BELLINGHAM, Washington, USA -- The future is the agenda this week at Moscone Center in San Francisco. The week-long SPIE Photonics West symposium is drawing an estimated 18,000 participants to conferences and exhibitions on optics, photonics, and laser R&D with applications in medicine, manufacturing, green lighting, and more.
The event opened Saturday with a weekend heavily emphasizing biophotonics technologies, including a two-day exhibition focusing on biomedical optics, imaging, and nanotechnology tools and applications for medical diagnostics, treatment, and research.
Conferences, workshops, panels, professional development courses, and networking events continue through Thursday.
The Photonics West exhibition -- the world's largest international event encompassing industrial and medical applications of optics, lasers, and photonics -- will run tomorrow through Thursday. This year's exhibition is the most extensive yet, with 1,165 exhibiting companies and the launch of more than 150 new products.
Nearly 40 companies will have recruiters at a job fair Tuesday and Wednesday -- another jump in numbers over previous years that reflects a renewed sense of vitality in the laser and photonics industries.
Expert panels on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons will provide insights on potential and trends in silicon and green photonics markets.
The photonics industry community will have an opportunity to have a say in the direction of a new study aimed at strengthening the industry, via an open forum to be held during Photonics West.
Moderated by Erik Svedberg, Senior Program Officer with the U.S. National Academies, and Eugene Arthurs, SPIE CEO, a "Future of Photonics" panel on Thursday morning will gather industry input updating the 1998 report Harnessing Light, produced by the National Academies and its operating arm, the National Research Council. There is no admission charge, but attendees must obtain entry badges at the Photonics West registration desk.
Nine innovative products will be recognized with the Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation, sponsored by SPIE and Photonics Media. Winners will be announced at a banquet Wednesday evening, and the awards presented by photonics industry leaders and executives from CVI Melles Griot, SCHOTT, IPG Photonics, Hamamatsu, Naval Research Lab, Edmund Optics, Incubic, JENOPTIK, and IMRA America.
Accepted conference papers will be published in the SPIE Digital Library as soon as approved after the meeting, and in print volumes and digital collections. The SPIE Digital Library is the world's largest collection of optics and photonics literature, and a leading resource for scientific and patent research.
Join the Photonics West conversation on Twitter via #PW11, or search on Photonics West.
SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, was founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies. Serving more than 180,000 constituents from 168 countries, the Society advances emerging technologies through interdisciplinary information exchange, continuing education, publications, patent precedent and career and professional growth. SPIE annually organizes and sponsors approximately 25 major technical forums, exhibitions and education programs in North America, Europe, Asia and the South Pacific, and supports scholarships, grants and other education programs around the world.
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