Casey D. Foley, PhD
Summary
PhD physical chemist and Staff Scientist with 12+ years across production manufacturing, a national laboratory, and university research. Develops and scales laser and high-vacuum processes, with results including 99% yield, 3× faster laser cycles, and a piloted ~40% evacuation cycle-time cut. Builds production metrology and inspection from requirements to plant floor and manages a team of three manufacturing engineers. 23 peer-reviewed publications, including Science and JACS.
Process engineer and team lead for laser and vacuum production equipment, with 2+ years of process development, FAT/SAT and commissioning, and continuous improvement through the launch of an automated first-factory line; manages three manufacturing engineers. Drives KPIs with Lean and Six Sigma tools (SPC and capability studies, DOE, PFMEA, 8D and 5-Why, poka-yoke, control plans), with results including laser-drilling cracks eliminated and other defects cut from ~1 in 10 parts to ≤1%, 3× faster laser cycles, 2× ablation throughput at 99% yield, and a piloted ~40% cycle-time cut on the bottleneck vacuum process. Builds the tools behind it (capability dashboards, automated KPI reporting, a capacity simulator) and works with controls and MES teams on data integration.
Experimental physical chemist (PhD) and Staff Scientist specializing in lasers, VUV/UV/IR spectroscopy, plasma generation and diagnostics, high vacuum, and optical metrology. Spent two years designing, building, and characterizing a pulsed plasma-discharge fast-atom/ion beam machine (SIMION, SolidWorks) and built a 118 nm VUV source; in industry, takes laser-based measurement systems (deflectometry, confocal profilometry, R-value) from algorithm to production. Manages a team of three engineers. 23 peer-reviewed publications, including Science and JACS.
Staff Scientist (PhD) who takes optical inspection and metrology systems from requirements to production. Led specification, vendor selection, and FAT/SAT of an in-line ~50 µm/pixel line-scan inspection system, defining its data integration with the controls and MES teams; developed an in-line phase-shifting deflectometry system (~10 µm) and a proprietary laser-based R-value measurement; and runs capability and GR&R studies. Hands-on with laser, optical, and vacuum hardware; manages a team of three engineers. 23 peer-reviewed publications, including Science and JACS.
Core Skills
- Lasers & optics
- Fiber, Nd:YAG/DPSS, CO₂, excimer, Ti:sapphire, dye, IR OPO/OPA, VUV; drilling, ablation, scribing, laser heating; optical alignment, beam diagnostics, Zemax OpticStudio, Class 4 laser safety
- Vacuum & instruments
- Production high vacuum, UHV instrument design, cryogenics, ion optics (SIMION), pulsed discharges, molecular beams, particle imaging, SolidWorks/FreeCAD
- Metrology & vision
- Phase-shifting deflectometry, confocal profilometry, line-scan machine vision, laser-based R-value measurement, thermal and distortion scanning, GR&R, color measurement (CIELAB), ML surface inspection
- Spectroscopy
- UV/Vis/IR, FTIR, REMPI, LIF, IR–UV double resonance, velocity-map imaging, mass spectrometry (Waters, Thermo, Bruker), ion mobility
- Process & quality
- Process development and scale-up, FAT/SAT and commissioning, DOE, SPC, Cp/Cpk and Pp/Ppk, PFMEA, 8D root-cause analysis, control plans, SOPs, preventive maintenance, KPIs, Lean and Six Sigma training, team leadership
- Software & data
- Python, JMP, LabVIEW, MATLAB; data acquisition, instrument control, machine learning, statistical analysis, automation; data integration with controls and MES teams
- Process engineering
- Process development and scale-up, continuous improvement, yield and cycle-time improvement, FAT/SAT, equipment commissioning and automated-line launch, KPI development and visualization, team leadership
- Lean & quality
- Lean and Six Sigma training; SPC, Cp/Cpk and Pp/Ppk, GR&R, DOE, PFMEA ownership, 8D and 5-Why root-cause analysis, PDCA; 5S, Kanban, poka-yoke, value stream mapping; control plans, SOPs and work instructions, preventive maintenance
- Equipment & gauging
- Fiber, DPSS, CO₂, and excimer laser systems; high-vacuum process equipment; line-scan machine vision; deflectometry and confocal flatness gauging; laser-based R-value gauging; thermal and distortion scanners; Class 4 laser safety
- Data & software
- Python, JMP, LabVIEW, MATLAB; capability dashboards; automated KPI reporting; production simulation; data integration with controls and MES teams
- CAD
- SolidWorks, FreeCAD
- Lasers & optics
- 118 nm VUV generation (355 nm tripled in Xe/Ar), IR OPO/OPA, Ti:sapphire, dye, Nd:YAG/DPSS, excimer, fiber, CO₂; laser drilling, ablation, and heating; beam diagnostics, Zemax OpticStudio, Class 4 laser safety
- Plasma & spectroscopy
- Pulsed discharge plasmas and diagnostics (MCP/phosphor, camera, PMT), VUV/UV/Vis/IR spectroscopy, REMPI, LIF, IR–UV double resonance, velocity-map imaging, MeV ultrafast electron diffraction, mass spectrometry
- Metrology
- Phase-shifting deflectometry, confocal profilometry, laser-based R-value measurement (algorithm to plant floor), thermal imaging, machine vision
- Vacuum & instruments
- High-vacuum and UHV instrument design, ion-optics modeling (SIMION), cryogenic ion traps, molecular beams, high voltage, production high-vacuum processes, SolidWorks/FreeCAD
- Data & practice
- Python, LabVIEW, MATLAB; data acquisition and instrument control; spectral and statistical analysis; DOE, SPC, root-cause analysis; R&D-to-production transfer; team leadership
- Inspection & metrology
- Line-scan machine vision (~50 µm/pixel), phase-shifting deflectometry, confocal profilometry, laser triangulation and structured-light evaluation, laser-based R-value measurement, GR&R and golden-sample correlation, color measurement (CIELAB), ML surface inspection
- Lasers & optics
- Fiber, Nd:YAG/DPSS, CO₂, excimer, Ti:sapphire, IR OPO/OPA, VUV; optical alignment, beam diagnostics, Zemax OpticStudio, Class 4 laser safety
- Systems development
- Requirements and specifications, vendor selection, FAT/SAT, data integration with controls and MES teams, design reviews, prototype troubleshooting, team leadership, SolidWorks/FreeCAD
- Vacuum & spectroscopy
- Production high vacuum and UHV instruments, cryogenics, UV/Vis/IR and FTIR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry
- Data & quality
- Python, JMP, LabVIEW, MATLAB, machine learning, SPC and capability analysis, DOE, PFMEA, 8D root-cause analysis, control plans
Professional Experience
- Integrated a fiber-laser drilling system: ran factory acceptance testing and commissioning, cut laser cycle time ~3× at commissioning, eliminated cracking defects, and reduced other defects from ~1 in 10 parts to ≤1% (typical weekly rate) through root-cause analysis, in-line confocal distance sensing, and auto-focus correction.
- Doubled throughput of a second laser-ablation process at ~99% yield by integrating in-line confocal depth metrology, closed-loop focus correction, machine-vision part-location correction, and SPC (Ppk, control charts).
- Own the vacuum-insulated-glass evacuation process, the factory bottleneck: led its development and commissioning for the first factory, then conceived and led a major process change grounded in desorption kinetics, took it through gated validation (data pipeline, capacity simulator, risk-ordered DOE, FMEA, controlled rollouts), and coordinated it across all levels of the company; piloted changes cut cycle time ~40% while maintaining unit quality.
- Developed a proprietary laser-based R-value measurement system from the measurement algorithm through plant-floor integration, and the protocol for using it in production quality screening.
- Led flatness and distortion metrology: developed an in-line phase-shifting deflectometry system (~10 µm, ~1M points per panel, automated traceable reports), rebuilt Python control and micron-level analysis for an offline confocal profiler, and wrote analysis software for distortion tools and a thermal scanner.
- Led specification, vendor selection, and FAT/SAT of an in-line line-scan inspection system (~50 µm/pixel) that measures panel dimensions and coating edges and detects defects in production; set golden-panel and GR&R acceptance criteria and defined its data requirements with the controls and MES teams.
- Led a capability study of 14 in-line QC characteristics (I-MR, Cp/Cpk on 7,000+ measurements), reset spec and control limits, built an interactive capability dashboard, and quantified a ~70% variation reduction from a sensor upgrade.
- Eliminated cracking defects at laser-drilled features: led root-cause analysis across ~70k production records (chi-square, Mann-Whitney, random-forest importance) and microscopy, and developed the laser recipe that removed them.
- Built a multi-line capacity and bottleneck simulator that engineering and management use to find each product's constraint and test improvements; rebuilt it from an ~800 MB Python app into sub-1 MB zero-install browser apps with automated parity tests.
- Manage a team of three manufacturing engineers (since Apr 2026). Subject-matter expert for laser and high-vacuum processes; defined Class 4 laser-safety controls per ANSI Z136; own control plans, preventive maintenance, SOPs, and work instructions for two production laser systems.
- Built failure-analysis and reporting systems: a structured root-cause workflow (Ishikawa, is/is-not, escalation and reaction plans), a postmortem data-capture app, and automated yield, scrap, and trend reporting in Python and JMP.
- Commissioned equipment and supported the launch of an automated production line, working with the controls engineers on integration.
- Led development of laser-heating processes for vacuum-insulated-glass production.
- Ran a multi-modality 3D sensor trade study (laser triangulation, confocal, structured light, stereo line-scan) for in-line inspection of laser-machined features and secured capital approval.
- Designed and built a fast-atom/ion beam machine around a pulsed plasma-discharge source from new and repurposed hardware, toward electron–ion coincidence imaging of associative-ionization reactions relevant to hypersonic flight: Einzel and deceleration optics, quadrupole energy filter, and charge-exchange cell, modeled in SIMION (custom Lua control) and designed in SolidWorks.
- Developed and characterized pulsed electric-discharge plasma sources over two years: discharges in a pulsed-valve expansion producing N⁺, N₂⁺, and Ar⁺ beams, diagnosed with MCP/phosphor imaging, cameras, and PMTs.
- Implemented a laser system for VUV detection of atoms and molecules, generating 118 nm light by frequency-tripling 355 nm in a Xe/Ar gas cell. Performed MeV ultrafast electron diffraction experiments at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, with custom Python analysis.
- Senior postdoc: mentored and trained group members, and led lab operations and instrument training.
- Returned a relocated $1M+ cryogenic ion-trap tandem mass spectrometer to full operation in ~7 months: restored its high-vacuum and 5 K cold-trap systems, aligned and calibrated a tunable IR OPO/OPA (verified against methane photoacoustic spectra) and UV dye lasers, and rebuilt 10 Hz-synchronized timing and scan control with arbitrary waveform generators and LabVIEW.
- Developed IR, UV, and IR–UV double-resonance spectroscopy methods for structural characterization of metal–molecule complexes and peptides. First-author results in JACS (2024) and J. Phys. Chem. A (2023); oral presentation at ISMS 2022.
- First-author Science paper (2021) on quantum resonances in formaldehyde photodissociation, measured by velocity-map imaging.
- Designed laser automation systems and custom optical detection for UHV molecular-beam experiments, and built a photolytic radical beam source characterized by REMPI spectroscopy.
- Developed ionization and ion-mobility mass spectrometry methods on Waters, Thermo, and Bruker platforms for biological and polymer analysis; wrote the lab's Synapt calibration SOP and served as laser-safety lead for its Class 3b UV laser.
Education
Honors: Army Research Laboratory Journeyman Fellowship (2018) · WSU Thomas C. Rumble Fellowship (2014–2015) · WSU Chemistry Citation for Excellence in Teaching (2014) · SVSU President's Scholarship (2009–2013)
Service: STEM volunteer mentor and lecturer, Athletes for Charity program with the Detroit Lions and Ford Motor Company at Cody–Detroit Institute of Technology (2015–2016)
Selected Publications
23 peer-reviewed papers (8 first-author) and a 2026 preprint · 450+ citations · h-index 10 · 15+ conference presentations · full list at cdfoley.com/publications
- C. D. Foley, C. Xie, H. Guo, A. G. Suits, “Orbiting resonances in formaldehyde reveal coupling of roaming, radical, and molecular channels,” Science 374, 1122–1127 (2021).
- C. D. Foley et al., “Site-specific photochemistry along a protonated peptide scaffold,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 146, 13282–13295 (2024).
Publications
23 peer-reviewed publications (8 first-author), including Science (2021) and JACS (2024); 450+ citations. Full list at cdfoley.com/publications.