Spotlight: Highlights From Dave Deisenroth's Postdoctoral Experience at NIST

How would you assess the success of a postdoctoral associateship? We turn to the experiences of our own researchers, including Dave Deisenroth.

Here at NIST, Dave homed in on a specific technique within advanced manufacturing called powder bed fusion, which spreads a thin layer of metal powder, then scans a laser over a specific pattern to melt and fuse some of the powder and repeats the process layer by layer to create a 3D-printed object.

Developing a state-of-the-art tool, he was able to make precise measurements that will help computer models better predict the properties of a 3D-printed part made with this technique (which helps when testing out new materials).

That tool contributed to Dave’s favorite moment during his postdoc: when he realized that a temperature measurement he performed was one of the most accurate ever made for the powder bed fusion technique. He and his colleagues measured a microscopic pool of molten high-purity nickel that changed from solid metal at room temperature to more than 3000 C and back in less than 1 millisecond.

Dave finished up his postdoc in December, and now joins NIST as a full-time employee.