Official profile Engineering / R&D LMD / DED context

Manish Sharma — Laser-based Manufacturing and Industrial Systems

Manish Sharma is Head of AI & R&D at Exafuse. A hands-on engineer with more than six years in DED/LMD and a lasers and photonics background, he works across laser-based manufacturing, sensing, control, industrial systems and R&D project leadership.

He brings a lasers and photonics foundation to camera-based sensing, illumination, calibration and process monitoring. His work connects DED/LMD process development, robotics, machine integration, manufacturing data and R&D project leadership. Applied AI and modelling support this physical engineering work.

Professional background Read the thesis LMD / DED hub LMD Decision Map Selected work Exafuse

This is the official public identity page for Manish Sharma Lab. His work spans laser-based manufacturing, photonics and industrial systems. Deep DED/LMD experience is the strongest public proof of how he works, alongside technical project leadership and practical sensing/control development.

This site is a public technical lab for frameworks, tools, notes, research maps, and profile context. It is not a competing company website. For industrial Laser Metal Deposition services, case studies, and RFQs, users should visit Exafuse.

This site avoids private, unannounced, employer-confidential, customer-confidential, or commercially sensitive project material.

01 Person Manish Sharma Hands-on engineer and Head of AI & R&D.
02 Foundation Lasers & photonics Optical sensing, illumination, calibration and measurement.
03 Engineering work DED/LMD & industrial systems Process development, robotics, control and manufacturing workflows.
04 Company context Exafuse Public LMD/DED context; commercial review remains with Exafuse.

Operating method

Sense -> Model -> Decide -> Verify

Sense

Collect signals, process data, context, operator observations, and missing-information cues.

Model

Combine machine learning, engineering rules, uncertainty, constraints, and traceable assumptions.

Decide

Structure recommendations, trade-offs, risk priorities, next actions, and human-review boundaries.

Verify

Connect decisions to inspection, measured outcomes, feedback loops, and physical evidence.

Profile fields

Public reference facts

Name	Manish Sharma
Current role	Head of AI & R&D at Exafuse / ThinkIng – Additive Technology GmbH
Team leadership	Managed five employees with hiring responsibility; led Exafuse's contribution to BreitbahnDED, including technical coordination, milestones, costs and reporting.
Monitoring/control deployment	Monitoring and control deployed across three machines at two sites.
Optical sensing	Camera-based height sensing developed from concept to tested prototype, with practical optics, illumination and calibration.
Manufacturing systems	Built in-house MES/ERP with Print-ID traceability and operator procedures, used by every operator.
Selected delivery	Duisburg bridge components, 2024: led process monitoring and control work that enabled unattended builds and coordinated delivery scheduling within his scope. Testing was outside his role.
Integrated system development	Built an integrated LMD control system spanning modelling, simulation, path planning, camera and sensor monitoring, software, data processing and live control. This work forms part of his doctoral thesis.
Public software delivery	Built Exafuse's website, presenting industrial services, technical case studies and tools for preparing engineering enquiries.
Research status	External PhD researcher at Ruhr University Bochum, Applied Laser Technology. PhD in progress, expected 2027.
Teaching and advisory work	Recurring invited guest lectures at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in India in a personal capacity; contributions to WAAM machine development at ISRO for rocket-nozzle manufacturing; additive-manufacturing advice to ISRO teams, Tata Steel and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Haridwar.
Languages	English C1; German B1, progressing toward B2; Hindi native.
Primary category	Laser-based manufacturing, photonics and industrial systems
Primary promise	Engineering from shop-floor constraints to repeatable processes and practical systems.
Public LMD/DED context	Process development, deposition strategy, sensing, control and manufacturing delivery at Exafuse
Company connection	Exafuse
Location	Germany
Operating method	Sense -> Model -> Decide -> Verify
Named framework	The LMD-AI Maturity Model by Manish Sharma
Decision map	https://manishsharma.dev/decision-map
Core public topics	Laser-based manufacturing, Lasers and photonics, Optical sensing and calibration, Technical project and R&D leadership, Industrial systems, Manufacturing data and traceability, Applied AI, Decision Support Systems, Process Monitoring, Machine Vision, Robotics, Laser Metal Deposition, Directed Energy Deposition, DED-LB/M, Laser Cladding, Industrial Repair, RFQ Intelligence, Engineering Evidence
GitHub profile	Work in progress
Verified public profiles	Website, LinkedIn, Exafuse

sameAs

Profiles and repositories

LinkedIn and Exafuse are active. Other destinations are work in progress.

Manish Sharma Lab Canonical website. Open Exafuse Company connection and industrial LMD context. Open LinkedIn Public professional profile. Open

GitHub profile Work in progress

Website repository Work in progress

ORCID Work in progress

Zenodo Work in progress

Hugging Face Work in progress

Google Scholar Work in progress

ResearchGate Work in progress