland Products, where he is focusing on technologies and algorithm development for fiber optic end face inspection and glass processing.
Laser resonator-based and post-laser optical beam shaping options effecting spatial energy distribution including resonator-based modulation, multi-beam interference modulation, and optical energy redistribution.
LAM Workshop Partners
