Tanzim Azad and Conner Evans started their 8-week summer research with AML June 3, 2019.  They were supported by Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program of National Science Foundation.  Each of them is involved in an active research project going on in the AML.

Tom Zhang successfully passed his doctoral qualifying exam May 2019.  Congratulations, Tom!

Prof. Yao was invited to serve on a 5-member review committee to evaluate the Mechanical Engineering program at Indian Institute of Science (IIS) in Bangalore, India February 12-14, 2019.  The committee met with faculty and undergraduate/graduate students, toured the teaching/research facilities, and submitted an evaluation report to the Director of IIS.

Prof. Yao was invited to deliver a keynote speech at the 4th International Conference on Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering held in Bangkok, Thailand December 13-15, 2018.  He updated on the advances in laser manufacturing research.

Tizian Bucher successfully defended his doctoral dissertation on November 16, 2018.  The title is Laser Forming of Metal Foam: Mechanisms, Efficiency and Prediction. Tizian is currently with an elite engineering firm in Zurich, Switzerland.

Tizian Bucher presented a paper “Laser Forming of Sandwich Panels with Metal Foam Core” at the 37th Int. Congress on Applications of Lasers and Electro-Optics (ICALEO ’18) in Orlando, FL, October 14-18, 2018. The work is based on a collaboration with Boeing Company and funded by a GOALI grant from National Science Foundation.

Prof. Yao attended the ASME Technical Committee on Publications and Communications/Board of Editors meeting held in Pittsburg, PA on November 9-10, 2018.  He currently serves as Editor, ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering.  He exchanged views with editors of other ASME journals.

Tom Zhang has joined AML in September 2018 to start his MS/PhD program in manufacturing research.  Tom received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Mississippi State University.

Dr. Grant Grandal, a recent alumni of AML, received the prestigious Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award from SME https://www.sme.org/2018-outstanding-young-manufacturing-engineers/ during the 46th North American Manufacturing Research Conference held June 18-22, 2018 at Texas A&M University.  The award was conferred partially based on his work at GE Global Research since he graduated from AML. The award is to recognize accomplished individuals at age of 35 or younger.

Prof. Yao attended MSEC/NAMRC Conference in Texas A&M June 18 to 21, 2018.  He presented a paper “Interlaminar Toughening of Fiber Reinforced Polymers by Synergistic Modification of Resin and Fiber,” which is based on collaboration with GE Global Research and funded by a GOALI grant from National Science Foundation.  He also hosted an editorial board meeting of ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, of which he is the editor.

Prof. Yao was invited to attend Editors-in-Chief Summit of Scientific Journals sponsored by the Chinese Association of Science and Technology in China May 2018.  He delivered a keynote speech.  Other invitees include EICs of Science, Nature, and other leading journals.

Conner Finn and Breanna Johnson started their 8-week summer research with AML late May, 2018.  They were supported by Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program of National Science Foundation.  Each of them was involved in an active research project going on in the AML.

Nikita Lisenko successfully passed his doctoral qualifying exam May 2018.  Congratulations, Nikita!

Prof. Juan Pou joined AML as a Visiting Professor from Spain in December 2017 to conduct research in laser materials processing.  Prof. Pou runs the largest industrial laser research center in Spain and served as the Dean of Engineering at University of Vigo for six years.

Prof. Yao attended the ASME Technical Committee on Publications and Communications/Board of Editors meeting held in Tampa, FL on November 4-5, 2017.  He currently serves as Editor, ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering.  He exchanged views with editors of other ASME journals.

Dakai Bian successfully defended his doctoral dissertation on September 22, 2017.  The title is Interlaminar Toughening of Fiber Reinforced Polymers.  Dakai is currently with ASM International, an elite semiconductor equipment company in Phoenix, AZ as a Senior Mechanical Engineer.

Nikita Lisenko joined AML in September 2017 to start his MS/PhD program in manufacturing research.  Nikita received his BSE in Materials Science and Engineering and BA in Physics from University of Pennsylvania.

Welcome Shuyang Fang to join our group. His undergraduate school is Huazhong University of Science and Technology as an undergraduate student, and he majored in Mechanical Engineering. He spent his senior year in University of California, Riverside as an exchange student.

Doctoral student, Tizian Bucher, and Prof. Yao attended MSEC/NAMRC Conference in Blacksburg, VT June 27 to 30, 2016.  Tizian presented a paper “Effect of Geometrical Modeling on Prediction of Laser-Induced Heat Transfer in Metal Foam,” which won a Best Paper award of NAMRC 2016. Prof. Yao presented a paper “Platform-Dependent Liquid Handling in High-Throughput Biodosimetry Tool,” which is based on a collaborative project with Columbia University Medical Center.  Prof. Yao has also attended a few committee meetings at the conference.

Three REU students, Adelaide Young, Vincent Zhang, and Brad Beeksma, started their 8-week summer research with AML on June 6, 2016.  REU stands for Research Experience for Undergraduates, which is funded by National Science Foundation.  Each of them is involved in an active research project going on in the AML.

Doctoral student, Tizian Bucher, got married in Lucerne, Switzerland on May 21, 2016. We are happy and excited for you, Tizian!

Prof. Yao attended a two-day panel at National Science Foundation February 11 to 12, 2016.  It was organized by the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems to evaluate proposals in the areas of Energy for Sustainability and Thin Film Photovoltaics in particular.

Prof. Yao was invited to attend a series of events at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) December 18 to 19, 2015.  The events were SJTU inaugural faculty tenure evaluation meeting, the opening of SJTU Intelligent Manufacturing Institute and Innovation Center, and International Intelligent Manufacturing Workshop.  About 20 experts from overseas and 20 experts from SJTU attended the events. 

Prof. Yao attended Joint Board of Editors (BOE)/Technical Committee on Publications and Communications (TCPC) meeting of ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) in Houston, TX, November 14-15, 2015.  He serves as Technical Editor, ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering.

​Doctoral Student Grant Brandal presented two papers from AML at ICALEO 2015, in Atlanta, GA October 18 to 22, 2016. The papers were "Microstructural Effects Induced by Laser Shock Peening for Mitigation of Stress Corrosion Cracking" and "Comparative Study of Laser Scribing of SNO2:F Thin Films Using Gaussian and Top-Hat Beams."  The difference in the processes reported in these papers illustrate the diverse use of lasers for manufacturing processes.

MSEC/NAMRC, June 8 to 12, 2015, Prof. Yao was presented with two awards.  American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) presented him with the prestigious Milton C. Shaw Manufacturing Research Medal to recognize his “significant fundamental contributions to the science and technology of manufacturing processes.”  The award comes with a bronze medal and $1,500 cash.  The North American Manufacturing Research Institute (NAMRI) presented him with the Outstanding Lifetime Service Award to recognize his long-time involvement and contributions to the organization and manufacturing research community at large.

Doctoral student, Dakai Bian, and Prof. Yao attended MSEC/NAMRC Conference in Charlotte,NC from June 8 to 12, 2015.  Dakai presented a paper “Effect of Deep Penetration of Interleaf on Delamination Resistance in GFRP,” which won an Outstanding Paper in Manufacturing Processes.  Prof. Yao presented a paper “Laser Induced Porosity and Crystallinity Modification of a Bioactive Glass Coating on Titanium Substrates.” Prof. Yao has also attended a few committee meetings at the conference.

Three REU students, Chris Bolger, Jason Tsui, and Stephanie O’Gara, started their 8-week summer research with AML on June 1, 2015.  REU stands for Research Experience for Undergraduates, which is funded by National Science Foundation.  Each of them is involved in an active research project going on in the AML.

Prof. Yao was invited to visit a number of research universities and institutes in Brazil May 24 to 26, 2015.  The objectives are exchange views and identify collaboration opportunities.  He presented two seminars at Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC) and Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (IPEN).  The exchange was funded by Lemann Foundation of Brazil.

Prof. Yao was an invited speaker at the Photonics Symposium held at GE Global Research, Niskayuna, NY, April 2-3, 2015. He delivered a keynote speech on Advances in Laser Materials Processing Research.

Prof. Yao was a keynote speaker at 2^nd Int. Conference on Mechanical, Electronics, and Computer Engineering, Zhuhai, China, January, 24-26, 2015.  He also delivered a talk at GE Tech Center, Shanghai, China, January 28, 2015.

Prof. Yao attended Joint Board of Editors (BOE)/Technical Committee on Publications and Communications (TCPC) meeting of ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) in Montreal, Canada, November 15-16, 2014.  He serves as Technical Editor, ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering.

On June 18, 2014, Prof. Yao was invited to talk about Case Studies in Laser Materials Processing Research at the SEAS Summer Research Program, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Columbia University.

Panjawat  Kongsuwan (known as PK) successfully defended his doctoral dissertation on May 7, 2014.  His dissertation is entitled “Laser Induced Modification and Integration of Glasses.”  He invited everyone from AML to a delicious Thai lunch on May 9 to help him celebrate and thank everyone for their help and friendship during his PhD candidacy (5/7/2014).

Profs. Changjun Chen and Min Zhang, Visiting Scholars from Laser Processing Research Center of Soochow University, China, have submitted two abstracts to ICALEO ’14 (International Congress on Applications of Lasers and Electro-optics).  The titles are “Effects of Laser Radiation on the Wetting and Diffusion characteristics of Kovar Alloy on Borosilicate Glass,” and “Experimental and numerical investigation of laser forming of closed-cell aluminum foam,” respectively (4/30/2014).

 Prof. Yao and Dakai Bian participated in the annual retreat of Columbia University Center for High-Throughput Minimally-Invasive Radiation Biodosimetry” held April 24-25, 2014.  Prof. Yao was invited to give a presentation on “Overview of robotics in biomedicine.”  They are part of the NIH-funded team working on robotized biodosimetry, led by Prof. David Brenner of Columbia University Medical Center (4/25/2014).

 Jenny Ardelean and Dakai Bian started their PhD study with AML in January 2014, after successfully completing their MS studies by Fall 2013.  Jenny has been working on laser scribing of solar cells and Dakai on inter-laminar toughening of composites (1/21/2014)

Prof. Yao attended the editors' meeting at IMECE ’13 (International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exhibition) held in San Diago during November 15 to 21.  The editors of the 26 ASME transactions exchanged views and discussed steps moving forward.  Prof. Yao currently serves as the Editor, ASME Transactions, Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering (11/15/2013).

Grant Brandal gave a guest lecture to an introductory mechanical engineering class.  The talk was aimed at exposing the students to various manufacturing methods, and the fundamental science behind these processes.  (11/20/2013)

Professor Yao was invited to visit and give a seminar at The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, on November 4, 2013.  The topic of the presentation was "Laser Surface Texturing, Crystallization and Scribing of Thin Films in Solar Cell Applications."  (11/4/2013)

Master's student Jenny Ardelean recently traveled to Baltimore, Maryland to attend the Society of Women Engineers National Conference. As a representative of Columbia University, Jenny was able to talk with both undergraduate women and professional engineers in an effort to recruit graduate students to the university (10/25/13)

Dr. Damir Kolich and Jesús del Val García have recently joined our lab as Visiting Scholars.  Damir received his PhD from University of Rijeka, Croatia.  His doctoral thesis is on lean manufacturing and Monte Carlo simulation.  He in fact was born near New York and has now returned to the US.  Jesus is with the laser materials processing group within the Applied Physics at University of Vigo, Spain.  His areas of research include laser micro-cladding.  Welcome to both (9/9/13)

Jenny Ardelean has recently joined AML as a graduate student.  She, originally from Lake Grove, New York, earned her Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Chicago in 2012.  Jenny is interested in energy systems in particular renewable energy and possible laser application in renewable energy device fabrication.  Welcome, Jenny (9/9/13)

AML has recently been invited to contribute papers to describe our latest research results.  The Editor-in-chief, Prof. Kornel Ehmann of Northwestern University has invited us to contribute a manuscript to the inaugural issue of Manufacturing Letters.  Doctoral student, Huade Tan and Prof. Yao co-authored and submitted “Feasibility Analysis of Inter-laminar Toughening for Improving Delamination Resistance.” The Guest Editor, Dr. Lioz Etgar, has invited us to contribute a manuscript to a Special Issue on "Solar Energy Materials 2013” to be published in Materials.  It is under preparation.  (9/9/13)

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has granted us a three-year award entitled “GOALI: Laser Scribing of Multilayer Thin Films in Solar Cells: Defect Formation and Mitigation.”  GOALI stands for Grant Opportunity for Academic Liaison with Industry and is a NSF program to encourage academic and industrial research collaborations.  Our collaborator on this project is GE Global Research. (7/29/13)

Congratulations to Dr. Hongliang Wang on successfully defending his doctoral thesis entitled “Laser Surface Texturing, Crystallization and Scribing of Thin Films in Solar Cell Applications.” (7/16/2013)

Doctoral student, Grant Brandal and Dr. Yao attended 2013 MSEC/NAMRC Conference held in Madison, WI during June 10 to 14.  Three papers were presented.  One of which was presented by Dr. Hongqiang Chen of GE Global Research, who graduated from the AML over ten years ago and is currently a collaborator with us. (6/14/2013)

Dr. Yao has been invited by Laser Institute of America (LIA) to deliver an invited speech at the International Congress on Applications of Lasers & Electro-optics (ICALEO®), to be held October 6–10, at the Hyatt Regency Miami in Miami, FL.  The topic of the invited speech is Machining, joining and structuring transparent materials with ultra short pulse lasers. (6/7/13)

Congratulations to Dr. Gen Satoh on successfully defending his doctoral thesis.  His thesis is entitled “Modification and Integration of Shape Memory Alloys through Thermal Treatments and Dissimilar Metal Joining.”  Good luck with your employment at Alcoa Tech Center in Pittsburgh! (4/26/2013)

Congratulations to Dr. Shan-Ting Hsu on successfully defending his doctoral thesis, as well as finding employment at FoxConn in San Jose, CA.  His thesis title is “Effect of Laser Induced Crystallinity Modification on Degradation and Drug Release of Biodegradable Polymer.” (2/6/2013)

Prof. Wei Jia from the Ultrafast Laser Group of Tianjin University, China has completed a one-year research stay with our lab.  He collaborated on a project involving laser processing of bulk metallic glass (BMG). (2012)

Dr. Yao was appointed Editor, Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering (JMSE) by American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).  JMSE is a premier journal covering original research in all branches of manufacturing and publishes 6 issues a year.  He will work with 18 Associate Editors of the journal to better serve the manufacturing research community. His journal assistant will be Ms. Corinna Fales (cf2526@columbia.edu). (7/2012)

Dr. Andrew Birnbaum, an alumnus of AML, has just started a new position at an engineering firm in DC - Corvid Technologies (http://www.corvidtec.com/).  Prior to that, Andrew had a two-year postdoctoral stay at the Naval Research Laboratory and a brief stint with Air Force Space Systems, both in the DC area. (5/4/2012)

Dr. Yao attended Joint Board on Editors (BOE)/Technical Committee on Publications and Communications (TCPC), and ASME Journal Program: Editor’s Workshop held in Houston, TX. (November 9-10, 2012)

Huade Tan, a PhD candidate, and Dr. Yao paid a visit to GE Global Research, located in Niskayuna, NY.  We reported our current research effort in inter-laminar strengthening of composite materials for potential applications in wind turbine blade manufacturing and design.  We interacted with both the laser group and the composites group at GEGR. (May 17, 2012)

Dr. Yao was named a Fulbright Senior Scholar and spent his sabbatical leave in Fall 2011 with the Industrial Laser Research Group at University of Vigo, Spain.  He visited a number of research centers of laser materials processing in Europe, including the laser group at CNRS, Arts et Metiers, France and Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystem in Dresden, Germany (Fall 2011)

National Science Foundation (NSF) has granted us a three-year award entitled “GOALI: Dissimilar Metal Joining for Micro-Scale Medical Devices.”  GOALI stands for Grant Opportunity for Academic Liaison with Industry and is a NSF program to encourage academic and industrial collaborations.  Our collaborator on this project is Boston Scientific Co. (July 2011)

A US patent (#7,958,063) entitled “Methods and systems for identifying and localizing objects based on features of the objects that are mapped to a vector” was issued to the credits of Dr. Xi Long (former doctoral student in in AML and currently a senior software engineer with Amazon.com), Dr. W Louis Cleveland of St. Luke-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York, and Dr. Yao.  The research was sponsored by a NIH grant. (June 2011)

Grant Brandal has joined AML in September 2011.   Grant received his BS in Physics from Whitman College and MSME from Columbia University.  He is currently a PhD candidate in AML. (2011)

Dr. Yao has recently stepped down from his 6-year term beginning in 2005 as the Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Columbia University, and will return to teaching and research. (7/2011)

Dr. Yao was invited to give an invited presentation on “Applications of Laser Surface Structuring with Lasers,” at 30th Int. Congress on Applications of Lasers and Electro-Optics (ICALEO ‘11), Laser Microfabrication Conf, held in Lake Buena Vista, FL. Since he could not attend, his doctoral student, Gen Satoh presented it on his behalf. (October 23-27, 2011)

Dr. Yao gave a seminar on “Overview of Columbia University and Laser Materials Processing Research,” at Department of Applied Physics, University of Vigo, Vigo, Spain. (September 20, 2011)

Dr. Yao spoke on the topic “Graduate Studies and Laser Manufacturing Research,” at School of Industrial Engineering, University of Vigo, Vigo, Spain. (October 17, 2011)

Dr. Yao led a group of 5 PhD candidates from AML visited GE Global Research, located in Niskayuna, NY.  Each of us made a presentation of a laser material processing project.  Our host is the Laser materials processing and measurement lab at GEGR.  Potential research collaborations were explored. (April 27, 2011)

In a ceremony held in the Faculty House, Dr. Yao, along with other faculty, was honored with Faculty Excellence Award, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Columbia University. (April 2010)

National Science Foundation (NSF) has granted us a three-year award entitled “Laser Modification of Surface Crystallinity of Biodegradable Polymers.” (September 2010)

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National Institute of Health (NIAID/NIH) has renewed the project “Center for High-Throughput Minimally-Invasive Radiation Biodosimetry” for five more years.  The PI is Prof. David Brenner of Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University Medical Center.  Dr. Yao serves as a Co-Investigator of the engineering team. (August 2010)

Dr. Youhua Chen has completed a two-year postdoctoral research with us.  He will join the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.  (2010)

Dr. Fernando Lusquinos, an Associate Professor from the Applied Physics Department of University of Vigo, Spain, has completed a six-month research stay in our lab.  He collaborated on the solar cell project and co-authored a paper with us. (2010)

A US patent (#7,787,681) entitled “Systems and Methods for Robotic Transport” was issued August 31, 2010.  Another US Patent No. 7,822,249 entitled “Systems and Methods for High Throughput Radiation Biodosimetry” was issued October 26, 2010.  Both patents were issued to the credits of the Columbia University Medical Center team led by Dr. David Brenner and the engineering team led by Dr. Yao.  The research was sponsored by a NIH/NIAID grant.

CRC Press has published a book entitled Intelligent Energy Field Manufacturing, which was edited by a former AML doctoral student, Dr. Wenwu Zhang, currently with GE Global Research.  Another former doctoral student of AML, Prof. Gary Cheng, currently with Purdue University, Dr. Yao, and Wenwu Zhang co-authored a chapter in the book, Chapter 18, Laser Induced Plastic Deformation. (2010)

Two former doctoral students of AML, Dr. Andrew Birnbaum, currently with Naval Research Lab, and Prof. Sinisa Vukelic, currently with Bucknell University, and Dr. Yao co-authored a chapter on Advances in Laser Induced Plastic Deformation Processes for the book entitled Advanced in Laser Materials Processing Technology: Research and Applications (ed. By J. Lawrence, J. Pou, D.K.Y. Low, and E. Toyserkani) and published by Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge, UK and CRC Press, Boca Raton, LA. (2010)

Huade Tan has joined AML as a PhD candidate.  Huade received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University and his MSME at the University of Notre Dame. (September 2010)

Dr. Yao was elected Chair of the Manufacturing Engineering Division (MED) of ASME for the 2010-2011 term.  He has served on the Executive Committee of MED since 2006. (6/2010).

National Science Foundation (NSF) has granted us a two-year award entitled “Transmission Welding and Single-Step Channeling of Transparent Materials by Ultrafast Laser.” (June 2009)

Dr. Yao was elected President of North American Manufacturing Research Institute (NAMRI) for the 2009-2010 term.  The NAMRI brings together researchers for the purpose of advancing the scientific foundation of discrete-parts manufacturing.   He has served on the NAMRI Board of Directors since 2002. (5/2009)

Dr. Yao delivered an invited presentation titled "Advances in Surface Modification via Laser Crystallization," at the 5th International Congress on Laser Advanced Materials Processing (LAMP), held in Kobe, Japan. The host is Prof. Isamu Miyamoto of Osaka University. (June 29 to July 2, 2009)

Dr. Yao was selected as the 2009 recipient of the Janette and Armen Avanessians Diversity Award.  Dr. Yao was presented with the Janette and Armen Avanessians Diversity Award by Interim Dean, Gerard Navratil, at the Class Day ceremony on May 18th. This award, established in 2007 by University Trustee Armen A. Avanessians, MS’83, honors faculty members whose actions encourage women and men from diverse backgrounds to become part of the academic community of engineering education.

A MRL alumnus, Gary J. Cheng, has been promoted as an Associate Professor with tenure in the School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, May 2009. Congratulations and the best of luck, Gary!

Dr. Sinisa Vukelic has successfully defended his doctoral thesis on "Laser Induced Deformation and Structural Modification of Crystalline and Amorphous Materials" on April 7th, 2009. He will join as an assistant professor in Mechanical Engineering Department of Bucknell Univeristy, Lewisburg, PA. since Fall 2009. Congratulations and good luck:)

Dr. Yao has been elected to the College of Fellows of Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). He joined SME in 1986 and has been active in manufacturing research since. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the research arm of SME, North American Manufacturing Research Institute (NAMRI). This year he assumes the role of NAMRI Secretary. “I am truly honored to have been selected by my peers and look forward to working with them in the years ahead,” he said. He will receive his award at the North American Manufacturing Research Conference (NAMRC) scheduled for May 2009 in Greenville, South Carolina.

As part of the Biodosimetry project, Dr. Yao attended the annual retreat and delivered a talk on “Updates on the Development of a Robotized Biodosimetry System,” held at Institute of Bio Design, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. (February 18, 2008)

A MRL alumnus, Dr. Andrew J. Birnbaum, received a 3rd place award for his presentation, "Pre-heated Substrate Effects on Meltmediated Laser Crystallization on NiTi Thin Films " at the 2008 International Congress on Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics (ICALEO). The paper is co-authored with his thesis advisor, Prof. Larry Yao, as well as Prof. James Im of Materials Sciences, and Prof. Ainissa Ramirez of Yale University. Andrew's work investigates the effects of solidification rate on NiTi thin films subjected to a pulsed, melt-mediated laser crystallization technique. A high degree of control over the microstructure as well as the constitutive response of laser irradiated films is demonstrated. The ICALEO is devoted to the field of laser materials processing and is viewed as the premier source of technical information in the field.

Dr. Andrew J. Birnbaum has successfully defended his doctoral thesis on "Laser Induced Deformation and Microstructural modification" on Nov. 21st, 2008 under Dr. Yao's supervision. Andrew is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at Naval Research Lab in DC.

Dr. Yao has recently completed his two-year term as the Scientific Committee Chairman for the North American Manufacturing Research Institute, which held its latest annual meeting in Northwestern university in October 2008.

A MRL alumnus, Gary J. Cheng, has taken up an Assistant Professor position with the School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, beginning September, 2007. Congratulations and the best of luck, Gary!

There were four PhD graduates from MRL in 2006, who have joined major corporations in research capacity. Dr. Yajun Fan is now a Senior Project Engineer with Caterpillar. Dr. Youneng Wang works for Michelin Research and Dr. Jennifer Zhang works for Westinghouse. Dr. Xi Long is a Senior Software Engineer with Amazon.com.

Dr. Yao and his former doctoral student, Dr. Wenwu Zhang (currently GE Global Research), together with Cevdet Noyan from department of applied physics and applied mathematics of Columbia University have won the prestigious Blackall Machine Tool and Gage Award from ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineering) for their two-part paper "Microscale Laser Shock Peening of Thin Films." Presentation was given on October 16, 2006 in Yipsilanti, MI during the MSEC conference .

Dr. Yao was elected an ASME Fellow (American Society of Mechanical Engineers). This was announced at the MSEC conference in Yipsilanti, MI in October 2006. Earlier this year Dr. Yao was inducted as a Fellow of Laser Institute of America.

Dr. Yao was invited to give a presentation at NSF I/U CRC Center of Lasers and Plasmas for Advanced Manufacturing, November 28-29, 2005 in Ann Arbor, MI.

Dr. Peng Cheng has successfully defended his doctoral thesis in laser forming in Oct. 2005 under Dr. Yao's supervision. In October, he has joined Schlumberger in Houston, TX.

Dr. Yao has been elected Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Columbia University and his term has started on July 1, 2005.

Dr. Hongqiang Chen, currently with Quantronix Lasers, attended the Ph.D. Convocation in St. Paul's Chapel May 2005. He was greeted by his doctoral advisor, Dr. Yao .

Columbia University hosted the 33rd North American Manufacturing Research Conference May 24-27, 2005. Drs. Yao and Longman served as Co-Chairs and graduate students from MRL and Prof. Longman's group helped organize the event. Michael Idelchik of GE Global Research gave the keynote speech.

Dr. Yao was invited to give a keynote speech “Laser Forming of Complex Structures” at International Workshop on Thermal Forming, Bremen, Germany, April 13-14, 2005. His co-worker under the NIST APT program, Dr. Dave Mika of GE Global Research also attended the Workshop. It was hosted by Prof. Frank Vollertsen, Director of BIAS.

Dr. Yao served as the Program Chair for the MED (Manufacturing Engineering Division) at IMECE 04 held in Anaheim, CA during Nov. 13 to 19. Two papers "Experimental characterization and simulation of three dimensional plastic deformation induced by microscale laser shock peening" and "Effective Automatic Recognition of Cultured Cells in Bright Field Images Using Fisher’s Linear Discriminant Preprocessing" were presented.

Dr. Yao was elected a Fellow of the Laser Institute of America. A plaque was presented during ICALEO '04 held Oct. 04 in San Francisco by LIA President, Bill Lawson .

In September 2004, three new graduate students joined MRL. Andrew Birnbaum started his doctoral program here and he has a MS from Carnegie Mellon University. Sinisa Vukelic started his MS leading to PhD program here and he has a BS from University of Belgrade. Yishu Cao started his MS program here and he has a BS from Nanjing University, China.

National Science Foundation has awarded a three-year grant beginning June 2004 to support MRL's work on laser forming. Dr. Yao serves as Principal Investigator.

Hong Q. Chen successfully defended his doctoral thesis on Micro Scale Laser Shock Peening in May 2004 under Dr. Yao's supervision. In July, Dr. Chen joined Quantronix Lasers in Long Island, NY as a staff engineer. Quantronix was founded in 1967 and is a pioneer in laser technologies especially in CW pumped Q-switched solid-state lasers and ultrafast lasers.

MRL members and collaborators gathered at the faculty house to celebrate the end of year 2003.

Dr. Yao, and doctoral student Peng Cheng represented Columbia at the NIST project annual meeting in Kansas City, MO during December 15-16, 2003. The technical and business managers from NIST for the project attended the meeting and all partners presented work accomplished during the last year.

Dr. Yao and doctoral student Hongqiang Chen attended the ICALEO '03 (International Congress on Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics) in Jacksonville, FL during Oct 13-16, 2003. Two papers "The Influence of Sheet Metal Anisotropy on Laser Forming Process" and "Spatially Resolved Characterization of Residual Stress Induced by Micro Scale Laser Shock Peening" were presented. Dr. Yao also attended the meeting of LIA Board of Directors.

The paper titled "Spatially Resolved Characterization of Residual Stress Induced by Micro Scale Laser Shock Peening" co-authored by Hongqiang Chen, Y. Lawrence Yao and J. W., Kysar presented at ICALEO '03 has won the first place award in Student Paper Award Contest.

Doctoral student Hongqiang Chen represented Columbia University at the NSF Engineering & Computing Education Grantee Meeting 2003, Washington, DC in September 2003 and hosted a poster presentation. He also participated in a focused group discussion on future research and education needs, and spoke specifically on non-traditional machining.

Dr. Yao, and doctoral student Peng Cheng represented Columbia at the NIST project quarterly meeting in Denver, CO during September 4-5, 2003.

Three new doctoral students joined MRL in Septemper, 2003. They are Yajun Fan, Youneng Wang and Jie Zhang. Before joining MRL, Yanjun studied at Pennsylvania State University and Youneng was a MS student in University of Michigan. Jie worked as a research assistant in the Medical School of Columbia University. A new masters student, Yuki Saito, has also joined MRL.

Dr. Yao attended the Laser in Manufacturing 2003 Conference in Munich, Germany in June 2003. He presented a paper "Process design of laser forming for three dimensional thin plates" and had meaningful discussions with German colleagues. He was also invited to visit a number of institutions involved in laser materials processing research and development including renowned Fraunhofer IPT (Institute of Production Technologies) in Aachen, Germany.

Doctoral student Hongqiang Chen presented an invited talk "Thermal Aspects in Laser Material Removal" in the NSF Workshop on Research Needs in Thermal Aspects of Material Removal Processes, Stillwater, OK in June 2003. He also participated in group discussions on future research needs.

A Kickoff meeting of the NIST project (see below) was held in GE Global Research at Schenectady, NY December 4, 2002 and was attended by NIST project managers and all partners. Dr. Yao, and doctoral students Chao Liu and Peng Cheng represented Columbia at the meeting. NIST requirements were reviewed. History, vision and the first year milestones were also reviewed.

NIST ATP (National Institute of Standards and Technologies, Advanced Technology Program) has recently made an award to a consortium consisting of GE Global Research at Schenectady, NY, Caterpillar Tech Center in Peoria, IL, Columbia University, and two more companies to conduct a project “Laser Forming of Complex Structures.” The total project cost is $7M with $3.5M from NIST and the rest from the partners. Columbia’s portion of the project cost is $1.2M and Dr. Yao serves as the Columbia PI.

Dr. Yao served as Conference Chair of the Laser Materials Processing Conference at ICALEO 2002 held in Scottsdale, AZ in October 14-17, 2002. Two papers from his research group (one by Wenwu Zhang and the other by Chao Liu) were presented at the Conference. Dr. Yao also attended the LIA Board meeting.

The paper titled “Advances in micro-scale laser peening technology” co-authored by Wenwu Zhang, Hongqiang Chen, and Y. Lawrence Yao and presented at ICFDM’02 (The 5th International Conference on Frontiers of Design and Manufacturing) on July 12, 2002 has won the Best Paper Award.

Two papers (one by Wenwu Zhang and the other by Jin Cheng) were presented at the NAMRC XXX held at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN on May 21-24, 2002. Dr. Yao also attended the NARMI board meeting held at the same time.

Jin Cheng successfully defended his doctoral thesis on Analysis and Synthesis of Multiscan Laser Forming Processes in May 2002 under Dr. Yao's supervision. In July, Dr. Cheng took up an Assistant Professor position with School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Washington State University.

National Science Foundation has awarded a three-year grant beginning April 2002 to support MRL's work on micro-scale laser shock processing. Dr. Yao serves as Principal Investigator.

Wenwu Zhang successfully defended his doctoral thesis on Microscale Laser Ablative Processes in January 2002 under Dr. Yao's supervision. In February, Dr. Zhang joined the Inspection & Manufacturing Technologies group at GE Corporate Research & Development.