Lasers lit up the London Paralympic Games

Barnsley, UK - In the newest issue of ILS(Sept-Oct.), hot off the press, we report on how industrial lasers were used to create the iconic Olympic Torch for this summer's Olympic Games in London. Now we've learned that industrial lasers were getting the job done at the concurrent Paralympic Games as well.

Laser cutting and engraving firm Cutting Technologies pulled off a last-minute emergency job for technology/design guru Moritz Waldemeyer, who needed roughly 2000 laser-cut pieces of acrylic and Mylar for his fish-themed light design as part of the Paralympics' closing ceremony. Laser cutting engineering shops across the city didn't have capacity or time for the rush order, but Cutting Technologies answered the call with 24-hr capacity and large-bed laser cutters, according to a local report. Jane Robinson, business development officer at Cutting Technologies, offers a bit more detail to a local radio station, noting the little plastic pieces were used in the lighting installation to hold LEDs. (For the extra-curious, the display happens during the closing ceremony as part of the hand-off to a delegation from Rio, which will host the Olympics and Paralympics in 2016.)

This caps off a very busy midyear for Cutting Technologies with some high-profile projects. Through the spring the firm helped create the gas beacons for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee -- laser-cutting the top part of the stainless-steel beacon from which the flame appears.