Dr Martin Sparkes

Martin is a Senior Research Associate within the Cambridge University Engineering Department funded on the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Ultra Precision project.

Martin obtained a M.Eng in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Liverpool in 1991 and was subsequently employed as an R.A on Brite Euram project BE4046 looking into the control of laser beam properties (mode, diameter and position) for processing at distances over 40m. During this project studied part time for a PhD in high power laser beam diagnostics and control, awarded from Liverpool in 1996.

After the completion of studies he was employed as part of a team setting up the Lairdside Laser Engineering initiative aiming to promote and validate laser application within local industry.

Returned back to Liverpool University as a Senior Research Fellow looking at the evolution of laser sheet metal cutting in the high-speed regime, and then moved to Cambridge in 2003 to be part of the Centre for Industrial Photonics.

• Laser beam monitoring and control
• Hybridisation of laser and Ion beam processes
• Ultrafast and ultra precise processing
• Optics and optical design

For more information, see Martin Sparkes' biography on the Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) website.