DR. MICHAEL RETHMEIER IS An INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED AUTHORITY IN WELDING AND LASER-BASED JOINING TECHNOLOGIES. HE LEADS THE DIVISION OF WELDING TECHNOLOGY AT THE FEDERAL INSTITUTE FOR MATERIALS RESEARCH AND TESTING (BAM) AND SERVES AS VICE-HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMPONENTS SAFETY. HE HAS ALSO HELD A PROFESSORSHIP IN LASER TECHNOLOGY AT ST. PETERSBURG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY AND SERVED AS GENERAL CHAIRMAN OF THE 2021 LASERS IN MANUFACTURING (LiM) CONFERENCE. HIS SCHOLARLY AND TECHNICAL CONTRIBUTIONS SPAN LASER WELDING, WELD MECHANICS, MATERIAL PERFORMANCE, AND THE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF CRITICAL COMPONENTS. DR. RETHMEIER HAS HELD SIGNIFICANT LEADERSHIP ROLES IN NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL STANDARDIZATION, INCLUDING THE GERMAN INSTITUTE OF STANDARDIZATION (DIN), THE GERMAN ASSOCIATION FOR WELDING AND RELATED PROCESSES (DVS), AND THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF WELDING (IIW). HE IS A MEMBER OF THE SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY FOR LASER TECHNOLOGY (WLT) AND HAS BEEN HONORED WITH SEVERAL PRESTIGIOUS DISTINCTIONS, INCLUDING THE LASER ALLIANCE BERLIN-BRANDENBURG AWARD, THE IIW KENNETH EASTERLING AWARD, AND THE AWS W. H. HOBART MEMORIAL AWARD.

Walter Sperko had his first exposure to welding codes at Ebasco services in New York City where he supported piping and vessel designers when it came to welding of fossil-fueled, hydroelectric and nuclear power plants. In 1974, he moved to North Carolina where he was welding engineer for ITT Grinnell Industrial Piping and later welding engineer and QC manager for Richmond Engineering, a manufacturer of pressure vessels and storage tanks. In 1981, he founded Sperko Engineering where he provides welding and metallurgical engineering services to the fabrication and construction industries. Starting in 1983 , he taught code users how to comply with ASME Section IX but now teaches that seminar for AWS. He has published numerous articles on pipe welding quality issues and ASME Section IX. Mr. Sperko serves on various standards development committees including various ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Committees, AWS TAC and ISO TC44. Finally, he is third vice-president of AWS.

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 Engineer Miller Electric
Nathaniel Leach joined Miller Electric Mfg. as an intern in 2025 where he studied the effects of HLBW parameters and supported testing to sustain and improve current GTAW equipment. After completing his Bachelor of Science in welding engineering technology at Brigham Young University – Idaho, he returned to Miller Electric Mfg. as a welding engineer, where he continues to research the handheld laser welding process and works on new product development.

Director of Sales and Product Development
Laservision USA
Andrew Barrows has been a prominent leader in the laser safety industry for over a decade and currently serves as the Director of Sales and Product Development for Laservision. This role follows the 2025 acquisition of Innovative Optics, where Andrew previously served as President and CEO. Andrew as authored several technical articles for The Fabricator, covering essential topics such as laser safety fundamentals for metal fabrication and the integration of handheld laser welding on the shop floor. His work serves as a primary resource for facilities navigating the transition to advanced laser technology. Andrew is an innovator in the field and holds multiple patents related to laser safety technologies. He is also the CEO and founder of the Vanalay brand lines. Additionally, Andrew is actively involved in the development of national safety standards. He serves as a member of the ANSI SSC-3 Technical Subcommittee, which is responsible for the Z136.3 Safe Use of Lasers in Health Care standard. Andrew’s expertise deals with a specific focus on ocular protection and the development of high-performance safety barriers.

President & CEO
Rockwell Laser Industries
Bill Ertle is the President and CEO of Rockwell Laser Industries and has been with the company since 1989. He provides laser safety training through the RLI Training Institute and has authored and edited numerous laser safety articles, guides, and e-learning courses. Bill served as Chair of the ANSI Z136 Technical Subcommittee on Control Measures and Training (TSC-4) from 2003 to 2018 and currently serves as Vice Chair. He has also been a voting member of the ANSI Z136 Standards Development Committee for over 30 years. Internationally, Bill serves as Chair of IEC Technical Committee 76 on Optical Radiation Safety and Laser Equipment, overseeing laser and LED safety standards including the IEC 60825 series. He previously served as Secretary of the committee from 2008 to 2023. Bill is a Certified Laser Safety Officer (CLSO), Certified Medical Laser Safety Officer (CMLSO), Fellow of the American Society for Lasers in Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS), and former Board member of the Laser Institute of America (LIA).

North America Channel Manage
Meltio
Jon Grubb brings a highly diverse and robust background spanning military service, defense logistics, education, and public service to his role as North America Channel Manager at Meltio. He has over 25 years of combined experience as a Marine Corps officer, defense contractor, and Department of the Navy civilian logistician where he provided logistics management for the Navy and Marine Corps' Additive Manufacturing program. A passionate educator, Jon has taught across multiple levels, including the military, higher education, and secondary school systems. His commitment to leadership extends to public service, having served as an elected Board of Education member and Operations Committee Chairman for his local district, responsible for high-level governance, policy development, and strategic oversight for a district serving Pre-K through 8th-grade students.