Welcome Laser Operations!

Laser Operations LLC, manufactures the QPC Lasers line of products and is a leader in high performance diode lasers and diode pumped laser products for defense, medical, industrial and consumer applications.  Laser Operations products are based on proprietary technologies, notably its Brigthlase® and Brightlock® diode designs which provide unequalled diode brightness and spectral control and offer significant improvements in size, weight and cost compared to competing technologies. 

All operational and business functions are conducted at our 18,000 square foot factory in Los Angeles. Laser Operations’ manufacturing facilities are certified in accordance with the internationally valid standard ISO 9001:2008 and are ITAR registered.

The Company’s products are currently used by leading OEMs in a variety of medical, defense and industrial products and are being included in a variety of large scale consumer products currently being developed.

We are excited to welcome Laser Operations LLC to EWI.

          EWI welcomes our newest member  Hydrogen Energy Systems LLC. 

Hydrogen Energy Systems, located in Akron, Ohio has invented technology that allows an internal combustion engine to run mechanically on 100% compressed hydrogen.  The Hydrogen “Mixing Block”™ is a device that replaces the carburetor or electronic fuel injector, which delivers the exact mix of hydrogen and air to successfully and efficiently run small internal combustion engines. With their mechanical approach, Hydrogen Energy Systems has done what no other company has been able to do, which is develop hydrogen engine technology that is affordable to the masses.

Welcome EWI new member Bloom Energy. 

Bloom Energy manufactures on-site power generation systems which utilize an innovative new fuel cell technology with roots in NASA’s Mars program. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA,  Bloom Energy was founded with the mission to make clean, reliable energy affordable for everyone on earth.

Derived from a common sand-like powder, and leveraging breakthrough advances in materials science, Bloom Energy’s technology is able to produce clean, reliable, affordable power,… practically anywhere,… from a wide range of renewable or traditional fuels.  Their Energy Servers™ are among the most efficient energy generators on the planet; providing for significantly reduced electricity costs and dramatically lower greenhouse gas emissions.

EWI President & CEO, Dr. Henry Cialone, sat today with German Ambassador to the US, the Honorable Peter Ammon, on a panel discussion about manufacturing and innovation hosted by The Brookings Institution.  The German perspective is important and relevant, given that Germany’s manufacturing industry has continued to grow and prosper while U.S. manufacturing has stagnated in comparison.  The German ability to innovate new manufacturing technologies and get them to market quickly has much to do with their business model, which includes government-funded applications centers.

The largest of the German applications centers is Fraunhofer, and Dr. Cialone joked with Mr. Ammon about having “Fraunhofer envy.” EWI, in fact, has many similaries to Fraunhofer. Folks at Brookings are even calling it “the American Fraunhofer.”  Both EWI and Fraunhofer are manufacturing applications centers that innovate and mature technologies to the point that they are ready for industry.  The primary difference is that Fraunhofer is subsidized by the German government, which allows them to mature more technologies more quickly, and continually expand their capabilities — providing German manufacturers with quicker access to the latest manufacturing technologies available.

Dr. Cialone and Chris Conrardy, VP of Technology & Innovation at EWI, have talked a great deal recently with representatives from U.S. industry and state and federal government about how this “innovation model” proven in Germany could be the key to getting U.S. manufacturing back on track.  If the country embraces public/private partnering, this model could provide the innovation infrastructure that the U.S. is currently missing…

What do you think?  Might this innovation model work in the U.S.?  Add your comment below, or email me at Mary Wilmoth.

German Ambassador Peter Ammon (middle) and Dr. Henry Cialone (right) with moderator.

 

 

German Ambassador Ammon (left) and Dr. Henry Cialone (right)

Dr. Henry Cialone, EWI President and CEO, speaking on U.S. Manufacturing

Welcome Taylor-Winfield Technologies to EWI.  Taylor-Winfield Technologies of Youngstown, Ohio manufactures welding and soldering equipment of all shapes and sizes.  We are excited to have them on board.

 EWI would like to welcome new member Rogue Fitness.  Rogue Fitness is from right here in Columbus.

Rogue Fitness manufactures sporting equipment for CrossFit training.  What is         CrossFit?  CrossFit is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide.  It is an intense exercise program featuring dynamic exercises like plyometric jumps and Olympic lifts while using non-traditional weightlifting equipment.  This may sound complicated and intimidating, but  it is really “old school” exercise with jump ropes, kettlebells and sand-bags.  The program is structured in such a way that participants are challenged to do a certain number of repetitions in a workout in a specific time frame.  I’m tired just writing about it!

Ohio Manufacturing Technologies Company is Stop on “Global Cities Initiative” Tour

May 8, 2012 (Columbus, Ohio) – Tomorrow, EWI’s President and CEO, Dr. Henry Cialone, will participate in a forum alongside the Honorable Peter Ammon, German Ambassador to the United States, comparing and contrasting the U.S. and German manufacturing innovation models. The invitation-only event, entitled Going Global: Boosting Ohio’s Economic Future, marks the Ohio launch of the Global Cities Initiative, a joint project of The Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase, and is being held on the campus of The Ohio State University. 275 senior government, business, civic, and philanthropic leaders from across Ohio, as well as state and federal officials, have been invited.

The discussion of German versus American manufacturing innovation models is both purposeful and timely, given recent focus on manufacturing initiatives by President Obama. Germany’s manufacturing industry, supported by government/commercial partnerships, has continued to prosper and innovate while the United States’ ability to innovate has been stagnant in comparison.

According to Dr. Cialone, “Manufacturing is a dominant driver of a country’s economic prosperity. Germany has a manufacturing innovation model that is proven, and Fraunhofer (Europe’s largest manufacturing application-oriented research organization) is at the center of that model. Interestingly, EWI has strong similarities to Fraunhofer. Ours is an applications center that facilitates public/private partnerships and conducts research to advance manufacturing technologies. The main difference is the lack of base funding in EWI’s model, whereas about one third of Fraunhofer’s revenue is base funding to maintain and advance capability. We believe that with support from state and federal government and industry, our model could be the national innovation model that is lacking in our country. It could help increase manufacturing innovation overall, and lead the way to a healthier manufacturing industry.”

Today, select attendees from the forum will tour EWI headquarters in Columbus to speak with EWI engineers and witness manufacturing innovation taking place in EWI’s laboratories. A video-recording of highlights of the forum with Dr. Cialone and the German Ambassador to the U.S. will be available for viewing on www.brookings.edu and www.ewi.org later this week.

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(L to R) Dr. George Ritter, Bill Mohr, and Sean Gleeson

 The State Science Day competition was held this past Saturday at the St. John Arena and hosted by the Ohio State University.  EWI and EMTEC sponsored the Edison Center Materials Science and Engineering Awards for outstanding student projects in the field of materials science and engineering. There were two grade categories of 7th-9th and 10th-12th with $200, $100, and $50 prizes for each category. The high school awardees also received an additional college scholarship from the state of Ohio.

(L to R) Steve Levesque, Seth Shira, and George Ritter

We had a large number of projects to evaluate again this year (approx. 120) and the judges did an excellent job of thoughtfully and efficiently reviewing all of the projects in a relatively short amount of time. 

The EWI judges this year included:

Bill Mohr, Principal Engineer
Dr. George Ritter, Technology Leader
Seth Shira, Project Engineer
David Speth, Sr. Engineer, Materials
Sean Gleeson, Project Manager
Steve Levesque, Project Manager
Maggie Perez, Sales & Marketing Coordinator
Warren Peterson, Applications Engineer

Judges from EMTEC were Michael Martin, George Jones, Elliot Salmon, and Gary Walzer.

Thanks again to everyone who dedicated their time to this event which also helps to inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists. 

My name is Maggie Perez, if you have any questions regarding this blog, please feel free to contact me at mperez@ewi.org.

Woodcrest Elementary School, Columbus, Ohio

On Friday morning, Blake McAllister, Applications Engineer, Laser Processes and Sean Gleeson, Project Engineer, NDE, participated in this year’s Career Day at Woodcrest Elementary School, which is a year-around school located in Columbus, Ohio.  They presented to approximately 100 students in 3rd and 4th grade and were two of twelve various presenters at this year’s event.  Other presenters at the event had careers in various fields such as law enforcement, financial advisors & social work. 

Blake McAllister, Applications Engineer

Blake and Sean gave an overview of welding engineering then let the kids try three different activities which included: resistance spot welding, building a circuit to light an LED, and naming as many welded objects as they could identify.  They were pleased to hear that the general consensus from the students was that their presentations were by far the best and the kids loved the hands-on activities.  The students had very intelligent questions and comments about engineering and our engineers were impressed with their level of understanding and enthusiasm. 

EWI was appreciative of the opportunity to present to the students at Woodcrest Elementary and we are certain that there were some future engineers in the bunch. 

For more pictures of past EWI events, please visit our Facebook page.

My name is Maggie Perez, if you have any questions about this blog please feel free to contact me at 614.688.5062 or by email at mperez@ewi.org.

Congratulations to Jose Ramirez, Principal Engineer at EWI, whose paper Susceptibility of IN740 to HAZ Liquation Cracking and Ductility-Dip Cracking was published in the American Welding Society (AWS) Welding Journal, Vol 91, pp 122s-131s, April 2012.

You can reach Jose at jramirez@ewi.org or 614.688.5238.