Organisation

The organisation of AILU is under the direction of an elected standing committee made up of representatives from the UK industrial laser community. Elections are held annually at the Annual General Meeting.

Committee 2023-2025

Ric has over 30 years R&D, commercial and business development experience in advanced photonics-based technologies. Between 1995 and 2001, he worked as a beamline scientist in the Central Laser Facility at RAL, and in 2001, joined Exitech Ltd, an innovative manufacturer of highly specialised laser micromachining systems. Between 2006 and 2011 he played a pivotal role in setting up and operating a number of the UK Knowledge Transfer Networks in the photonics and plastic electronics sectors. Following this he joined Polyphotonix a pioneer in OLED technology as Chief Technical Officer with responsibility for setting technical strategy and delivering the companies IP/technology. Since 2012 he has been developing business opportunities and maximising economic impact at STFC and is currently Director of Business Development.

Vice President: Paola De Bono (TWI)

Paola De Bono is Section Manager in the Laser and Sheet Processes Section at TWI Ltd. Paola has over nine years of specific experience in laser processing for micro-scale applications, including the welding of highly reflective metals and applications using dissimilar materials.

Having gained her master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Palermo in Italy, Paola continued her studies with the Italian Engineering Association, becoming a Chartered Engineer. Moving to the UK, Paola studied for an engineering doctorate with Birmingham University, where her investigation focused on the topic of ‘Laser Welding of Copper and Aluminium Alloys for electrical Interconnects’. Originally joining TWI as a Project Leader in 2007, Paola went on to become a Senior Project Leader and then the Team Manager for the Lasers and Sheet Processes group, before becoming the section manager.

Vice President: Richard Carter (Heriot-Watt University)

Richard is an Associate Professor at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh with a specialisation in industrial manufacturing applications of lasers. Recent projects have included: high power beam delivery with novel hollow core fibre optics; micro material processing; microwelding of highly dissimilar materials; the use of robotics to align optical systems and novel beamshaping techniques. His research has led to collaborations with a number of external partners including Renishaw, Leonardo MW, Gooch and Housego, M-Solv, Oxford Lasers, MTC, CPI, University of Bath, University of Manchester, Cranfield University, Cambridge University and the CSIR (India).

Executive Director: Dave MacLellan (Anode Marketing)