The 2nd Interdisciplinary Graduate School in Laser-based Manufacturing Technologies (IGSLBMT) organized by the Education for Laser-based Manufacturing (ELbM) Consortium was held at the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Pretoria campus, South Africa from the 16th to 20th October 2023. The summer school focused on imparting relevant knowledge and practical skills to youths across African Universities on the introduction to Laser-based manufacturing technologies and the possible opportunities of rebuilding Africa.
The Education for Laser-based Manufacturing (ELbM) Consortium together with the UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Manufacturing & Innovative Technologies (UCoSMIT) sponsored a team of two (2) supervisors and two (2) Masters students from the Botswana International University of Science & Technology (BIUST) to physically attend the workshops, with ten (10) other sponsored members attending online. The BIUST Vice-Chancellor Professor O. Totolo delivered an insightful eye-opening speech on “Revolutionizing and capacitating African youths with future employable skills through laser-based manufacturing technologies in Industry 4.0”. Several keynote speeches on manufacturing were delivered by expects from countries such as South Africa, Italy and Ghana. Team BIUST also delivered two (2) presentations on “Laser metal deposition/laser cladding” and “Powder metallurgy & handling in LMP” through Professor E.O. Olakanmi and Dr. R.V.S Prasad, respectively.
Some of the theories and philosophies behind laser-based technologies were made practical to students as revealed on the figures below, which was one of the main objectives of the summer school. The experiments were interactive, giving students a deeper understanding of powder deposition and fusion technology.