CDME welcomes new director of additive manufacturing

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person in additive manufacturing lab

The Ohio State University Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence (CDME) has named John Middendorf, PhD, director of its additive manufacturing division, effective May 8, 2023.

Middendorf is highly regarded in the additive manufacturing (AM) industry, with expertise in development of AM machines and unique capabilities, such as multimaterial laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), hybrid additive/subtractive LPBF, and advanced in situ sensing. He most recently served as director of Open Additive, a leader in advanced metal LPBF AM systems. 

“We could not be more excited to welcome John to lead our additive division,” said CDME Executive Director Nate Ames. “We have built a top tier additive program in the last few years, and John’s experience designing and building some of the best systems on the market will expand our technical capabilities tremendously. Additionally, his experience running a business will position the additive division and the entirety of CDME for long term success.”

Middendorf is a leader in AM machine research and development, especially laser powder bed fusion. He has extensive experience in sensor development, and has designed, built and integrated AM machines from the ground up. He led the development of Open Additive’s PANDA laser powder bed fusion platform, which is one of the 12 metal additive systems used in CDME’s AM facility.

“Ohio State is one of the best universities in the world in terms of the people and technology available,” said Middendorf. “There are so many opportunities to do remarkable things and I am excited to be part of it. I think we can build one of the best additive manufacturing research facilities in the world at CDME.”

Prior to Open Additive, Middendorf worked at Universal Technology Corporation, now known as ARCTOS, where he led the 3D Innovation Lab to aim to qualify metal AM processes and develop new advanced AM processes, such as graded alloy printing and hybrid manufacturing.

Middendorf received his bachelor’s and PhD from Wright State University. His doctoral research focused on development of technology and equipment for producing, handling and analyzing terahertz radiation, which he translated to AM to identify key sensor technologies for in situ monitoring, aimed at quality assurance and closed-loop feedback control.

Middendorf is also an acclaimed researcher, having been published in Optics Express, Applied Physics Letters, Applied Optics and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Transactions. He has been involved in the development of a standards for in-process monitoring of AM processes for the American Society for Testing and Materials. Middendorf is a member of IEEE and the Optical Society of America.