FEATURED ARTICLE LME & SUMMIT 2016 BY JESSICA DAWKINS


Advanced laser applications in automotive manufacturing, critical updates in additive manufacturing, 3D printing, prototyping and the foremost economic and safety concerns for today’s laser professionals were just some of the topics center stage at LIA’s fifth Lasers for Manufacturing Event®


(LME® from April 25-27, 2016 at the Renaissance®


) and Summit, held Atlanta Waverly


Hotel and the adjacent Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, GA. This


year’s LME attendees were provided with more free


educational opportunities than ever before, including key insight to benefit laser professionals of all skill levels and varied specializations. Continuing the annual tradition of equipping event attendees with the most essential “101” courses on every topic from laser manufacturing properties and applications to laser safety, LME also granted visitors the opportunity to sit in on their choice of intermediate, “102” courses, which discussed important and emerging topics such as laser welding, micro- machining, beam delivery and state-of-the-art laser marking. LIA


also provided exclusive tutorials, including Process


Monitoring: Seeing the Unseeable by Paul Webster of Laser Depth Dynamics, and an informative class on Laser Additive Manufacturing by Alabama Laser’s Wayne Penn.


Once again, the Laser Technology Showcase proved to be the main highlight for 2016 LME attendees. Side by side with the educational courses at the event were four keynote presentations, including the kickoff Industrial Laser Market Overview, by Editor-in-Chief


of Industrial Laser Solutions


and LIA Past President David Belforte, and three additional speeches, Laser Applications in Automotive Manufacturing by Ralf Kimmel of TRUMPF Laser-und Systemtechnik GmbH, and Laser Technology, Metal Additive Manufacturing by EWI’s Shawn Kelly and Industrial Applications of Laser Materials Processing in GE by Marshall Jones of GE Global Research.


The engaging set of 30-minute keynote addresses shared the advantages of utilizing laser technology with attendees.


“It was a great show to get a snapshot of the current laser technology market all in one place,” said Charles Studiner, Process Development Engineer at 3M.


Attendees were also able to find solutions to their current manufacturing needs in a wealth of industries, such as Optics, Automotive, Medical, Electronics and Energy – and chat with everyone from company owners to product managers to manufacturing engineers. This continued LIA’s five-year tradition of spotlighting the latest developments in laser technology and providing the best place to work with the industry’s elite.


As second time attendee Jefferson Odhner of Odhner


Holographics said, “I’m here to explore how lasers are used in metal processing, and I am amazed of how much it has evolved. I have to keep abreast to what this industry is doing. This is the place.”


The 2016 Lasers for Manufacturing Summit – Back & Better Than Ever The event as a whole began on April 25 at the Lasers for Manufacturing Summit, back for its second year – by popular demand – to provide laser executives and the C-suite with a chance to touch on global opportunities for laser processes, provide vital statistics on both established and emerging markets, and to engage a spirited panel discussion and question and answer period to provide the kind of insider perspective attendees can’t find anywhere else.


Top executives heard first-hand, expert intelligence on how to use these powerful tools most profitably in a variety of high- value manufacturing applications.


The Summit is particularly popular for executives, because it is the only event that focuses on the entire lasers in manufacturing marketplace in one afternoon. This year, it provided a comprehensive market perspective unobtainable elsewhere,


8 LIATODAY FOCUS: INDUSTRIAL AM JULY/AUGUST 2016


Participants who needed a quick answer about what types of lasers would be the best fit for a particular application, or what components were needed to build the most efficient production system, received answers at the perennial favorite “Ask the Experts” booth. Chaired by Neil Ball of Directed Light Inc., and joined by a rotating cast of industry experts, the booth included insight from the top laser markers and system integrators in the business.


Featured Global Opportunities & Emerging Applications for Laser Manufacturing Processes


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