Marketplace Seminar features Tom Baer keynote, 'Greening of photonics' forum
Dr. Thomas Baer, executive director of the Stanford Photonics Research Center (SPRC; Stanford, CA) and a major figure in the photonics community, will be the keynote speaker at Laser Focus World's Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar 2009. The Seminar will also feature "The Greening of Photonics" Technology Forum, with presentations on solid-state lighting, photovoltaics, and laser-based sensors used for environmental monitoring.
The 2009 Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar , to be held on Monday, January 26, 2009 in conjunction with SPIE's Photonics West conference (San Jose, CA; January 24 to 29), is the only event anywhere that focuses on the entire laser marketplace; its coverage extends to the rest of the photonics industry as well.
Tom Baer
As the 50th anniversary of the invention of the laser approaches, the field of optoelectronics is in the midst of a second renaissance—new science, technology, and instruments. Baer's position as head of the SPRC gives him a perspective that few people have: the understanding of every stage in the birth and growth of a new photonic technology. Technical advances frequently originate in university and government labs, and then require industrial development in order to become successful products. The SPRC is involved in everything from basic research (such as quantum science) to leading-edge technology (silicon photonics and nanophotonics are just two examples) to linking university research with industry (for example, the annual SPRC photonics symposium).
Drawing upon this synergy, Baer will discuss several examples of innovative photonics technology and explain the university's philosophy and procedures for efficient transfer of these inventions to commercial enterprise.
In addition to heading the SPRC, Dr. Baer is a member of the Applied Physics Department at Stanford. His current research is focused on developing imaging and analysis technology for exploring the molecular basis of developmental biology and neuroscience. Baer has made major contributions in the areas of biotechnology, quantum electronics, and laser applications, and is listed as an inventor on 60 patents and is a co-author on many peer-reviewed publications in a number of different scientific fields. His commercial products have received many industry awards for design innovation. Co-founder of four companies in Silicon Valley, he was named entrepreneur of the year for emerging companies in Silicon Valley in 2000 by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Dr. Baer will serve as the President of the Optical Society of America in 2009.
The greening of photonics
Nearly every aspect of the photonics industry is "green" today, with a heavy emphasis on environmentally sustainable processes and products. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are penetrating the lighting market, organics LEDs (OLEDs) are making a splash in displays, photovoltaics continue to make advances in on-par fossil-fuel performance, and even laser fission/fusion is looking at becoming a viable long-term energy source.
This year's Technology Forum includes presentations from Daylight Solutions (Poway, CA) on optical sensors for environmental monitoring, from Strategies Unlimited (Mountain View, CA) on solid-state lighting prospects and challenges, and Coherent (Santa Clara, CA) explores the world of laser processing for solar cells.
Seminar info
The Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar 2009 will be held at San Jose's Fairmont Hotel. The Seminar provides a comprehensive market perspective that is unobtainable elsewhere, with market data segmented by applications and laser technology from three of the photonics industry's leading resources: Laser Focus World, which delivers global coverage of the entire photonics industry; Industrial Laser Solutions, a primary source of information on industrial laser materials processing; and Strategies Unlimited, the world's foremost photonics market research company. In addition, industry experts present their views and analysis of photonics-market trends, applications development, and business outlook.
Tom Baer's keynote presentation, which is called "Emerging Photonics Opportunities: A perspective from Stanford's Photonics Research Center," will be given at 1:30 pm.
"The greening of photonics" Technology Forum begins at 3:10 pm and will be moderated by OIDA's Michael Lebby.
For more information, go to www.marketplaceseminar.com.
Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)
Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.