Lasers & Sources

Long on the cutting edge

Sept. 8, 2014

When talking about advanced manufacturing, politicians seem to be thinking of futuristic factories or half-understood new systems. Conversely, when the industrial laser community talks about advanced manufacturing, it's talking about the tools it has been making and using for decades-the tools just keep getting better.

Conard Holton

A new report from PennWell's Strategies Unlimited group says that the market for one of those tools, industrial fiber lasers, was about $760 million in 2013, and should rise to about $1.4 billion in 2018 (these numbers cover fiber lasers that are broadly classified as at least 1 KW, or for micro-materials processing, or for marking and engraving). This growth is extraordinary, reflecting the rapid acceptance and spread of fiber lasers through multiple regions and applications.

As lasers with increasing power reach the market, they create the need for ever-more-sophisticated components and processes to maximize their effectiveness. Such a topic is the focus of one eye-opening article in this issue from Optimax Systems and Spica Technology on manufacturing and testing considerations for coated optical components in high-energy laser systems (see page 51). Our cover story, from GLOphotonics, describes an approach to making the next generation of high-power, ultrafast fiber lasers from kagome photonic crystal fiber (see page 29)—potentially another advance for the technology.

For many more insights and talks about industrial lasers for advanced manufacturing, please join me at the Lasers for Manufacturing Summit on September 22 in Schaumburg, IL (www.lia.org/lasersummit), held in conjunction with the Lasers for Manufacturing Event (www.laserevent.org). It's a half-day program that is sponsored by the Laser Institute of America and aimed at executives and business development managers. It includes a great lineup of speakers such as Terry Wohlers of Wohlers Associates on laser additive manufacturing; Sasha Weiler of Trumpf on ultrafast lasers; and a special executive panel moderated by our colleague David Belforte, chief editor of Industrial Laser Solutions, and including Bill Shiner from IPG Photonics and Reinhardt Proprawe from the Fraunhofer ILT. I hope to see you there.

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.