Gwenn Pallier is an Optical Engineer. She graduated from the Institut d'Optique in Paris in 2010. She has worked in the defense industry for Qioptiq in Singapore as a test engineer, for the space industry within the Thales group as an Optical Engineer and Project manager, and in the LIDAR industry for Lumibird as a Product Line Manager. Gwenn is now Product Line Manager at Cailabs in charge of the development of beam-shaping products for laser material processing applications, which includes both micro and macro-processing.

Dr. Christian Hagenlocher possesses nearly a decade of experience in unconventional advanced manufacturing methods with an applied direction. He is heading the department for process fundamentals in laser material processing at the Institut für Strahlwerkzeuge at the University of Stuttgart (Germany) since 2023. After completing his doctorate in the field of laser beam welding in 2020 he worked as a research fellow at the Centre for Additive Manufacturing at RMIT in Melbourne until 2022. His focus includes innovations in almost all kind of laser material processing with cw and ultrafast laser sources. Noteworthy contributions also include analytical criteria for predicting and adjusting grain structures in laser welds, and insights into heat accumulation effects in additive manufacturing.

Eric Mottay graduated from the Ecole Superieure d'Optique near Paris, the leading institution in France for Optical Engineering. He is the president of Amplitude Laser Group, a company he founded in 2001 and which is now a leading manufacturer of ultrafast lasers for industry and science. In doing so, he developed during the past ten years many scientific and industrial partnerships with research institutions, technology centers and industrial companies. He is passionate about laser technology and applications development and believes that sound engineering and collaborations are the key to success in photonics.

Jared Speltz is the Team Lead for the Laser Manufacturing Technology Development team at the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI). He specializes in laser manufacturing applications utilizing ultrafast laser processes and technology. His work includes developing novel applications utilizing ultrashort pulsed lasers (USPL) and has built multiple high power femtosecond systems including the Composite Laser Ablation for Composite Preparation (CLASP) system. Prior to joining UDRI in 2017, Mr. Speltz worked at a small business for 6 years in laser manufacturing, not only researching and developing of novel laser processes, but also working to optimize those developments to be used on a production scale.

Mr. Adam Hicks serves as a Senior Physicist and Senior Technical Advisor for Additive Manufacturing at the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). In his role as Acting Branch Technical Advisor for the Digital Manufacturing and Supply Chain Branch (AFRL/RXMD), he leads the technical strategy for advanced manufacturing technologies, focusing on enhancing the U.S. Air Force’s capabilities in advanced manufacturing domains such as Additive Manufacturing (AM), convergent manufacturing, advanced laser manufacturing, robotics, and automation. Mr. Hicks manages research efforts and investment strategies aimed at technologies critical to defense applications. Prior to his role as BTA, Mr. Hicks held the positions of program manager and Chief Technology Advisor (CTA) at for America Makes, the National Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NNMI) focused on AM technologies.

Before joining AFRL in 2018, Mr. Hicks accumulated a decade of experience in laser manufacturing research and development across both academic and industrial settings. His work has encompassed various applications, including various metals and polymer AM technologies, laser micromachining and micro-welding, and other related manufacturing technologies.

Mr. Hicks holds a Master of Science in Physics from Miami University and a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Dayton.

Prof. Dr. Carlo Holly is professor of Optical Technologies at the RWTH Aachen University. He and his chair, the chair for Technology of Optical Systems TOS, work in close collaboration with the Fraunhofer-Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen, where he is also head of the department Data Science and Measurement Technology. His areas of research include optical systems, computational optics, EUV-technology, artificial intelligence in photonics, and digital photonic production. Prof. Holly received the diploma in mechanical engineering, the B. Sc. in physics and the M. Sc. in theoretical particle physics, as well as the Ph.D. degree (Dr. rer. nat.) from RWTH Aachen University. In 2017 he joined TRUMPF Photonics in Princeton, USA, where he worked on the development of high-power semiconductor lasers. In 2020, as Head of R&D Photonics he worked on optical systems and photonics integration for non-invasive glucose measurement devices at DiaMonTech AG in Berlin. In 2021 Prof. Holly became full-time professor at the RWTH Aachen University.