Lasers & Sources

50 years in photonics - it's a wrap

Dec. 11, 2015

2015 has been a great year for Laser Focus World as we've indulged ourselves - and you, the reader, we hope - in celebrating our 50th anniversary.

Conard Holton

2015 has been a great year for Laser Focus World as we've indulged ourselves—and you, the reader, we hope—in celebrating our 50th anniversary. One highlight of the year has been contributing editor Jeff Hecht's Looking Back/Looking Forward monthly series, which began in January with 50 years of optical components, and in subsequent months looked at all the major laser, detector, imaging, fiber optic, and test and measurement products, and ends this month with optical design software (see page 31).

We have covered many very impactful topics in this International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies, including those examined in our annual Market Review and Forecast, which predicted that the global sales of lasers in 2015 would grow more than 6%, reaching $9.8 billion. Next month, senior editor Gail Overton and Strategies Unlimited analyst Allen Nogee will update that forecast with the latest results and predictions; more detail will be presented at our 28th Annual Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar on February 15, during SPIE Photonics West.

In 2015, senior editor John Wallace's bi-monthly review of products was so successful that we're expanding it in 2016 to a monthly feature and a webcast on the product under discussion. In this issue, John also considers all the technologies that we covered in 2015 and chooses the 20 most interesting to showcase the wide scope of advances in photonics (see page 20).

The past year marked another important milestone for us as we included our sister publication, BioOptics World, within Laser Focus World. That great content from editor-in-chief Barbara Gefvert now appears here every month (instead of bi-monthly), including articles in this issue on two leading-edge topics: photoacoustic imaging, which is becoming available for medical diagnostics (see page 49), and optical filters for fluorescence imaging (see page 53).

Thank you for your support in 2015, and best wishes for the New Year.

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.