Conference Notes

The conference

Similar to the larger SPIE events in America, Photonics Europe offers “Hot topics in photonics” sessions. This is a place where recent findings and trends are presented. Besides that, the conference has a nice list of plenary speakers:

• John Dudley, Université Franche-Comte, France

• Cesar Jauregui Misas, Friedrich Schiller-Univ. Jena, Germany

• David D. Sampson, University of Western Australia

• Miles Padgett, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom

• Ferenc Krausz, Max-Planck-Institute for Quantum Physics, Germany

• Sarah Bohndiek, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Most interesting among them might be Ferenc Krausz, director of the Max-Planck-Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching/Munich and leader or at least spiritus rector of a number of projects related to ultrashort and/or ultrastrong laser pulses. He will speak about “Attosecond Metrology 2.0: Tracking and controlling motions at the picometer-attosecond scale.”

The scientific program comprises 18 different conferences of the following topics:

Industry and workshop program

Brussels is a good place to talk about European research projects, and so, there will not only be presentations from the European Commission but also several workshops related to ongoing projects.

Here is a full list of the Technology and Affiliate workshop program:

• Graphene-based Photonics Technology: Transitioning from Research to Commercialisation

  Date: April 5, 2016, Time: 8:30 AM–5:00 PM

• ePIXfab Training Course on Silicon Photonics

  Date: April 3, 2016, Time: 9:00 AM–5:00 PM

• Caeleste Workshop

  Date: April 6, 2016, Time: 1:30 PM–6:00 PM

• H2020 Workshop

  Date: April 5, 2016, Time: 9:00 AM–1:00 PM

• Homogenization and Shaping of Laser and LED Light by Diffractive and Micro Optical Elements

  Date: April 6, 2016, Time: 9:00 AM–5:30 PM

• Schott Workshop on the Properties of Optical Glass and Special Optical Materials

  Date: April 4, 2016, Time: 2:00 PM–5:30 PM

• Homogenization and Shaping of Laser and LED Light by Diffractive and Micro Optical Elements

  Date: Wednesday, April 6, 2016, Time: 9:00 AM–5:30 PM

Within the Exhibition area, there will be the Photonics Innovation Village, where innovative teams may present their products at a complimentary “mini-booth” in a special section of the exhibition. This project is dedicated to support technology startups and innovative teams from universities, non-profit institutions, and research centers. It will showcase Europe’s (and the world’s) finest research programs and shall encourage the transfer of optics/photonics research and technology into new and useful products. A special effort will be made to invite Venture Capital companies to the Photonics Innovation village.

http://spie.org/photonics-europe.xml

The congress program

The program combines a number of special 1-day events with a traditional 2-day conference plus a regular 3-day industry exhibition with about 50 companies. The program is truly multifaceted, offering information for almost every interest. Whether you are a newbie (Seminar Laser Technology ABC’s) or a CEO looking for the real value of your machines (Technology Business Day TBT), you will find an appropriate event.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

• Forum Laser Additive Manufacturing (new)

• Forum Process Control (new)

• Seminar Laser Technology ABC’s

• Technology Business Day TBT

• Accompanying Sponsors’ Exhibition

• Award Ceremony of the “Innovation Award Laser Technology 2016”

Thursday, April 28, 2016

• AKL’16 – Laser Technology Conference

• Accompanying Sponsors’ Exhibition

• “Laser Technology Live” at Fraunhofer ILT

• Opening Reception of the “Innovation Center Digital Photonic Production” of Photonics Cluster

Friday, April 29, 2016

• AKL’16 – Laser Technology Conference

• Accompanying Sponsors Exhibition

The topics of the conference are grouped into three tracks: Macro, Micro, and Laser Beam Sources.

Special events for networking

The forums, seminars, and the actual congress give you lots of information, but that is just half the story: AKL offers a number of dedicated opportunities for personal exchange with their experts. First of all, there is the “Laser Technology Live” at Fraunhofer ILT. That is an “open house” event at the laboratories of the institute. More than 70 live presentations and exhibits are promised. You see how laser technology works, and you have the experts right at hand to talk about your particular questions.

Then, there is the Award Ceremony of the “Innovation Award Laser Technology 2016” at the Coronation Hall of Aachen’s Town Hall. The history of this place traces back to the emperor Charlemagne more than 1000 years ago. It is an impressive and truly historic location, and so, you may expect a great dinner and an impressive show.

Then, there is even more: On Thursday evening after the “Laser Technology Live” event, there will be the opening reception of the “Innovation Center Digital Photonic Production CDPP” of Photonics Cluster. The CDPP is a future project of a high-profile consortium at the local university RWTH, together with partners from research institutions, industry, and SMEs. It will receive a multi-million funding by the Federal government for at least 15 years.

http://www.lasercongress.org

On 28. April 2016 at Lasertechnik Live the participants of AKL’16 can attend about 70 Live-presentations in the halls of Fraunhofer ILT, Europe’s largest Laser Application Center (Copyright: Fraunhofer ILT).