Commentary

Top ten photonics posts from 2017

Jan. 2, 2018

Here are the 10 most viewed business and technical posts on the Laser Focus World website in 2017.

IMAGE: From our January 2017 cover: Where have all the lasers gone? (Image credit: Chris Hipp, PennWell)

Here are the 10 most viewed business and technical posts on the Laser Focus World website in 2017. It’s clear that basic tutorials and how-to articles are always popular, as are features that provide market analysis or career advice. Many of the readers come to us by search or bookmarks, some follow links from other websites, and some follow links from our e-newsletters.

Number 1:Optical fiber sees growth as medical sensors, by Alexis Mendez, MCH Engineering

Number 2:LFW Photonics Market Financials, streaming stock market update of photonics companies' stock prices and press releases, along with global stock information (15 minute reporting delay)

Number 3:Turning raw materials into finished products, a classic business strategy article by long-time columnist Milton Chang

Number 4: Annual Laser Market Review & Forecast: Where have all the lasers gone? 2017 review by the LFW staff

Number 5:Fiber lasers: The state of the art, a 2012 feature that sets the stage for all that has happened since, by contributing editor Jeff Hecht

Number 6: Laser diode operation 101: A user’s guide, by engineers from Arroyo Instruments

Number 7:Annual Laser Market Review & Forecast: Can laser markets trump a global slowdown? 2016 review by the LFW staff

Number 8:How mirrors, lenses, and prisms shape light systems, another classic how-to article from LFW staff

Number 9:How to choose the best laser for your marking application, a tutorial article by an engineer at Trumpf

Number 10:How to begin a career in photonics, by LFW senior editor Gail Overton, for students interested in a career in optics and photonics--which institutions are a geographic, academic, and financial fit, and which institutions offer a fast track to industry.

About the Author

Conard Holton | Editor at Large

Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.