Commercial applications emphasized at upbeat CLEO `96
An increasingly strong applications orientation was evident on the exhibit floor and in the program at this year`s Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference (CLEO/QELS; Anaheim, CA) held June 4-6, 1996. Interest in solid-state lasers was high, and many new "ruggedized" diode-pumped products were introduced at the conference, where the mood was upbeat. Total attendance was about 6900--a bit less than that of last year`s meeting in Baltimore, MD--but the exhibit was still busy enough that some exhibitors ran out of catalogs and others reported record lead counts. The number of companies exhibiting at CLEO was lower than in previous years, but the total exhibit space sold was about the same, ac cording to the Optical Society of America (OSA; Washington, DC), which organized the meeting.
This year saw the introduction of the OSA Laser Electro-optic Applications Program (LEAP), aimed at adding a stronger applications aspect to the meeting; LEA¥"bridges the ga¥between R&D and actual practice," says program cochair Steve Guch. Feedback was generally favorable, and Kathleen Perkins of Breault Research Organization (Tucson, AZ) echoed the sentiments of many, saying she was pleased to see the increased commercial emphasis of CLEO.