Johannes Henrich Schleifenbaum appointed Co-director at ACAM
July 3, 2018
Professor Johannes Henrich Schleifenbaum, Fraunhofer ILT (Courtesy Fraunhofer Institute of Laser Technology)
The Aachen Center for Additive Manufacturing (ACAM), RWTH Aachen Campus, Germany, has appointed Professor Johannes Henrich Schleifenbaum, Fraunhofer Institute of Laser Technology (ILT), as its Co-director. Prof Schleifenbaum will work alongside Managing Director Dr Kristian Arntz, Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology (IPT).
Part of the Photonics Cluster at RWTH Aachen Campus, ACAM aims to combine the AM-relevant competencies of the scientific and research institutes of RWTH and facilitate access to Additive Manufacturing technology for industry. The ACAM community includes thirty one companies in Germany, Austria, France, Japan and the USA among its industrial partners, and is focused on the creation of solutions covering the full AM workflow, from project design to training, feasibility studies and consulting services.
Prof Schleifenbaum began his career as an apprentice mechanical fitter at heavy-duty machine tools specialist Waldrich Siegen before going on to study Engineering in Aachen. He recently accepted the post of Expert Group Manager for Additive Manufacturing and Functional Layers at Fraunhofer ILT, and has also been appointed as Chair of Digital Additive Production DAP at RWTH Aachen University. In addition to these responsibilities, Schleifenbaum will coordinate Fraunhofer’s ‘Next Generation Additive Manufacturing -futureAM’ focus project, in which the six Fraunhofer Institutes (ILT, IAPT, IFAM, IGD, IWS and IWU) will be collaborating.
On his appointment as Co-director at ACAM, Prof Schleifenbaum stated, “Key issues for me are end-to-end process digitalisation, from the design stage to quality control, process chain automation, the development of customised materials, increasing productivity and reducing turnaround times – while maintaining costs at the same level or even reducing them.”
