Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
My name is Thomas Schopphoven and I am the head of the "Laser Material Deposition" department at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen. After completing my mechanical engineering degree in production and materials technology at RWTH Aachen University, I developed the "Extreme High-Speed Laser Material Deposition" (EHLA) from the idea to an industrial production process at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT. In a holistic approach, I was able to solve both the scientific-technological challenges in researching the process and the ecological and economic challenges in industrial implementation through interdisciplinary cooperation between the fields of materials science, mechanical engineering and physics. For this, I was awarded first place in the Berthold Leibinger Innovation Prize and the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize, among others. I completed my doctorate with distinction at the Chair of Laser Technology LLT at RWTH Aachen University on the process and model theoretical foundations of the EHLA process.