For the fourth year in a row, French companies have joined forces to attend Photonics West, being held Jan. 20-25, 2007, at the San Jose Convention and Visitors Bureau in San Jose, Calif. The French Pavilion will be located in Hall 3 at Booth 1838. Participating exhibitors will include Bordeaux-Route des Lasers (Booth 1842), a regional cluster based on innovation in laser sources and their applications; Cedrat Technologies (1840), a provider of software, training programs, R&D and a line of APA piezo actuators; Eolite Systems (1733), a maker of electro-optic equipment for scientific labs and equipment manufacturers; and Gaggione (1741), which specializes in optical and mechanical design and molded optical components. Also: Phasics (1739), developer of a technology based on a modified Hartmann test to measure wavefront distortions for metrology and laser applications; Savimex (1737) an infrared technology developer; SDS Systems (1735), a maker of DC-DC high-voltage converters, AC-DC high-voltage power supplies, high-voltage pulse generators and electronics for remote detection probes and command-and-control boards; and Teem Photonics (1832), producer of a line of passively Q-switched microlasers. France’s innovation in optics dates to the 17th century, when Pierre de Fermat introduced his principle of "least time," according to which a ray of light follows the path that takes it to its destination in the shortest time. In 1895, brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière held the first public screening of their motion picture, shot in 1894 with Léon Bouly's cinématographe device patented the previous year, in Lyon. (The cinématographe -- which could record, develop and project motion pictures -- was further developed by the Lumières.) After World War II, French physicists Alfred Kastler and Jean Brossel developed optical pumping, an essential stage in the invention of the laser. Today, French companies such as Essilor, Angénieux. Sagem and Thales are among innovative small and medium enterprises creating photonics technology on an international field. Photonics West will bring together more than 1000 members of the regional and international optics and photonics communities to showcase a wide variety of products and services involving optics, lasers, biomedical optics, optoelectronic components and imaging technologies.The exhibition, organized by SPIE, will include a technical program featuring four international symposia: the BiOS 2007 biomedical optics symposium and exhibition; OPTO 2007, on integrated optoelectronic devices; LASE 2007, on lasers and applications in science and engineering; and MOEMS-MEMS 2007, on micro- and nanofabrication. For more information, visit: spie.org/Conferences/programs/07/pw/