Archives: Speakers

Laura Ely is the Managing Director at The Barnes Global Advisors; she leads a team of industry recognized experts with over 250 years of combined AM experience in providing specialty technical and strategic solutions to solve customer problems. Laura operates at the intersection of people, technology, and strategy with a proven track record of building and enabling diverse, high performing teams. As a Metallurgical Engineer (Missouri S&T B.S. MetE ‘04), she spent the first decade of her career optimizing materials and processes ranging from rolling and annealing to friction stir welding and spin forming. However, her heart sits with Directed Energy Deposition, as she was the driving force behind an $18M CRADA with Oak Ridge National Labs and the creation of a new technology team for GKN Aerospace’s North America division. She mentors young engineers and passionately supports 3D printing and STEAM activities at her children’s grade schools.

Davide is a cofounder and CEO at Inkbit. He was previously cofounder and CEO at Firefly BioWorks, an MIT startup that commercialized a novel assay for miRNA detection, based on functional microparticles manufactured by flow lithography. Davide led Firefly from inception to its acquisition by Abcam. He obtained his BS in Industrial Engineering from Politecnico of Milan and his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.

Henri serves as ADAXIS’s Co-Founder and CEO. He’s an engineer with a focus on robotic additive manufacturing since 2015, particularly in the aerospace sector. His work involves complex manufacturing programming and precise robotic control. Henri’s current mission is to make robotics and additive manufacturing more accessible to a broader audience through AdaOne.

Brandon Ribic, Ph.D., joined NCDMM in October 2019 as the America Makes Technology Director. He brings nearly 15 years of materials processing and manufacturing experience to the organization covering a variety of applications including railroad, oil, energy, aerospace, and defense.

Prior to joining NCDMM, Brandon was a joining processes and additive manufacturing materials specialist at Rolls-Royce Corporation. His key contributions were concentrated in additive manufacturing of nickel superalloys for OEM and repair applications. In addition, Brandon led Rolls-Royce Corporation’s externally funded additive manufacturing research endeavors. His experience offered collaboration with companies across all tiers of the defense aerospace supply chain as well as non-profit, small business, and academic partners. His research is well recognized within Rolls-Royce and the highest levels of the DoD.

Brandon obtained his bachelor’s and doctorate degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. His doctoral thesis focused on the numerical modeling of fusion welding processes which has proved very useful to his endeavors in the development and qualification of laser metal additive manufacturing processes. After completing his graduate research in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory, Brandon’s professional career began at McConway and Torley in Kutztown, PA. Brandon was fortunate to serve in a number of roles which afforded him the opportunity to contribute to product quality, customer relationships, workforce and facilities development, and production goals. His professional experiences continue to shape his approaches to solving difficult challenges while working with both small and large teams across a variety of experience levels and skill sets.

Dr. Ribic has served as a member, co-chair, and chair of America Makes and the American Welding Society. He has published in various journals including the Journal of Applied Physics, International Materials Reviews, and Nature Materials. In addition, he has numerous patents granted and pending on the topics of additive manufacturing and laser materials processing.

Dr. Ben Schrauwen is CEO of Oqton, Inc., a global software company that helps manufacturers increase innovation and efficiency by intelligently automating production. Previously, Dr. Schrauwen was senior director for advanced manufacturing at Autodesk, leading engineering and product management across additive, composites, fabrication, and factory design. Prior to Autodesk, Dr.Schrauwen was a professor in machine learning and robotics at Ghent University where he co-authored more than 200 peer reviewed publications and led several large international research programs. In addition, he started and sold several businesses in the areas of machine learning, simulation, electronics and cloud. Ben Schrauwen holds a doctorate in engineering from Ghent University with an emphasis on digital implementations of machine learning methods, and two Masters degrees in computer science and engineering from Antwerp University and Ghent University.

Gina Ghiglieri is Additive Manufacturing Manager and Subject Matter Expert at Maxar Space Infrastructure. As a leader in the satellite industry for over 60 years, Maxar has pioneered many innovative technologies utilizing AM, such as AM waveguide, AM antennas, and structural AM titanium components. With the launch of Psyche in October, a Maxar-built NASA satellite that is going to an all-metal asteroid, Maxar will have over 9,200 AM parts on-orbit, approximately 1500 of which are structural titanium. In her time at Maxar, Gina has improved production efficiency and reduced the defect rate for AM titanium parts, as well as qualified several new technologies and suppliers for spaceflight applications. Gina received a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, during which she held leadership positions on the Cal Poly Formula SAE team and gained experience with AM while working at internships in the automotive and aerospace industries.

Michiel Alting von Geusau is the CEO of UltiMaker, where he leads the company’s mission to shape the future of manufacturing and product development. With over two decades of experience driving growth within technology companies, Michiel is a seasoned and results-oriented leader with expertise in business and financial management. He was previously the CEO and CFO of Docdata N.V., where he transformed the company and led its sale to Ingram Micro Commerce & Fulfillment. At Ingram Micro, Michiel was Global President for the business unit Commerce and Lifecycle Services. Throughout his career, Michiel has led the acquisition and seamless integration of multiple companies globally.

Dr. Gregory Hayes is a strategic technology development consultant with a strong background in high-end research and development, and a focus in materials science and engineering. Greg’s professional background began as a consulting materials scientist and technical program lead, working internationally in the health-tech, high-tech, and aerospace markets. Currently, Greg is senior vice president of applied technology at EOS North America, where he works to identify market needs and uses of Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology to develop products to fulfill those opportunities. Most recently as a program manager and director of new partnerships for AM at TNO, he concentrated on design and structure of research programs, acquisition of funding and partners, and general management. In 2016, he joined the JuntoHealth advisory board. Prior to that in 2014, Greg co-founded Complex Materials, a bespoke bioresorbable materials company with a focus on magnesium alloy stent tubing. Greg holds an ME degree from the University of Delaware; a Ph.D. in Materials Science from The Pennsylvania State University; and Start-up and Entrepreneurship certification from the Vlerick Business School in Belgium.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayesgr/

Lakshmi Vendra is Additive Manufacturing Technology Leader at Baker Hughes. In her current role as Engineering Manager, she is responsible for overcoming key challenges to adoption of additive manufacturing as a viable industrial technology. Lakshmi brings 15 years of technical and business experience which includes positions in Research, Engineering, Supply Chain and Operations within Energy sector. She is a recognized expert in applied research and transforming technology into value added commercial products with over 25 publications and conference presentations. She holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University.

Dr. Amy Elliott is a senior manufacturing scientist at Oak Ridge National Lab’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) and the lead principal investigator for binder jet AM technology and has over numerous publications and 15 patents in the area. In her role she consults with industry partners across the US on potential uses for AM. Dr. Elliott is group leader for the Robotics and Intelligent Systems (RIS) Group. At the MDF, the RIS group leads R&D in advanced controls, monitoring, software, hardware, and integration for large-scale metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies, including the novel MedUSA platform. Dr. Elliott is also a well-known science communicator, having starred on the Discovery Channel’s “The Big Brain Theory” and Science Channel’s “Outrageous Acts of Science.” Dr. Elliott was also featured as a life-sized statue displayed in the Smithsonian March of 2022 as one of 100 women in STEM role models. Dr. Elliott has also launched a book series and Youtube channel about Amelia Gearheart, a colorful character who loves learning about STEM and Trade jobs.