LASER World of PHOTONICS Preview: LASER World of PHOTONICS 2017 - Exciting
The depth and variety of photonics technologies and products on display is an inspiring reminder of the pivotal role of the largest photonics tradeshow in the world.
From June 26-29, 2017, in five large halls and a conference center, LASER World of PHOTONICS will host the largest international gathering of manufacturers and customers of photonics products and technologies. The trade fair and technical conference, held biannually and both managed by Messe München, will draw over 1200 exhibitors and 31,000 researchers and professionals from fundamental and application-based photonics in industry, security, science, and medicine (see Fig. 1).
The trade fair is targeting dynamic and growing applications in which optical technologies provide a clear boost to knowledge, productivity, and process reliability. Here's a brief introduction to what you will find at "the fair" this summer. There's much more on the trade fair website: www.world-of-photonics.com.
The exhibition itself is comprehensive, with halls or parts of halls focused exclusively on 10 different application areas:
- Imaging
- Sensors, test and measurement, and optical measurement systems
- Lasers and laser systems for production engineering
- Biophotonics and medical engineering
- Optics
- Manufacturing technology for optics
- Lasers and optoelectronics
- Optical information and communication
- Illumination and energy
- Security
World of Photonics Congress
The technical conferences at the World of Photonics Congress reflect the close relationship between research and industry and the focus on photonics applications in the industrial, scientific, and medical sectors (see Fig. 2).
CLEO/Europe - EQEC 2017
The Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics/Europe and the European Quantum Electronics Conference will showcase laser source development, materials, ultrafast science, fiber optics, nonlinear optics, terahertz sources, high-field physics, optical telecommunications, nanophotonics, biophotonics, and laser material processsing. EQEC will feature the fundamentals of quantum optics, quantum information and communication, ultracold quantum matter, precision metrology, ultrafast optical science, nonlinear phenomena and self-organization, plasmonics and metamaterials, fundamental nanooptics, two-dimensional materials, and theoretical and computational photonics.
Lasers in Manufacturing 2017
The Lasers in Manufacturing (LiM) 2017 is a scientific conference on both the latest advances and the future trends in the field of laser materials processing, including its potential for industrial applications. It also features a sub-conference on additive manufacturing, all organized by the German Scientific Laser Society (WLT).
EOS Conferences on Optical Technologies
This forum is for all aspects of optical technologies, like manufacturing optical systems, optofluidics, optomechanical engineering, and light engineering.
Optical Metrology 2017
The conference, organized by SPIE Europe, focuses on the latest research in optical metrology, videometrics, and machine vision, with applications for solving measurement and inspection problems in industrial design and production engineering, vehicle navigation, multimedia technology, biotechnology, architecture, archaeology, and arts. Special emphasis is directed to robot guidance, image sequence processing, sensor fusion and scene modeling, and characterization of biomaterials, as well as to the preservation of our shared cultural heritage.
ECBO 2017
The European Conferences on Biomedical Optics (ECBO) is sponsored by OSA and SPIE, and brings together scientists, engineers, and clinicians who work with optics and photonics to solve problems in medicine and biomedicine. Presentations will cover basic science, novel technology, and applications in the areas of advanced microscopy, clinical and biomedical spectroscopy, diffuse optical imaging, molecular imaging, neurophotonics and optogenetics, optical coherence tomography, therapeutic laser applications, laser-tissue interactions, optoacoustic methods, and other novel biophotonics techniques.
The tradeshow floor will also host a series of application-oriented panels that focus on biophotonics and medical applications, optical metrology and imaging, lasers and optics, and industrial laser applications. A few highlights include discussion of how laser-based fluorescence measurements, in combination with sensitive and low-readout-noise image sensors, are pushing the strong development of new endoscopy and microscopy techniques and methods.
In addition, a panel on future quantum sensors for optical metrology aims to present an overview on the current European Quantum Manifesto and German QUTEGA initiative and its impact for next-generation quantum sensors to enable new optical metrology applications.
Another panel will look at high-power diode lasers, which have become well established as pump sources for solid-state and fiber lasers for material processing and medical applications.
Significant progress in output power, brightness, and production technology is still extending their range of applications. Innovative high-power diode laser designs based on dense spectral beam combining show this technology's potential to reach applications that have so far been dominated by solid-state lasers.
Just getting started
Many companies exhibiting at LASER World of PHOTONICS were only founded within the past 30 years, and there is a continuous conveyor belt of new startups. This year, the most recent generation of new companies will be highlighted at Startup World and the Photonics Award—organized in collaboration with the Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO).
In addition, the first Make Light MAKEATHON will show how different teams develop innovative products in various fields of photonics—in only 24 hours—starting on June 27, 2017.
Finally, the first hands-on demonstration of four different devices for augmented, mixed, and virtual reality will be a highlight of the SPIE Digital Optical Technologies conference, which will focus on components, systems design, and applications across social, academic, medical, and industrial fields. Participants who register at [email protected] will be able to evaluate the Microsoft Hololens mixed reality headset, Oculus CV1 virtual reality headset and hand controllers, HTC Vive virtual reality headset and hand controllers, and Sony Playstation VR virtual reality headset and hand controllers.
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.