CEO
Ifw Jena
After studying mechanical engineering, Simon finished his PhD. thesis in 2007 (about additive manufacturing by diffusion bonding) and held various positions at Ilmenau University of Technology as well as Technical University of Berlin. He joined IFW -Jena in 2010 and is head of the institute since 2016. Beside others, projects about influence of gases in PBF, arc and laser welding or heat treatment were carried out (e.g. duplex steels, Ti- and Al alloys). Beside diffusion bonding and additive manufacturing, his passion for handheld laser welding started 2020. Simon is convenor of ISO/TC 261/JWG 10 - Additive manufacturing in aerospace applications as well as for the national standard (DIN) Metal-AM committee, member of different steering committees (ISO, DIN, VDI,DVS, etc.) and supports the International Institute of Welding (IIW) in different commissions, e.g. Brazing and Diffusion Bonding, Power Beam Processes or as German delegate for AM.

Manager of Product Design compliance , Senior Electrical Engineer Miller Electric Manufacturing Company
David A. Werba, Manager of Product Design Compliance and Senior Electrical Engineer of Miller Electric Manufacturing Company (an ITW Welding Products Company), has over 40 years of progressively responsible experience in the Electrical Engineering and Design Compliance areas of three major companies that design and manufacture electronic chemical analysis equipment, electric motor drives, and arc and laser welding equipment. Additionally, David is an iNARTE Certified Product Safety Engineer and a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Product Safety Engineering Society. He is currently the Chair of an array of standards-facing bodies concerning the welding space, including the International Institute of Welding (IIW) Commission VIII, Health, Safety and Environment; the American Welding Society (AWS) Safety and Health Committee; the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) TC26; and the Electric Welding Committee. Alongside this, David is also a member of multiple NEMA, European Welding Association (EWA),NFPA and UL committees.

R&D Engineer
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
Dr. Patrick W. Hochanadel of the Los Alamos National Laboratory received BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines under the guidance of Professor Glen Edwards. He began working at LANL in 1997 as a Technical Staff Member. Pat has over 25 years of experience in roles at LANL including Technical Staff Member, Scientist, Engineer, line manager and program manager in both production and design authority roles. He has co-authored numerous publications as well as handbook chapters related to electron beam and laser beam welding. He has been involved in professional organizations such as AWS, IIW, TMS, ASM International and the North American Die Casting Association. Pat has been involved in the AWS for more than 30 years and IIW for nearly 20 years where he is a Fellow of both societies. He is a past chair on a variety of technical committees within AWS and serves as Chair of IIW’s Commission IV and Vice-Chair for the American Council of IIW.

President, Principal Engineer The Handheld Laser Institute
Rex Alexandre graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Welding Engineering in 2016, and has spent most of his career developing laser welding, cladding, cutting, and additive manufacturing processes for the aerospace industry. His first introduction to handheld laser welding was in 2020, while working as a Senior Welding Engineer on SpaceX’s Starship program. What started as a personal curiosity and side project quickly grew to be an industry-leading handheld laser welding program used to manufacture the world’s largest and most powerful space launch vehicle. Rex is passionate about advancing the industrial adoption of handheld laser welding and currently sits on multiple AWS subcommittees in addition to being the President and Principal Engineer of the Handheld Laser Institute.

R&D Manager
Apollo-Clad Laser Cladding
Dr. Douglas J. Hamre is the Research & Development Manager at Apollo-Clad Laser Cladding (A Division of Apollo Machine & Welding Ltd.). Originally from Edmonton, Doug attended the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado where he received a B.Sc. in 2001 and a Ph.D. in 2005 both in the field of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering. Doug returned to Canada in 2011 to join Apollo-Clad after working in the investment casting industry making Titanium and Superalloy investment castings for aerospace and power generation applications. After several years of laser cladding and automatic high power CNC laser welding, Doug has recently found a passion for the emerging technology of handheld laser beam welding (HLBW) and has been accused of working on new procedure qualifications in his spare time, just for fun. In addition to being a Professional Engineer in the province of Alberta, Doug leads the constantly growing R&D and Engineering teams for Apollo.

PRIMES
Technical Engineer
Attila began his career as an application engineer in machine vision. Since 2016, he has been working at PRIMES as a Sales Engineer, managing key accounts in the laser manufacturing and automotive industries in Germany. In addition to his responsibilities in the domestic market, he oversees sales activities in North America and supports the development of new markets and applications. Throughout his work at PRIMES, Attila has supported several OEMs in their e-mobility projects, with a strong focus on laser characterization in the manufacturing of EV battery modules, specifically the welding of cell contacts and bus bars. Another key aspect of his role is supporting a major German laser manufacturer with its measurement requirements. Attila provides technical guidance and consulting across the entire lifecycle of laser beam sources, from research and development through production to service strategies.

Weld Development Engineer
Lincoln Electric
Corey Cox has 7 years of experience in the research and design of advanced welding equipment. He is employed at the Lincoln Electric Company where he researches new welding processes, such as handheld laser welding, and develops welding programs for waveform-controlled power sources. Corey is an active participant in technical conferences such as the International Institute of Welding (IIW), Great Designs in Steel (GDIS), the Advanced Laser Application Workshop (ALAW), and AWS FABTECH. Additionally, Corey participates in the American Council to IIW, where he was most recently delegate to Commission XIX: physics of welding.

Welding Engineering Manager Miller Electric
Shuang Liu earned her Ph.D. in laser welding and cladding from Southern Methodist University in 2014. Immediately after graduation, she joined Miller Electric as a research engineer, where she spent eight years advancing new laser and arc welding processes and developing innovative welding equipment. She later transitioned into project management and now assumes the role of Welding Engineering Manager, with a focus on TIG welding and handheld laser technologies.