The industry’s most innovative people 2024 Katrin Wudy


Organisation: Technical University of Munich Role: Professor


Katrin Wudy and her team are currently working on innovative process strategies and monitoring concepts in the additive manufacturing (AM) technology of laser- based powder bed fusion of metals. “We have three different beam-shaping


technologies in-house and evaluate what beam shape is the most promising for the specific target value. We are aiming for an increase in productivity, the manufacturing of hard-to-weld materials, or even the voxel- based tailoring of the microstructure in one part,” says Wudy, a professor at Technical University of Munich. TUM is collaborating


Kenichi Otsuka


Organisation: Hamamatsu Photonics Role: Section Manager Based in: Japan


Kenichi Otsuka, Section Manager at Hamamatsu Photonics, is working on the development of spectroscopic application products. “Our new spectrometer can achieve 100 times the high dynamic range of conventional products,” he says. “To achieve a high dynamic range, we


have developed a dedicated sensor that can detect weak to high signals with high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N). In addition, the optics have also been optimised. Optical design for high-wavelength resolution and low-stray light reduces optical noise and enables more effective


Education: Doshisha University, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Department of Energy and Mechanical Engineering


dynamic range measurement in various spectrum measurements. We are also planning to develop several spectroscopic applications to maximise the features of this spectrometer.” Otsuka also believes that silicon photonics will be important in the future: “We believe it can be a trigger for the development of new applications, not only for high-speed communication, but also for sensing technology for medical and environmental applications. In the future, the demand for data communication will increase and the demand will also increase in terms of energy efficiency.”


Kenneth Walker


Organisation: BrightView Technologies Role: CTO


Kenneth Walker has a distinguished and prolific career in photonics, including as Head of Optical Fibre Research at Bell Labs and CTO of Lucent Network Cable Systems. Over the past 11 years at BrightView, he has driven the development of grey-scale photolithography to enable fabrication of micro-lens arrays (MLAs) on very large film areas. Over the past year, to address the upcoming move in automotive display technology from edge-lit to mini-LED based back-lights for PHUD and pillar-to-pillar displays, Walker has developed MLA film stack designs to more efficiently collimate and then shape the LED backlight and


Based in: Durham, North Carolina, US Education: PhD


display image into the field of view of the driver or passenger. This enables features to be added to the future driver’s experience without compromising power consumption, a vital consideration as the switch to electric vehicles gathers pace. Walker says his biggest research priority


in the coming year is to “improve display performance by optimising brightness, uniformity and angular distribution” and he believes that AR and VR have great opportunity for growth. However, he says the industry faces competitive cost pressures and, in the case of the US, costs will be hit by tariffs.


Based in: Munich, Germany Education: PhD


with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on changing microstructures by applying different beam shapes. In the coming year, Wudy and her team


will focus on novel processing strategies for laser-based powder bed fusion of plastics “since we are one of the only institutes focusing on both material classes”. She hopes that novel high-power laser


sources in the green or blue wavelength currently under development will enter the market soon, as she believes better beam quality will be very important for the future of AM.


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