Laser Institute of America (LIA)
ICALEO
The additive manufacturing industry has been under the spotlight in 2013 and one corner of the world's developments has been subject to a great deal of interest.
China's growing 3D printing market has been tipped to be a powerful global player in future and this was one of the burning issues up for debate at the International Congress on Applications of Lases and Electro-Optics (ICALEO) in Miami on October 6th-10th.
The growing event - which welcomed 100 first-timers to the throng of more than 400 of their peers this year to watch roughly 200 presentations - covered the subject of additive manufacturing. Indeed, the technology was the focus of five speeches looking at fabrication in the micro and nano scale as well as increasing use of additive manufacturing to make parts for the medical, automotive and aerospace sectors.
China's advances in additive manufacturing of durable large metal parts - particularly for the aviation sector and the new C919 airliner - received particular focus as a game-changer.
ICALEO also featured presentations addressing numerous studies such as the exploration of multi-beam welding and additive manufacturing, and a greener method of laser lithography using damage-resistant holographic postmask that can reduce water use and waster materials in the processing of electronics.
Laser Institute of America (LIA) President Klaus Loeffler of TRUMPF said the laser industry is "an anchor point of production for the future".
"We are here to share our research, to discuss it with other colleagues from other areas in the world, and we will hopefully come back to our research labs with new ideas and new directions," he added.
