Laser 2003 Shows Optimism

Anne L. Fischer

The number of visitors and exhibitors at Laser 2003, held at the Munich Trade Fair Centre in June, indicates great optimism in the industry. The show drew nearly 850 exhibitors, an increase of 8 percent over last year, and more than 20,000 visitors.

Booth demonstrations drew large crowds eager to see enhanced lasers for medical, scientific, manufacturing and industrial use. New diode-pumped solid-state lasers were demonstrated by TuiLaser (Gemering, Germany), Lumera Laser (Kaiserslautern, Germany), Novalux (Sunnyvale, Calif.) and many others. The Fraunhofer (Aachen, Germany) booth held a collective of manufacturers whose applications are indicative of the breadth of the industry, including marking and engraving, a mobile laser unit that applies a nonslip treatment to stone floors, laser-beam welding and selective laser melting, which is used to create dental prostheses in less time than traditional methods.

Colocated was the 16th International Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, enhanced by contributions from other optical organizations, including the International Society for Laser Surgery and Medicine, the German Scientific Laser societies and SPIE. CLEO Europe/EQEC (European Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and the European Quantum Electronics Conference) also took place at Laser 2003 and have made a long-term commitment to continue to do so.
The next Laser: World of Photonics convention will be held in Munich from June 13 to 16, 2005. See www.laser.de for more information.