IPG Photonics founder Valentin Gapontsev passes

The passing of Dr. Valentin Gapontsev on October 22, 2021 leaves the world of fiber lasers and laser material processing with a void impossible to fill.

I’m not sure about the actual date, but it was in late 1996 or early 1997 when I was invited by an acquaintance—a just-hired sales/marketing person—to visit the temporary offices of just-founded IPG Photonics in Sturbridge, MA. Not as Editor in Chief of Industrial Laser Review (the predecessor to Industrial Laser Solutions), but as an industrial laser market analyst and consultant. It was there I was introduced to the imminent laser scientist, Dr. Valentin Gapontsev, among other incipient IPG management.

Before I was asked, and had the opportunity to define the global industrial laser market, Dr. Gapontsev chided me for not reporting sales figures for fiber lasers. Since we did not report specifically on this new-to-market laser product, lumping it in the ‘other’ category, I was subjected to a diatribe on being slow to respect a laser that was planned, by him, to challenge and dominate the global market then held by CO₂ lasers. I’ll never forget the growth curve showing CO₂ and fiber laser sales that he drew on a chalk board to back his claim. Several years later at IPG’s headquarters in Oxford, MA—prior to the company going public—he drew another whiteboard curve, this time showing when IPG revenues would surpass the amount of company startup funding, a goal he apparently set himself.

This was my introduction to a man with a driven passion, Valentin Gapontsev, who took almost as an intentional insult any snub of the fiber laser. At a major early 2000 international conference in Munich, Germany, he stunned me and the audience with his vocal challenge to a speaker representing the industrial laser-leading supplier of high-power CO₂ lasers. This precipitated a ‘first-of-a-kind’ verbal debate that became quite vitriolic—a personality quirk only modified when IPG Photonics went public in 2012.

From those early days, Valentin (use of his first name was a sign you were acceptable) and I had an ‘off and on again’ relationship, determined by my editorial support of fiber laser processing. When approaching him at conferences and trade shows, I relied on a friendly IPG marketing person for a measure of Valentin’s mood that day.

Most every year, I was invited to a personal interview with Valentin, at which time he typically challenged my market numbers. However, as I had traveled several times to Russia, he was interested in my views of his homeland. This led to a more cordial atmosphere. So, over time we reached a point where we shared non-technical experiences and opinions. He would allow a discussion on current market situations, but rarely on family matters.

As the years progressed, and fiber lasers sales soared, my admiration grew for what he, and IPG, accomplished with fiber laser technology and how he grew IPG to a dominant market position. At our last meeting before the pandemic, Valentin, having stepped aside as CEO of IPG, seemed more subdued in his remarks. I read this as a measure of him basking in the adulations of his successes. I recalled the lecture in which the famous Gapontsev fiber laser market curve appeared and thought, congratulations, Valentin, on IPG’s high-power fiber laser market leadership—you did it.

The fiber laser market lost two giants this year: Valentin Gapontsev and my old friend Bill Shiner, who together with Valentin took IPG fiber lasers to the forefront. Things will not be the same without them.