Three things to like about Photonics West 2012

Jan. 31, 2012

San Francisco, CA--You will find extensive coverage of Photonics West 2012 in the form of articles, blogs, and videos appearing on our website in the coming days. The event attracted more than 20,000 attendees, while the expo itself included more than 1200 exhibitors.

Conard Holton

San Francisco, CA--You will find extensive coverage of Photonics West 2012 in the form of articles, blogs, and videos appearing on our website (www.laserfocusworld.com) in the coming days. The event attracted more than 20,000 attendees, while the expo itself included more than 1200 exhibitors. Next year Photonics West will be held from February 2-7, again at Moscone Center in San Francisco.

Here are a few highlights:

- The BiOS Symposium and Exhibition--with 210 exhibitors and many speakers describing advances in diagnostics, clinical technologies, laser-tissue interaction, spectroscopy, microscopy, and imaging. Related work by these three impressive speakers also appears in the linked Laser Focus World articles:
+ Stefan Hell (Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische Chemie) described work on the use of super-resolution microscopy for imaging of the living brain.
+ Aydogan Ozcan (University of California, Los Angeles) described the latest work in his lab's development of a portable microscope that uses a cell phone as a wireless platform for transmitting medical data, via a holographic reconstruction imaging method.
+ Guillermo Tearney (Massachusetts General Hospital) told how applications of cardiovascular imaging to pathology are changing the views of the medical community on the cause-and-effect relationship between plaque and thrombosis that may lead to coronary events.

- Good market news from the 24th Annual Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar—run by Laser Focus World, Industrial Laser Solutions, and Strategies Unlimited. Tom Hausken from Strategies Unlimited predicted a solid year for laser sales, but essentially flat in terms of growth from the current record high of about $7 billion/yr. Investments in machine tools and telecom equipment, and strong growth of sales into China, have been keys to the strong recovery. While sales slowed in late 2011 in the uncertain economic climate, the outlook for long-term growth is still strong. Laser sales growth should return in 2013 and reach $9.4 billion by 2015.

- The nine winners of the annual Prism Awards—congratulations to 89 North (Burlington, VT), PD-LD (Pennington, NJ), mplitude Systèmes (Pessac, France), MERMEC (Monopoli Bari, Italy), Optotune (Dietikon, Switzerland), Physical Optics Corporation (Torrance, CA), nanoplus (Gerbrunn, Germany), WITec (Ulm, Germany), OEWaves (Pasadena, CA).

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.