LASER-TEC Hosts Workshop for College Faculty in Alabama - November 4, 2016
LASER-TEC in partnership with CARCAM (Consortium for Alabama Regional Center for Automotive Manufacturing), an NSF ATE Center, hosted a full-day workshop for college faculty on laser applications in industrial manufacturing on November 3, 2016 at Southern Union State Community College, Opelika, AL. Sixteen career and technical programs’ faculty from ten Alabama colleges attended this professional development workshop.
Photonics-based technologies are used in numerous industries: manufacturing, semiconductor processing, biomedical, healthcare, defense, security, entertainment and many more. Lasers and laser systems play a very special role in automotive and aircraft manufacturing industry. Cutting, drilling, welding, brazing, cladding, and engraving are performed predominately with automated laser systems. In addition, traditional manufacturing technologies are being replaced with the rapidly growing Laser Additive Manufacturing (LAM), - a technology that enables seamless and complex parts manufacturing using alloys with superb mechanical and thermal properties. Dramatically increased life time and reliability as well as substantially decreased bulk and weight of parts are the major advantages of this technology.
Dr. Chrys Panayiotou, LASER-TEC PI and Director, discussed these latest technologies used on the modern manufacturing floors. The history of laser development, laser theory and operation, nature of light, geometrical and physical optics were some of the topics mastered by the workshop participants using the Light and Optics Experiment Kit developed by LASER-TEC. Dr. Panayiotou also shared with LASER-TEC multiple resources available to college instructors.
Dr. Panayiotou was joined by an honorable guest, Bill Shiner, a Vice President of IPG Photonics, - a global developer and manufacturer of high-performance fiber lasers. Mr. Shiner discussed the theory and applications of fiber lasers in material processing. Fiber lasers offer a wide range of power outputs from as low as 20 W to as high as 100 kW. Portability, scalability, reliability, performance, simplified technical maintenance, and low cost per watt ratio secured a very firm place in the market for this truly disruptive technology.
LASER-TEC expresses deep gratitude to Beverly Hilderbrand, CARCAM PI and Director, George Booker, Assistant to the Director of CARCAM, and Carlton Jones, Technical Department Chair and Electronics Instructor at Southern Union State Community College, AL for making this workshop a success.
Photonics-based technologies are used in numerous industries: manufacturing, semiconductor processing, biomedical, healthcare, defense, security, entertainment and many more. Lasers and laser systems play a very special role in automotive and aircraft manufacturing industry. Cutting, drilling, welding, brazing, cladding, and engraving are performed predominately with automated laser systems. In addition, traditional manufacturing technologies are being replaced with the rapidly growing Laser Additive Manufacturing (LAM), - a technology that enables seamless and complex parts manufacturing using alloys with superb mechanical and thermal properties. Dramatically increased life time and reliability as well as substantially decreased bulk and weight of parts are the major advantages of this technology.
Dr. Chrys Panayiotou, LASER-TEC PI and Director, discussed these latest technologies used on the modern manufacturing floors. The history of laser development, laser theory and operation, nature of light, geometrical and physical optics were some of the topics mastered by the workshop participants using the Light and Optics Experiment Kit developed by LASER-TEC. Dr. Panayiotou also shared with LASER-TEC multiple resources available to college instructors.
Dr. Panayiotou was joined by an honorable guest, Bill Shiner, a Vice President of IPG Photonics, - a global developer and manufacturer of high-performance fiber lasers. Mr. Shiner discussed the theory and applications of fiber lasers in material processing. Fiber lasers offer a wide range of power outputs from as low as 20 W to as high as 100 kW. Portability, scalability, reliability, performance, simplified technical maintenance, and low cost per watt ratio secured a very firm place in the market for this truly disruptive technology.
LASER-TEC expresses deep gratitude to Beverly Hilderbrand, CARCAM PI and Director, George Booker, Assistant to the Director of CARCAM, and Carlton Jones, Technical Department Chair and Electronics Instructor at Southern Union State Community College, AL for making this workshop a success.
