On a day only a duck could love, SPIE’s CEO, Eugene Arthurs, PhD, told exhibitors, “I applaud California’s efforts in its initiative to offset global warming, but I think they’ve overdone it.”

Blustery winds, drumming rain and temperatures hovering in the 40s continued into the sixth day of the conference, but traffic at both the conferences and exhibition remained hearty, the society reported: about 17,250 at this writing. In a tribute to the industry’s appeal, many investors were walking the exhibit floor.

Exhibit space continues to be dear, said Peter Hallett, SPIE’s manager of industry relations, exhibitions and sales. Companies were on a waiting list for booth space in Halls 1, 2 and 3; the foyer; and the two South Halls at the San Jose Convention Center. The crunch is expected to continue until Photonics West moves to the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco in 2010.

Hot topics for this year, Hallett said, were optical coherence tomography, multiphoton spectroscopy, fiber lasers, LEDS, ultrasound, GaN-based devices and silicon. These programs, he said, were standing room only.

More Photonics West 2008 news: www.photonics.com/ie_pw_2008.aspx