Jialuo Ding - Team Spotlight

It is time to introduce you to another of our great team here at WAAM3D. In fact, without this person, WAAM3D would not be the company it is today. So here is the amazing Jialuo, our Chief Technology Officer and one of the founders of WAAM3D.

How long have you been at WAAM3D and where were you before?

That is an easy question to answer, as I have been at WAAM3D since the beginning! I’m one of the 3 founders of the company and we set it up in 2018. WAAM3D came out of work that we were doing at Cranfield and that we wanted to develop further into commercialised industry solutions. The first time I was introduced to the WAAM process was actually during my PhD(2008-2012) at Cranfield, which was in the field of thermal-mechanical modelling for wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM)

What does your job at WAAM3D entail?

My focus is furthering the development of WAAM technology. I actually do two jobs: I spend half my time at WAAM3D as Chief Technology Officer and half at Cranfield University, continuing my research and development work into WAAM. When at WAAM3D, my job is to take what we develop in the university and transition it towards commercial development, keeping application and software development front of mind.

What do you love about your job?

For me, the main attraction of my job is that I always work on the latest technology in the field of WAAM, as Cranfield University is the word leader for this technology. My main interest in continuing in this field of research and development is to advance this technology still further, specifically on the digital side, as this is critical to its future success. My primary focus is on making the technology even more intelligent and automated.

What challenges do you face in your job at WAAM3D?

As with many people, juggling workload is always the biggest challenge! Even though I work half my time at Cranfield and half for WAAM3D, in reality a lot of the time I have two full time jobs. This is because in my work, timing is critical on certain projects, so I have to be where I’m needed most at that moment. Getting this balance right is a challenge and that is where my development team comes in. They are essential to me, as I can’t do everything. In my mind achieving the expectations placed on me for both roles are essential, and my team is vital to helping me do this.

Tell me about somethings or something that you're most proud of that you've achieved at work at WAAM3D?

I am very proud of my work in developing the first version of the WAAM planning software that led to the commercial version of the software. Also, I have been the lead on some major WAAM projects and received a variety of awards that show we are on the right path with the commercialisation of this technology. I am now at the point where I can see that the solution I have built is not far from being used in industry and this makes me very proud. Also, working on specific industry applications and seeing how they will be used in the near future is more important to me than any of my academic papers on the subject.

What are your hobbies?

When I am not working, my focus is time with my daughter.We spend as much time as we can together and we both enjoy painting. Also, as a family, we love travelling around the world and I can’t remember the last Christmas we spent at home.

What is your favourite food?

It will come as no surprise to you that I’m going to say, ‘Chinese food’! I also like Turkish food too, but all Chinese food wins for me. I particularly miss steamed mantis shrimp that was fished off of the coast of the small city in China where I grew up. I can get crabs in the UK, but they just aren’t the same.

If you have a project that our Team can help with, get in touch.

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