A powder bed additive manufacturing system comprising: a laser array (12, 100, 200, 300) comprising a plurality of laser devices (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016), each laser device (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016) of said plurality of laser devices (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016) configured to generate a melt pool in a layer of powdered material; an actuator system configured to move said laser array (12, 100, 200, 300) across the layer of powdered material; and a controller configured to: generate control signals to independently control a power output of said each laser device (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016); transmit the control signals to said each laser device (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016) to emit a plurality of energy beams (22, 104, 304, 408) from a plurality of selected laser devices (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016) of said plurality of laser devices (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016), to generate the melt pool; and generate a non-uniform energy intensity profile (1000, 1300) from said plurality of selected laser devices (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016), wherein the non-uniform energy intensity profile (1000, 1300) facilitates generating the melt pool having a predetermined characteristic; wherein the non-uniform energy intensity profile (1000, 1300) is adjusted to generate the predetermined characteristic of the melt pool and includes increased power at ends of the laser array and decreased power in a central region of the laser array (12, 100, 200, 300) to compensate for differences in thermal losses across the melt pool. a laser array (12, 100, 200, 300) comprising a plurality of laser devices (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016), each laser device (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016) of said plurality of laser devices (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016) configured to generate a melt pool in a layer of powdered material; an actuator system configured to move said laser array (12, 100, 200, 300) across the layer of powdered material; and a controller configured to: generate control signals to independently control a power output of said each laser device (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016); transmit the control signals to said each laser device (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016) to emit a plurality of energy beams (22, 104, 304, 408) from a plurality of selected laser devices (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016) of said plurality of laser devices (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016), to generate the melt pool; and generate a non-uniform energy intensity profile (1000, 1300) from said plurality of selected laser devices (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016), wherein the non-uniform energy intensity profile (1000, 1300) facilitates generating the melt pool having a predetermined characteristic; wherein the non-uniform energy intensity profile (1000, 1300) is adjusted to generate the predetermined characteristic of the melt pool and includes increased power at ends of the laser array and decreased power in a central region of the laser array (12, 100, 200, 300) to compensate for differences in thermal losses across the melt pool. generate control signals to independently control a power output of said each laser device (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016); transmit the control signals to said each laser device (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016) to emit a plurality of energy beams (22, 104, 304, 408) from a plurality of selected laser devices (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016) of said plurality of laser devices (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016), to generate the melt pool; and generate a non-uniform energy intensity profile (1000, 1300) from said plurality of selected laser devices (102, 1002, 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016), wherein the non-uniform energy intensity profile (1000, 1300) facilitates generating the melt pool having a predetermined characteristic; wherein the non-uniform energy intensity profile (1000, 1300) is adjusted to generate the predetermined characteristic of the melt pool and includes increased power at ends of the laser array and decreased power in a central region of the laser array (12, 100, 200, 300) to compensate for differences in thermal losses across the melt pool.