This year’s PHOTONEX was busy and the atmosphere vibrant as noted by many exhibitors and visitors

Date Announced: 05 Nov 2014

PHOTONEX, the key event for photonics and light technologies in the UK, returned once again to Coventry’s Ricoh Arena in October, bringing together industry professionals and experts for an engaging event which combined a supplier’s exhibition with a high-level academic conference. The October exhibition was the largest show to date with more stands than in previous years and many new attractions.

Adding fresh interest to the exhibition and making PHOTONEX a more international event than ever before were many overseas exhibitors. The AFOP pavilion brought together a selection of key players from the French industry. Other overseas exhibitors included attocube systems AG (Germany), Fiberguide Industries (USA), NICTA (Australia), Optix Co (Bulgaria), Photonis (France) and Toptica Photonics (Germany). All these international exhibitors were featured in an e-newsletter issued before the event and can be viewed on the website at www.PHOTONEX.org.

Ulrike Helfferich of attocube systems commented; “We attended PHOTONEX for the first time and got multiple new enquiries from academic and industrial customers.”

For those unable to make it to the event, the organisers have posted a Facebook photo gallery online accessible from the website where the exhibition Show Guide can also be viewed which includes a full exhibitor list and product guide.

A particular highlight for 2014 was the co-location of HSI 2014 | Hyperspectral Imaging and Applications conference. This attracted a record number of speakers and attendees, encouraged by the co-location alongside PHOTONEX. Keynote presentations and abstracts are available to download by registering for free on the www.hsi2014.com website. Hyperspectral imaging has proven to be a developing technology and many new applications were discussed at the event.

“I’ve had the sort of in-depth discussions face-to-face with visitors that you can’t have in any other environment - well worth the trip.” David Sanchez, Materion Advanced Chemical, USA.

The development of the Enlighten Conference as a separate and now high-level event proved valuable this year and there were a range of quality meetings to attend. These included ‘Space Applications’, ‘Nano and Bio-Imaging’, ‘Optical Engineering & Design’ and ‘Vision in Action’ from the Industrial Vision Association supporting Vision UK for industrial imaging and factory automation. Programmes for these and all the meetings remain on the website for easy reference.

Commenting on the conference, Ian Johnstone of Armstrong Optical said “Xmark Media have gone out of their way to expand the PHOTONEX brand to include a first class conference.”

Another significant area of the exhibition was Innovation Live! which was supported by the UK’s Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN). Here, visitors were able to learn about the next generation of photonic technologies. Several companies were wishing to secure funding including Xtralien, a brand new start-up company who are in the final development stages. Early in 2015 they will be launching a Kickstarter project to raise funding. Anyone can become involved in ‘Crowd Funding’ and buy into this new company if they wish.

Innovation Live! exhibitor David Richardson of Luminescent Alarms was enthusiastic about his time at the show, “Lots of interest and lots of visitors - a very enjoyable day!”.

This year’s PHOTONEX was busy and the atmosphere vibrant as commented on by many exhibitors and visitors. It is clear that the economy is greatly improved in the UK when compared with the previous 6 years. The success of this event places it firmly in the limelight for the 2015 International Year of Light. Several special events are already being planned to showcase and raise the awareness of ‘Light Technologies’ at the 2015 PHOTONEX Photonics Showcase.

PHOTONEX which will again be held at the Ricoh Arena on the 14th & 15th October 2015.

Potential visitors and attendees are encouraged to visit the website and register to receive event updates at www.PHOTONEX.org.

Contact

E-mail: ld@xmarkmedia.com

Web Site: www.photonex.org