Stan Bovid, Senior Metallurgist, Discusses New Laser Peening Equipment with MFN China Magazine

This interview with LSPT Senior Metallurgist Stan Bovid was published in MFN China, March 2016.  Click here for the Chinese version.

• Tell us about your engineering background. 
  • My background is a blend of materials engineering and mechanical engineering with a specialized focus on structural mechanics and component failures. Career wise, I’ve spent time in the lab analyzing failures, working in production environments to solve problems, compiling and evaluating data, carrying out controlled research, and optimizing processes for improved quality and throughput. I’ve also had the privilege of teaching, and developing content for, entry level engineering students.

• Your current position and job title is Senior Metallurgical Engineer. What types of responsibilities do you have and what has your career been like at LSP Technologies?  

1. • At LSPT I’ve been involved with many different teams that tackle sophisticated projects. Like many other small companies, as individuals we all have unique experiences and abilities that, when combined into a team environment help us deliver the best products and services available. My career with LSPT has been an exciting and technically challenging adventure since my arrival. The company is positioning itself for growth in the worldwide laser peening market on the two fronts of laser peening services and equipment, and that has kept me busy with new application development efforts to apply laser peening to many products.
   • LSP Technologies is multi-faceted in terms of demand for engineering talents. We have engineers from many fields to support our equipment design and builds, support our production efforts, and lead development efforts. My responsibilities are distributed primarily among research efforts, production improvements, application development, and overall project management.

• Why should customers use laser peening and LSP Technologies?  

1. • Our goal as a company is to create added value at an affordable price for our customers’ products, with our laser peening equipment and services, and we have a well-developed reputation stemming from our commitment to our customer’s satisfaction. Our staff recognizes the expertise the customers have with their own parts and the expertise we have in laser peening. Only by working together can we create peak value. The experience and capabilities we have in combination with our customer support is unrivaled in the industry.
   • The Laser Peening data speaks for itself: it is the ultimate choice in surface enhancement technology. Laser Peening provides the deepest residual compressive stresses which yield the most significant component service lifetime increases with the least change in surface appearance of any surface enhancement technology. LSP Technologies has been the expert in Laser Peening for over 20 years.

• Tell us about the newest Laser Peening System.   

1. • LSPT is also offering custom Laser Peening Cells, designed and fabricated by LSPT, customized to our customer’s parts. The Procudo^® System and the Peening Cell communicate with each other to manipulate the part for optimal laser peening efficiency.
   • On top of that, the Procudo^® System is configured to best suit the customers’ needs and requirements. It is a turn-key system designed for rapid integration with the utmost focus placed on laser peening throughput, reliability and usability. Right now we have the 200 model. We are working toward other options, all responding to our customers’ requests, including a 90 and a 400 two beam system.
   • The Procudo^® Laser Peening System sets a new standard for the advancement of laser peening equipment. It is a one beam system that runs at 20 Hz and 10 Joules per laser pulse. It provides the fastest delivery of laser peening with the overall highest power available in the industry. The diode pumped laser maintains high quality beam profiles over billions of shots, provides a longer lifetime with less downtime and maintenance, and a uniform beam profile that makes it optimal for laser peening.

• Where do you see the Procudo^® System going in the future? 

1. 1. We see a lot of growth in the laser peening equipment and service industry over the next 10 years, especially in China and Europe. We have already sold a system in China and one in the U.S. and are negotiating for one in Europe, we’ll be announcing that later this year. The Procudo^®Laser Peening Systems are revolutionizing the way laser peening is used across the globe.

• Why should customers use the Procudo^® System from LSP Technologies, Inc.? 

1. • LSPT allows OEMs to take out the middleman. It allows OEMs to incorporate laser peening directly into their own manufacturing line and use the process themselves so that they understand and control what’s happening to their parts. LSPT also provides access to our patent portfolio, sharing years of laser peening knowledge with each system. Again, LSPT has over 20 years of experience with using laser peening and building laser systems. For in-house laser peening, there is no system comparable to the Procudo^® Laser Peening System on the market today.

• What differentiates LSP Technologies from its competitors?  

1. • As part of this partnership approach and being a small business, we’re able to offer all of our clients the one-on-one attention they deserve. Even as we grow, our customer relationships receive top priority and we will continue to provide the individualized attention that has made us successful. When working with an engineering team at LSP Technologies, you do not get passed around between groups and departments. You maintain the engineering contacts and trust used to build the foundation of our relationship.
   • At LSPT, our goal is to sell our products and services to a client, and we want to build “win-win” relationships with our clients. We want to share in the knowledge we both have by working together. By taking a partnership approach we are able to match our abilities with our clients’ needs and goals.

• Final thoughts, would you like to share with our readers regarding laser peening, the Procudo^® Systems, and LSP Technologies?
  • In addition, our Laser Bond Inspection is coming into the next phases of maturation. We are very excited to be continuing work with LBI and getting it qualified for adhesive bond inspections in the aerospace industry, both domestically and internationally. We are working with major aerospace OEMs to make the LBI system a necessary step to ensuring the safety of aircraft structures.
  • It’s an exciting time for LSPT right now. We are building more Procudo^® Systems and shipping them all over the world. We are still running laser peening production and application development work out of our home office in Dublin, Ohio, and now have unused capacity as we bring our own Procudo^® Laser Peening System on line. We are preparing for more growth within the company.

• What is next for LSP Technologies, Inc.?
  • The Procudo^® Laser Peening System, like Laser Peening in general, can benefit any industry: Aerospace, Power Generation, Automotive, Industrial, Academic, Medical, Transportation, etc. We have long been providing laser peening production services to aerospace and power generation. The aerospace industry uses it for both fatigue and damage tolerance improvements of engine and structural components, and for peen forming wings and fuselage components. The power generation industry has incorporated laser peening with us to address stress corrosion cracking and erosion issues in compressor blade.
• What markets/industries does the Procudo^® System serve? 
  • More focus is being placed on product life cycle costs and sustainability each day. This focus has expanded businesses to include more than just the initial manufacturing costs of a product in decision making. Products are now required to be more sustainable economically and environmentally to continue to be successful. As reliability, maintainability, and efficiency become ever increasing factors in the total life cycle cost evaluations of components, the value of laser peening continues to grow. Laser peening enables products to last longer in service, extend maintenance intervals, and increase performance and the efficiency of product designs. At LSP Technologies, we want to help you reach the peak performance of your products.

To view the article on MFN China’s website (in Chinese), please click here.