
EALA – European Automotive Laser Applications
27th Expert Conference
EALA, European Automotive Laser Applications, is Automotive Circle’s focus conference on everything to do with laser-based material processing in any area of automobile series production. Since 1999, the conference has taken place annually in Bad Nauheim, Germany, and has been discussing technical advancements regarding, for instance,
- laser-based welding, brazing, cutting, drilling, cladding, surface structuring or surface cleaning
- laser systems and laser optics
- laser beam and laser seam analytics and process control
- process data management and AI- or non-AI-based data analyses
- corresponding simulation techniques
- new application areas of industrial laser material processing, in any component of the automobile.
Bringing together an international audience of laser systems and automotive engineering experts, the conference always aims at presenting a mixture of latest application progress reports from trailblazing OEM and Tier1 module suppliers, most recent innovations from laser system and process control equipment suppliers and highly interesting academic study results.
Next Instalment
Please note the date: The 27th EALA edition takes place on February 3-4, 2026 in Bad Nauheim, Germany and online.
Conference Program
| 9.00 am | Welcome and conference introduction | Dr. Dirk Meine, Automotive Circle, DE |
Process analyses |
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| 9.30 am |
Series-robust laser welding of aluminum in automotive manufacturing – lessons learned from diverse material processing routes |
Carmen Schäfer, German Society for Materials Science (DGM), IT
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| 10.00 am |
Uncovering the effect of ambient conditions on cw keyhole mode laser beam welding by high-speed synchrotron X-ray imaging |
Dr. Leander Schmidt, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Production Technology Group, DE
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| 10.30 am |
Building a gold-standard, correlative synchrotron X-ray and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) database for the application of machine learning to automotive laser welding |
Tristan Fleming, IPG Photonics (Canada), CA
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| 11.00 am |
Meet the Speakers / Exhibition / Coffee and contacts |
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Remote welding innovations |
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| 11.45 am |
Advanced high precision remote laser welding strategies with in-situ quality assurance for mobility |
Ruediger Brockmann, Blackbird Robotersysteme GmbH, DE
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| 12.15 pm |
New “SCW” remote welding head for laser welding without laser cell |
Dr. Axel Luft, Scansonic MI GmbH, DE
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| 12.45 pm |
Meet the Speakers / Exhibition / Lunch break |
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Tactile welding innovations |
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| 2.00 pm |
Flexible e-drive production using adaptive laser welding systems |
Matthias Beranek, Trumpf Laser-und Systemtechnik SE, DE; Alexander Fast, Schaeffler Automotive Buehl GmbH & Co. KG, DE
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| 2.30 pm |
Bringing intelligence to laser welding with wire: adaptive solutions for battery box production |
Sebastian Moser, Precitec, Inc., US; Mohamed Kashkoush, Ford Motor Company, US
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| 3.00 pm |
OCT for higher accuracy when laser brazing and welding |
Richard Steinbrecht, Lessmüller Lasertechnik GmbH , DE; Jan Neubert, Abicor Binzel, DE
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| 3.30 pm |
Meet the Speakers / Exhibition / Coffee and contacts |
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Implementing AI |
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| 4.15 pm |
Robotic laser welding with autonomous guidance enabled by AI for large components in automotive |
Dr. Daniele Colombo, ADIGE – BLMGroup, IT; Dr. Matteo Moscatelli, Politecnico di Milano, IT
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| 4.45 pm |
In-line dual source AI powered weld quality monitoring for EV batteries |
Alex Fraser, Laserax, CA
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| 5.15 pm |
WeldBrAIn™: AI-Based weld quality prediction and repair in battery busbar laser welding |
Dr. Masoud Pour, General Motors Company, US
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| 5.45 pm |
Meet the Speakers / Exhibition / Get together |
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| 7.00 pm |
Networking Dinner |
New laser applications |
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| 9.00 am |
Laser applications in battery recycling |
Max Rettenmeier, TRUMPF Laser- und Systemtechnik SE, DE
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| 9.30 am |
Sustainable laser cleaning of bulk materials |
Olav Schulz, SLCR Lasertechnik GmbH, DE
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| 10.00 am |
Industrial application and investigation of laserbeam rotating to the porosity of Laser-MIG-hybrid welded AW 6063-T6 aluminum alloy for battery trays |
Dr. Herbert Staufer, Fronius International GmbH, AT |
| 10:30 am |
Meet the Speakers / Exhibition / Coffee and contacts |
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Advances in welding copper |
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| 11.15 am |
Copper welding and PAI coating removal using high-brightness blue laser |
Yuki Iwai, Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., JP
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| 11.45 am |
NIR/blue hybrid laser welding of Cu hairpins: system, process, and monitoring development |
Prof. Ali Gökhan Demir, Politecnico di Milano, Department of Mechanical Engineering , IT; Giulio Borzoni, IMA EV-TECH, IT
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| 12.15 pm |
A blue dive into the invisible: Synchrotron-based analysis of welding processes with blue laser radiation and future perspectives for the automotive industry |
Christoph Spurk, RWTH Aachen University, Chair for Laser Technology LLT, DE; Mathias Schlett, Laserline GmbH, DE |
| 12.45 pm |
Meet the Speakers / Exhibition / Lunch break |
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Beam shaping possibilities |
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| 2.00 pm |
Tailored, faster and high-quality welding technology for the new EV structures |
Miguel Ángel Ferrández Del Olmo, Gestamp, ES
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| 2.30 pm |
Choosing the right beam shaping technology: a comparative outlook |
Stefano Zarini, Optoprim, IT
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| 3.00 pm |
Farewell address and end of conference |
Dr. Dirk Meine, Automotive Circle, DE
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Program is subject to change.
Status as of: December 16, 2025
Participants
International OEM Advisory Board
Dr. Jan-Philipp Weberpals
Audi AG
Dr. Florian Oefele
BMW Group
Stefan Axmacher
Ford-Werke GmbH
Dr. Sujit Chatterjee
Jaguar Land Rover
Christian Elsner
Mercedes-Benz AG
Taishi Tarui
Nissan Motors Co. Ltd.
Eveline Reinheimer
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG
Christian Brémont
Renault SAS
Raul Botta
Stellantis, DE
Yves van den Stock
Volvo Cars
Meinulf Hinz
Volkswagen AG
Become a sponsor or exhibitor
Take advantage of the high coverage of the Automotive Circle and profit from the sponsoring options before and during the events. Show your competence and services, matching the conference subjects, to the numerous car body engineers of international OEM. Thus, you are strengthening your brand awareness in the automotive industry!
Come on board as an exhibitor or sponsor and benefit from this excellent platform to strongly promote your company’s capabilities as a reliable supplier!
Feel free to check out the various sponsoring options!
More Information
Register now
Review
Impressions of EALA 2025
For more information on EALA – European Automotive Laser Applications 2025 (e.g. Agenda, participants), take a look here!
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