Baltimore, MD and Brussels, Belgium--Back-to-back conferences and exhibitions from SPIE are capturing the international reach of lasers, optics, and photonics, with SPIE Photonics Europe underway from April 15-19 in Brussels, and SPIE Defense, Security + Sensing in Baltimore April 23-27.

Sixty exhibitors are on hand during SPIE Photonics Europe, and attendees heard the first of the week's Hot Topics talks on April 16. In a keynote talk, Thierry Van der Pyl (Information Society and Media Directorate-General of the European Commission) described the opportunities for photonics presented by the Horizon 2020 framework programme for research.

Resources for the initiatve will be 80 billion euros over the next 7 years. He also identified several major areas of opportunity and sketched some of the challenges to be solved in optical broadband, solid-state lighting with OLEDs, lasers, sensors for safety and security, and photonic integrated circuits and nanophotonics.

On going news, photos, and videos from the show can be found on the SPIE Photonics Europe website.

For the first time, SPIE Defense, Security + Sensing will be held in the Baltimore Convention Center. the organizers expect more than 6,000 attendees, 540 exhibiting companies, and better networking and business connections for defense, security, and environment industries and researchers.

Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Maryland) will participate in the opening ceremony on April 24. A longtime supporter of defense R&D, he recently collaborated in creating a new Defense R&D Caucus that will serve as a forum for Pentagon-funded research conducted by industry, universities, and the national labs. Bruce Carlson, director of the US National Reconnaissance Office will be the symposium-wide keynote speaker. In addition to over 2400 technical presentations, there will be special sessions on government funding and DARPA programs.

More information and registration can be found on the SPIE Defense, Security + Sensing website.