Commentary

Photonics conferences probe directed energy systems

Dec. 18, 2013

2014 will see several conferences that should help bring the applications of high-energy laser systems to a wider audience, including applications that are non-military.

Conard Holton

The past year has seen considerable advances in and news stories about directed energy systems, especially high-energy military lasers from companies such as Boeing and Rheinmetall, and high power microwave technologies. 2014 will see several photonics conferences that should help bring the applications of these systems to a wider audience, including applications that are non-military.

The 11th Annual Directed Energy Systems will take place in London, from January 28–30. It will concentrate on establishing the current and future direction of lethal and non-lethal directed energy. Additionally DES 2014 will present a pre-conference workshop on countering directed energy weapons.

The Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS) holds its 16th Annual Directed Energy Symposium in Huntsville, AL, March 10-14. It will provide a forum on technical and programmatic information in fields related to directed energy sources and effects, and the development, testing, and fielding of directed energy weapons and related technologies. The Symposium is attended by a wide range of specialists including researchers, managers, policy makers, and executives from government institutions.

The DEPS will also co-locate its Advanced High Power Laser Conferences with SPIE Defense, Security + Sensing in Baltimore, MD, May 5-9. A statement by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget earlier this year acknowledged the need for such conferences and other travel, noting that for some employees, conferences may the most efficient and cost-effective means for meeting objectives and ensuring advancements.

For a somewhat different take on the subject, and to me a very interesting gathering, consider the HPLA/BEP conference, April 21-25, in Sante Fe, NM. Since 1998, the International High Power Laser Ablation (HPLA) Symposia have provided a unique forum for the physics and applications of high power laser-materials interaction, including advances in relevant high power laser sources and problems of beam propagation and detection. The HPLA series was one of the first scientific conferences to be organized around a broad physical phenomenon (laser ablation and its applications) rather than one narrow technology.

The co-located International Symposia on Beamed Energy Propulsion (BEP) brings together organizations and individuals interested in developing beamed-energy propulsion vehicles, engines, schemes, and concepts into space transportation systems of the future. BEP includes microwave sources as well as lasers as drivers. 2014 is the first time these meetings will be combined.

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.