3D Shoes 3D Shoes
  • News
    NewsShow More
    A realistic photo of a prosumer 3D printer creating a detailed part on a modern workbench in a bright studio.
    Inside the 2025 3D Printing Boom: Why Prosumer Printers Are Outselling Industrial Models — and What It Means for Footwear Innovation
    October 31, 2025
    Futuristic 3D-printed shoes made from photochromic materials that change color under sunlight, showcasing smart fashion innovation.
    Color-Changing 3D-Printed Shoes? Scientists Create Light-Responsive Materials That Think
    October 22, 2025
    UW–Platteville professors turn spoiled milk into biodegradable plastic for 3D printing(WMTV)
    Spoiled Milk to 3D Printing: UW-Platteville’s Biodegradable Plastic Breakthrough
    October 19, 2025
    BambuLab
    Why the Bambu Lab Trust Center Matters for Every Connected 3D Printer Owner
    October 10, 2025
    Bambu Lab
    Bambu Lab vs. Zellerfeld: The Battle for the Future of 3D-Printed Footwear
    October 7, 2025
  • Design
    DesignShow More
    Nike A.I.R dragon-scale 3D-printed sprint spike prototype
    AI 3D Printing: How Smart Machines Are Reinventing Footwear—from Design to Delivery
    July 16, 2025
    adidas Is Dropping A Laced Version Of The Climacool
    Adidas Climacool Laced 2025 Release: What You Need to Know Before Buying
    June 20, 2025
    Side profile of the red 3-D-printed Nike Air Max 1000 prototype
    Nike Air Max 1000 vs Adidas 4DFWD 3: Can Either 3‑D‑Printed Sneaker Survive 500+ Miles?
    June 16, 2025
    A pigmented O° shoe featuring a black 3D-printed structure overlaying a grey textile base layer Image: Courtesy of OXMAN
    OXMAN’s O° Platform: Pioneering 100% Biodegradable 3D-Printed Footwear
    January 29, 2025
    The First AI Shoe
    Stepping into the Future: Reebok’s Co-Founder Teams Up with Young Innovator to Revolutionize Footwear through AI and 3D Printing
    January 23, 2025
  • Trends
    TrendsShow More
    Photo Credits: Courtesy of Carbon® and Hypsole — from the case study “Hypsole’s Cleat Guard Dream Gets to Production Faster with Carbon.”
    Hypsole’s 3D-Printed Cleat Guards: Redefining Off-Field Footwear with Carbon’s Digital Manufacturing
    October 24, 2025
    Credit: Shu Shu Zheng / RMIT University.
    Battery‑Free Implants? How RMIT’s 3D‑Printed Diamond–Titanium Device Generates Power Inside the Body
    October 4, 2025
    Isometric 3D-printer nozzle laying toolpath to build a lattice bracket; inset compares continuum vs discrete design.
    Toolpath-Aware Topology Optimization: How MIT’s Method Makes Complex 3D-Printed Parts More Reliable
    September 29, 2025
    EcoFil 3D student startup team receiving an award at the be’ah Tech incubator event in Oman.
    EcoFil 3D: The Student Startup Turning Kitchen Waste into Printer Filament
    September 27, 2025
    Row of Zellerfeld GEN3 footwear 3D printers ready for autonomous production
    Zellerfeld GEN3: The Fastest 3D Printer for Shoes — 3× Speed, Multi‑Color, Full Autonomy
    September 15, 2025
  • Recommended Picks
    Recommended PicksShow More
    High-resolution collage featuring five popular running shoes — Nike Invincible 4, HOKA Bondi 9, ASICS GEL-Nimbus 27, New Balance FuelCell SC Elite v4, and Adidas 4DFWD — recommended for an EPU 45 midsole upgrade.
    5 Running Shoes That Need Carbon’s EPU 45 Foam (But Probably Won’t Get It Yet)
    June 10, 2025
    Anycubic Wash & Cure 3
    Budget vs. Premium: Which Wash & Cure Station Is Right for You in 2025?
    June 5, 2025
    CAD for kids course review covers a 16-week program taking learners from CAD sketch to 3D-printed model, summarizing projects, skills and required tools.
    CAD for Kids – Build, Create & Learn — Our Full Project-Based Review
    May 8, 2025
    Best Subscription Boxes for Moms This Mother’s Day (2025 Gift Guide)
    🎀 Best Subscription Boxes for Moms This Mother’s Day (2025 Gift Guide)
    April 29, 2025
    3D Printing from Zero to Hero in Blender – FDM & MSLA - Course Review
    3D Printing from Zero to Hero in Blender – FDM & MSLA: Build, Create & Learn — Our Full Project-Based Review
    April 12, 2025
Reading: The Engineer Behind the Breakthrough: How David Deisenroth’s Laser Reflections Could Change Metal 3D Printing (and Footwear)
Fuel Our Steps
Font ResizerAa
3DSHOES.COM3DSHOES.COM
  • News
  • Design
  • Recommended Picks
  • STL Files
Search
  • Home
  • News
  • Design
  • Recommended Picks

Footwearology Digital Courses

R_Shoes R_Shoes June 26, 2024
5.9kLike
4kFollow
3.7kPin
3.7kFollow
  • Home
  • About
  • STL Files
  • Contact
© 2024 3DSHOES.com. All Rights Reserved.
News

The Engineer Behind the Breakthrough: How David Deisenroth’s Laser Reflections Could Change Metal 3D Printing (and Footwear)

R_Shoes
Last updated: September 11, 2025 1:16 pm
By R_Shoes 6 Min Read
Share
David Deisenroth, a mechanical engineer at NIST, researches ways to improve metal 3D printing. Credit: M. King/NIST
David Deisenroth, a mechanical engineer at NIST, researches ways to improve metal 3D printing. Credit: M. King/NIST
SHARE

If “light caustics” sound like physics trivia, David Deisenroth is the mechanical engineer turning them into an industrial superpower. His work at NIST shows that the laser’s own reflections off a molten metal pool can reveal what’s happening inside a metal 3D printer in real time—including the early formation and depth of defect-causing keyholes. That unlocks the holy grail of in-situ monitoring and sets the stage for more reliable, lower-cost metal additive manufacturing (AM) — with ripple effects for footwear tooling and performance parts.

Table of Contents
Who Is David Deisenroth? The NIST Engineer Behind the OpticsThe Big Idea: Reading the Laser’s “Light Ripples”Not a One-Off: A Career Built on “Make It Measurable”Why Footwear Should Care: Faster Molds, Better Surfaces, Smarter PartsWhat This Unlocks: Practical Takeaways for TeamsEditorial Take: The Metrologist’s EdgeSources

Who Is David Deisenroth? The NIST Engineer Behind the Optics

Deisenroth is a mechanical engineer at NIST’s Engineering Laboratory and founder of the Fundamentals of Laser–Matter Interaction (FLaMI) Testbed, built to study—and measure—laser–metal physics under tightly controlled conditions. His background blends additive manufacturing with optical/laser metrology, and his team focuses on the hard-to-capture variables that underpin trustworthy monitoring and control:

  • Directionally resolved reflected laser power
  • Laser power-density distribution at the build plane
  • Optical behavior of the plume/ejecta during printing
NIST researcher David Deisenroth works with an imaging device in his lab at NIST’s campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Credit: M. King/NIST Finding Ke
NIST researcher David Deisenroth works with an imaging device in his lab at NIST’s campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Credit: M. King/NIST Finding Ke

The Big Idea: Reading the Laser’s “Light Ripples”

Like sunlight rippling on a pool floor, laser reflections form caustic patterns that encode the melt pool’s shape and dynamics. Deisenroth’s team built a custom reflective dome, coated to encourage a single specular bounce, over the melt zone and filmed the evolving caustics with a high-speed camera (~60,000 fps now; roadmap ~825,000 fps).

What it delivers: a non-intrusive, real-time indicator that flags when a keyhole forms—and how deep it gets—fast enough to enable closed-loop control.

“The biggest challenge was creating a coating for the inside of the dome that would reflect the laser light only once… If it wasn’t reflective enough, we wouldn’t see any light at all… It’s amazing that we can capture these caustics in action and draw meaning out of them.” — David Deisenroth, NIST

Why this matters: The method uses the printer’s existing laser and straightforward optics, opening a path to production-friendly designs—think small ‘satellite-dish’ reflectors tucked inside build chambers—instead of exotic lab gear.


Not a One-Off: A Career Built on “Make It Measurable”

Deisenroth’s throughline at NIST is simple: turn AM’s hardest problems into metrology problems—and solve them. Cornerstones of that approach include rigorous testbed design and calibration, beam characterization at the build plane, gas-flow effects on melt-pool stability, and quantified uncertainty for high-temperature thermography. Together, this is the unglamorous backbone behind a glamorous headline: real-time defect detection you can trust.


Why Footwear Should Care: Faster Molds, Better Surfaces, Smarter Parts

1) Tooling at scale (today). Metal AM molds with conformal cooling and digital texturing are already proving their worth in high-volume footwear manufacturing, with reports of 100M+ pairs made using 3D-printed metal molds and cycle-time reductions from ~2 weeks to ~10 hours in case studies. Deisenroth-style in-process monitoring can push this further: higher first-pass yield, lighter inserts, faster seasonal launches, and crisper surface fidelity.

2) Select metal parts (near- to mid-term). As reliability improves, expect targeted titanium/stainless components—cleats, spike plates, shanks, eyelets—and orthotic elements to complement polymer AM in performance and customization niches. Polymer AM momentum (e.g., shoes that are almost entirely 3D-printed) shows the supply chain is ready; robust metal AM monitoring lets metals complement that momentum in tooling and specialty parts.


What This Unlocks: Practical Takeaways for Teams

  • Closed-loop control: Caustic changes → automatic power/scan adjustments before pores form → fewer failed builds, fewer CT scans, lower cost per part.
  • Vendor due diligence: Ask AM/tooling partners about optical reflection sensing (or equivalent in-situ coverage), documented uncertainty budgets, and validated correlations between signals and porosity for your alloys.
  • Design for AM (molds): Lean into conformal cooling, thinner walls, and aggressive textures once monitoring guards quality—especially for seasonal SKU churn.

Editorial Take: The Metrologist’s Edge

Breakthroughs like this rarely come from a single “aha.” They come from engineers like David Deisenroth who sweat the metrology—then spot a simple, scalable signal hiding in plain sight. By turning the laser’s own light into a real-time diagnostic, he’s made metal AM more knowable—and therefore more controllable.

For footwear, that means better molds now and a clearer path to metal parts where they count. The next time your team debates an outsole texture, a faster cooling layout, or a custom metal insert, remember: thanks to caustics, we’re finally seeing what we print—every layer, every time.


Sources

  • NIST Taking Measure — Laser Focused: How Light Reflections Could Revolutionize 3D Printing of Metals (Sept 10, 2025): https://www.nist.gov/blogs/taking-measure/laser-focused-how-light-reflections-could-revolutionize-3d-printing-metals
  • 3D Printing Industry — 100 million shoes produced with Farsoon’s 3D-printed molds (Sept 12, 2024): https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/100-million-shoes-produced-with-farsoons-3d-printed-molds-232622/
  • The Verge — Nike’s Air Max 1000 are almost entirely 3D-printed (Nov 18, 2024): https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/18/24299479/nike-air-max-1000-3d-printed-shoe-zellerfeld-collab
TAGGED:David Deisenrothfootwear moldsin-situ monitoringkeyhole porositylaser reflectionslight causticsmelt pool monitoringmetal 3D printingNIST
Share This Article
Facebook Twitter Copy Link

Stay Up To Date!

Sign up for 3DShoes.com's mailing list where you will stay up-to-date with latest trends, drops, and more.

loader

Trending

Glue-Free, Bold, and Global: The Rise of Daniyar Uderbekov’s 3D-Printed Shoes

Introduction: Innovation, Heritage, and the Future of FootwearWhat happens when nomadic heritage meets additive manufacturing?…

September 8, 2025

How the AMOS 3D Printer Is Redefining Made-in-America Manufacturing

IntroductionWith global supply chains under strain and national security at the forefront, the AMOS 3D…

May 21, 2025

Game-Changer or Gimmick? Can Nike’s 3D-Printed FlyWeb Bra Really Revolutionize Women’s Running?

Marketing Hype vs. Measurable GainsParis, 26 June 2025.Faith Kipyegon barrels into the bell lap of her sub‑4:00‑mile attempt,…

June 14, 2025
PixelCrafted banner ad bold headline ‘Websites That Sell’, tagline ‘Custom WordPress builds that convert’, button ‘Get a Free Mockup’.
5.9kLike
4kFollow
3.7kPin
3.7kFollow
Innovation & Trends

Toolpath-Aware Topology Optimization: How MIT’s Method Makes Complex 3D-Printed Parts More Reliable

Isometric 3D-printer nozzle laying toolpath to build a lattice bracket; inset compares continuum vs discrete design.

For engineers and AM professionals who need designs that predictably translate from simulation to print.

R_Shoes September 29, 2025

Your may also like!

A realistic photo of a prosumer 3D printer creating a detailed part on a modern workbench in a bright studio.
News

Inside the 2025 3D Printing Boom: Why Prosumer Printers Are Outselling Industrial Models — and What It Means for Footwear Innovation

R_Shoes October 31, 2025
Photo Credits: Courtesy of Carbon® and Hypsole — from the case study “Hypsole’s Cleat Guard Dream Gets to Production Faster with Carbon.”
Innovation & Trends

Hypsole’s 3D-Printed Cleat Guards: Redefining Off-Field Footwear with Carbon’s Digital Manufacturing

R_Shoes October 24, 2025
Futuristic 3D-printed shoes made from photochromic materials that change color under sunlight, showcasing smart fashion innovation.
News

Color-Changing 3D-Printed Shoes? Scientists Create Light-Responsive Materials That Think

R_Shoes October 22, 2025
UW–Platteville professors turn spoiled milk into biodegradable plastic for 3D printing(WMTV)
News

Spoiled Milk to 3D Printing: UW-Platteville’s Biodegradable Plastic Breakthrough

R_Shoes October 19, 2025
loader

Our website stores cookies on your computer. They allow us to remember you and help personalize your experience with our site.

Read our privacy policy for more information.

Quick Links

  • Home
  • About
  • STL Files
  • Contact

Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy (EU)
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms & Conditions

Socials

Follow US
Crafted with love by PixelCrafted.Dev ❤
Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}
Stay Up To Date!

Sign up for 3DShoes.com's mailing list where you will stay up-to-date with latest trends, drops, and more.

loader

Zero spam, Unsubscribe at any time.
adbanner
AdBlock Detected
Our site is an advertising supported site. Please whitelist to support our site.
Okay, I'll Whitelist
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?