A record number of exhibitors, stable visitor attendance and insight into revolutionary technologies at Laser World of Photonics and the World of Photonics Congress, held May 13-16 in Munich, marked an upswing in the photonics industry, the shows’ organizers said. Laser World of Photonics, celebrating its 40th anniversary, closed with a record number of 1136 exhibitors and represented companies. Nearly 27,000 attendees from 74 countries participated in photonics product premieres, networking opportunities and to gain insight into revolutionary technologies such as 3-D printing, medical technology, biophotonics and digital photonic production. The proportion of foreign visitors rose to a record level of 54 percent, with significantly more attendees from China, Russia and South Korea. Laser World of Photonics, celebrating its 40th anniversary, was attended by more than 27,000 people from 74 countries. The portion of foreign visitors rose to a record level of 54 percent, with significantly more attendees from China, Russia and South Korea. Images courtesy of Messe München. “The 40th anniversary of the world’s leading trade fair has demonstrated that Messe München has firmly established its pre-eminence as a platform for the global photonics industry,” said Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer, managing director of Messe München. “This is also underpinned by the continuing increase in the internationality of the visitors.” A poll conducted by market research institute TNS Infratest showed exhibitor and attendee satisfaction. Most exhibitors (91 percent) gave the trade show an overall ranking of “excellent to good,” with 97 percent saying they would exhibit at the show again. Almost all visitors (97 percent) gave the event an “excellent to good” overall rating. 96 percent intended to return, and an equal number praised the contributions at the photonics forums. Exhibitors displayed innovations and solutions in the four trade fair halls. “The Laser World of Photonics is very important because in principle it is the exhibition showcase for laser technology,” said Klaus Löffler, director of international sales at Trumpf Laser- und Systemtechnik. “We have 19 objects here on the stand and 13 of these products are world premieres. We use the trade fair here in Munich precisely for this presentation function.” Top trends included additive production, automated visual inspection, ultrashort pulse lasers, solid-state light sources, optical diagnostics in medicine, and lasers for electro-mobility, energy technology and automotive engineering, analytics and imaging in biophotonics. A special “Digital Photonic Production” exhibition, presented in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT, illustrated the advantages of the additive production process and demonstrated 3-D printing in metal. Other crowd favorites included the “Photons in Production” special exhibition, offering live demonstrations of laser-based joining of lightweight materials, the biophotonics research focus area stand, and user forums which addressed challenges in various areas and how they could be dealt with using practical examples. The 2013 event closed with a record number of 1136 exhibitors and represented companies. More than 90 percent of exhibitors gave the trade show an overall ranking of “excellent to good,” with 97 percent saying they would exhibit at the show again in the future, according to a poll conducted by market research institute TNS Infratest. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research presented the “Photonics Industry Report 2013,” a new study forecasting solid growth in the global photonics industry. The report, done in collaboration with Spectaris, VDMA and ZVEI, found that the global photonics market in 2011 was worth around €350 billion (about $449 billion) and estimates that the global market could grow to around €615 billion (about $788 billion) by 2020. (See: Photonics Growth in Europe Outpaces GDP) “Photonics has developed from a niche technology to a key technology, is regarded as a driver of innovation and plays an important ‘enabler’ role for many customer markets,” said Thilo Brodtmann, deputy managing director of the German Engineering Federation VDMA. More than 3500 international attendees participated in the Congress’ six conferences with more than 2800 lectures and poster presentations. The Herbert Walther Award was given to Jeff Kimble of the California Institute of Technology. “The World of Photonics Congress is an extremely important congress. I have been coming here for many years,” said Dr. Stefan W. Hell, deputy managing director at the Max-Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry and head of the NanoBiophotonics Department. “You pick up on the latest research developments — and also the latest industrial exhibits from the associated trade fair. At the end of the day, we’re working experimentally and this is an outstanding place to find out about the latest market developments. That in turn has a major influence on the developments we ourselves are working on in the laboratory.” Organizers of the Congress included the European Physical Society, The Optical Society, IEEE Photonics Society, the European Optical Society, SPIE and the Scientific Society for Laser Technology – WLT. The next Laser World of Photonics will be held June 22-25, 2015, and the next World of Photonics Congress from June 21-25, 2015. For more information, visit: world-of-photonics.net/en/laser/start