Bill Shiner, vice president-industrial markets of IPG Photonics Corp. (Oxford, MA), has received the 2009 President's Award from the Laser Institute of America (LIA; Orlando, FL), a professional society founded in 1968 to promote cutting-edge laser applications. The LIA President's Award honors individuals who have made significant contributions to LIA that enable the growth and prosperity of the society. (IPG Photonics, as many know, produces leading-edge high-power fiber lasers, such as a 10 kW single-mode fiber laser with a wall-plug efficiency of greater than 23%.)
The Award was presented at LIA's International Congress on Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics (ICALEO) conference, November 4, 2009, in Orlando. At the ceremony, Shiner was recognized by current LIA President Rajesh Patel for his long-term contributions toward the success of LIA.
Shiner has served on the LIA Board of Directors since the 1970s, culminating in his term as president in 2007. He has championed the society over the years with conference papers, advertisements, and sponsorships and was the force behind the development of the LIA Laser Application Resource Guide and the Laser Additive Manufacturing Workshop. Shiner was also inducted as an LIA Fellow at the awards ceremony.
More about Shiner
William (Bill) Shiner has served as IPG's vice president-industrial markets since March 2007 and as director of industrial markets since August 2002. Prior to joining IPG, Shiner served as chief operating officer for Convergent Prima (Sturbridge, MA) from 1995 to 2002. Between 1980 and 1995, Shiner served as vice president of sales and marketing for Coherent Industrial. In 1973, he co-founded Laser, Inc., which was acquired in 1980 by Coherent, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA).

John Wallace | Senior Technical Editor (1998-2022)
John Wallace was with Laser Focus World for nearly 25 years, retiring in late June 2022. He obtained a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and physics at Rutgers University and a master's in optical engineering at the University of Rochester. Before becoming an editor, John worked as an engineer at RCA, Exxon, Eastman Kodak, and GCA Corporation.