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6th Meeting of the 197th Session (2017-2018)

Applications of high power lasers in manufacturing and medicine

Professor Duncan P Hand

Professor Duncan P Hand

Professor Duncan P Hand BSc PhD
Director of the Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Laser-based Production Processes
Deputy Head of School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University

In the Augustine United Church
41 George IV Bridge
Edinburgh, EH1 1EL
On Monday 26th March 2018, at 7pm

High power laser light - a highly controllable, remotely directed energy source - has revolutionised both manufacturing and medicine in recent years. Laser light is uniquely controllable in time and space. Commonly-used lasers can provide anything from a continuous beam of energy down to pulses that are so short that comparing them to one second is like comparing a second to half a million years, and with a peak power far exceeding the output of a large aeroplane engine. This energy can be delivered through a flexible optical fibre and focused down to a spot that is only a few microns across, and this spot can be precisely scanned across a surface at many metres per second. These unique properties have enabled a swathe of manufacturing and medical processes, from welding of ships to micro-machining of arterial stents to removal of cancerous tissue; I will explore some of these in my talk.

Duncan Hand's research is focused on applications of high power lasers in manufacturing and in medicine. He is Director of the £5.6M EPSRC 5-University Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Laser-based Production Processes, and leading an EPSRC grant (joint with the University of Bath) on novel fibre optics for delivery of high peak power laser light. Furthermore, he is the lead academic of the recently-awarded £1.3M EPSRC Platform Grant on Manufacturing of Medical Devices, and is the Heriot-Watt lead of a recently awarded EU grant on laser-based manufacturing of functional surfaces. He is also involved in European Research Council-funded work on laser-based manufacture of micro-fluidic devices to simulate porous media for application in Carbon Capture and Storage; and is involved in an EPSRC grant to develop minimally-invasive laser-based surgery for treatment of early stage colon cancer.

Complimentary tea, coffee and biscuits are served from about 6:40pm onwards before the meetings.
There is a hearing loop in the meeting room and ramped access to the building is available.
Members of the Public are welcome to attend.

Dr Jane Ridder-Patrick, Secretary
secretary@rssa.org.uk
Telephone: 0131 556 2161