March 2009 Archives

By Tim Hayes, Industry Editor, Optics & Laser Europe Magazine and optics.org.

There will be a wealth of accompanying talks and events to choose from for visitors to this year's LASER World of Photonics show.

A series of events entitled Light Insights will be held. Among the topics featured will be an analysts' conference with the participation of the German Stock Exchange, and presentations from industry representatives and politicians promoting projects underway within the framework of the European technology platform, Photonics21. Questions relating to Photonics21 will be tackled in different committees on every day of the trade fair. Photonics 21 will also be represented by an information stand at the West Entrance.

Elsewhere in Light Insights, events aiming to arouse the interest of children and young people in optical technologies will be held every day. They will allow visitors to learn about photonics by carrying out their own experiments and be introduced to these exciting technologies alongside experts in the field.

CEO Round Table
On 16 June 2009, CEOs of leading international technology companies will participate in a panel discussion. They will explain their corporate strategies and take a look at the future of the industry. "The Round Table is always one of the most significant events," said Klaus Dittrich of Messe Munchen at the LASER Press Day. "It provides a unique opportunity to hear a public discussion of current topics in the industry."

Photons in Production
Photons in Production will be the special show for material processing and innovative production technologies during the trade fair. This year it will be primarily aimed at small and medium-sized companies, presenting them with the latest industry standards through application examples, live demonstrations and technical talks. Photons in Production is jointly organized with the Institute for Machine Tools and Management Sciences (iwb) at Munich Technical University and the Bavarian Laser Center (blz) in Erlangen.

The Herbert Walther Award
This award will be presented for the first time in 2009 in memory of Professor Herbert Walther. It is endowed with 5,000 Euros and will honour contributions from the fields of quantum optics and nuclear physics, and leadership in the international scientific community. The award will be jointly presented by the Optical Society of America (OSA) and the German Physical Society (DPG). In the future it will be presented in alternate years by these two organizations.

Career Centre
In addition to free career advice on every day of the trade fair, the Career Centre will showcase current job offers available from exhibitors.

By Tim Hayes, Industry Editor, Optics & Laser Europe Magazine and optics.org.

The World of Photonics Congress is the world's leading congress for optical technologies and will be held alongside the LASER show in Munich from 14 to 19 June 2009.

"This year the World of Photonics Congress will attract over 3000 delegates, and offers a unique opportunity for the photonics industry to discuss how best to push its future growth," commented Klaus Dittrich of Messe Munchen. "This year it will be officially opened on 15 June 2009 by Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media at the European Commission, which indicates the high standing that the Congress enjoys at the European level."

Conferences taking place under the umbrella of the World of Photonics Congress will include:
CLEO/Europe-IQEC, organized by the European Physical Society (EPS), the Optical Society of America (OSA) and IEEE/LEOS;
Frontiers in Electronic Imaging and Manufacturing of Optical Components, organized by the European Optical Society (EOS);
LIM, Lasers in Manufacturing, organized by the Scientific Laser Society (WLT);
ECBO-European Conference on Biomedical Optics, organized by the International Society of Optical Engineering (SPIE Europe) and the Optical Society of America (OSA);
Optical Metrology, organized by SPIE Europe;
Medical Laser Applications, organized by the German Association for Laser Medicine (DGLM e.V.).

In addition, a range of Application Panels demonstrating real-world uses of lasers under the title Lasers and Photonics in Actual Practice, will be organized by Messe Munchen. "These panels are intended to bridge the gap between theory and practice," said Dittrich.

The Application Panels will be organised in three groups:

Biophotonics and life sciences will be the focus of panels discussing laser-based photon and particle beams for medical applications and visions for future diagnostics.

Innovative lasers and light generation in science and industry will be described in a second set of panels, discussing short-pulse lasers in commercial applications, novel developments in solid-state laser technology, and optical components and materials for high-power-lasers.

The final theme will be the use of lasers and laser systems for production in a range of market sectors, including photovoltaics, rapid manufacturing, and the use of high-brilliance beam sources.

By Tim Hayes, Industry Editor, Optics & Laser Europe Magazine and optics.org.

Biophotonics will be one of the three Highlight Topics at LASER 2009, recognition that the sector has become one of the key motors for innovation in photonics.

"Both the LASER show and the World of Photonics Congress have specifically extended their biophotonics and life sciences sections this year," commented Klaus Dittrich at the LASER Press Day. "Research institutes, developers and manufacturers of optical and photonic products will present the latest developments and their photonics solutions."

In addition to a separate exhibition area in Hall B1 and additional displays by exhibitors in other halls, the World of Photonics Congress will feature expert practice-oriented talks on lasers in medicine, diagnostics and minimally invasive surgery, under the umbrella of Medical Laser Applications.

Elsewhere, free application panels will bring together technologists and industrialists to exchange information and experiences on current interdisciplinary developments and solutions. Between them they will jointly formulate possible solutions and lay the foundations for future developments in the field.

The other two highlight topics will be Lasers in Photovoltaic Manufacturing, and Illumination, both of which are at the forefront of the cleantech revolution.

"The PV sector is changing from a supply market to a buyers market, with grid parity within reach if cell efficiency can be improved," commented Dittrich. "Illumination is the subject of dedicated research all over the world, with further development of flexible technologies a pre-requisite for growth. LASER will be the place where the leaders in these fields will come together."

By Tim Hayes, Industry Editor, Optics & Laser Europe Magazine and optics.org.

The countdown to LASER 2009 is well underway.

At the LASER World of Photonics Press Day held in Munich in early March, the message from the show's organisers was upbeat and positive. "This year there will be more exhibitors and more floor space than ever before," promised Klaus Dittrich, managing director of Messe Munchen International.

For 2009 the trade fair has expanded by an additional 10,000 square metres compared to the previous show in 2007, through the use of a fourth exhibition hall. This brings the total available exhibition space up to 42,000 square metres.

The show will once again cover the world. New national pavilions from the Netherlands and Scotland will be featured. Dittrich predicts that Germany will supply the largest group of visitors, followed by the USA, UK, China, France and Spain. The impact of the Chinese market is demonstrated by LASER's sister trade show, LASER World of Photonics China, which was first held in 2006 and is now an annual fixture in Shanghai.

"Of course the photonics industry cannot escape the current financial climate, and we recognise that there may be an effect on visitor numbers at the show," commented Dittrich. "But companies and exhibitors know that investment in technology is essential now. In both exhibitor numbers and visitors, the trend for LASER 2009 is absolutely positive."

Thomas Renner of Toptica Photonics expressed similar sentiments. "We intend to present a dozen photonics innovations at LASER," he told me. "The show remains very important, not despite the economy but because of it. The only way for companies to successfully get out of the crisis is to innovate."