Prof. Wei Gao, Tohoku University, Japan

Title
In-process metrology for smart manufacturing
Abstract
In the manufacturing process of a precision part, it is a common operation to make dimensional metrology of the part, including length, angle and surface form, for the purpose of quality control. For smart manufacturing of precision parts, it is advantageous to make the measurement under in-situ conditions, which can be classified into on-line/in-line, on-machine or in-process conditions, for assurance of accuracy and efficiency of the measurement operation as well as the manufacturing process. More importantly, in many cases, precision manufacturing cannot be accomplished without applying such kinds of metrology technology. Very large surface fabrication, ultra-precision surface machining, complicated surface generation, micro-structured surface stitching, EB-based lithography mask surface repair, high-throughput wafer surface production are some of the examples. In this keynote, the historical contributions of measurement technologies to manufacturing are first overviewed. Then the needs, benefits and limitations of in-process dimensional metrology for smart manufacturing will be specified, together with an overview of the state-of-the-art in-process measurement systems and sensor technologies that have been developed in the past decade. The challenges and trends for the future development will finally be demonstrated.  
Biography
Wei Gao received his Bachelor of Precision Instrumentation from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, in 1986, followed by MSc and Ph. D from Tohoku University, Japan, in 1991 and 1994, respectively. He is currently a professor in the Department of Finemechanics of Tohoku University. His research interests lie primarily in the field of precision engineering, specialized in precision metrology and micro/nano-metrology. He and his group have developed a number of surface metrology systems as well as a couple of optical sensor technologies for precision measurement and nanometrology. He is a fellow of the International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP), the International Society for Nanomanufacturing (ISNM), and the Japan Society for Precision Engineering (JSPE). He served as the Chairman of The Scientific Technical Committee Precision Engineering and Metrology of CIRP from 2015-2018 and a Vice President of JSPE in 2015. He is the author of the book “Precision Nanometrology” (Springer). He and his group have won seven Paper Awards from JSPE in the past twenty years.