Adolf Giesen received his doctorate in 1982 at the University of Bonn, Germany, and then joined the Institute of Technical Physics at DLR (the German Aerospace Center) in Stuttgart. He worked on rf-excited CO₂ lasers before moving to the Institut für Strahlwerkzeuge, University of Stuttgart. He then worked on thin disk lasers (in a collaboration between the University of Stuttgart and DLR). In 2002 he received the Berthold Leibinger Preis as part of the "Work Group Disk Laser", and in 2004 he received the Rank Prize for the invention and his work on thin disk lasers. Since 2007 he has been the director of the Institute of Technical Physics, DLR.

In the interview he discusses the development of the disk laser, its industrial applications, and the prospects for further progress in power output.