Photonics West shapes up bigger than ever

27 Oct 2010

Exhibition space for the San Francisco event is selling fast, while paper submissions are up 7% on 2010, say organizers.

Photonics West

SPIE says that its flagship event, Photonics West, will be bigger than ever before in 2011. The exhibition and conference, which takes place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco in late January, is set to attract 18,000 attendees and more than 1200 exhibitors.

According to the US-headquartered member organization, exhibition space is filling up more quickly than the 2010 event, and is already 90 per cent sold out. More than 180 companies are also expected at the Biomedical Optics (BiOS) show that traditionally precedes the main event.

"Photonics West is seeing significant growth this year, illustrating the broad impact of photonics across the economy and in particular the increasing relevance of photonics in the medical community," said Andrew Brown, SPIE’s head of global business development. "The vibrancy of Photonics West is by far one of the foremost indicators of the health of the photonics industry going into 2011."

"In fact, 2011 is shaping up to be the biggest year ever for the event. Overall paper submissions have increased significantly, and both exhibitions are close to selling out: the Photonics West exhibition, with 93 per cent of space sold as of today [October 27], and BiOS, with almost 90 per cent of space sold. SPIE encourages companies who have been considering exhibiting to take action rapidly in order to avoid disappointment.”

New technical topics
More than a hundred Photonics West exhibitors are expected to announce new products at the event, while some 3976 papers are now scheduled during the four main symposia. New topics for the event in 2011 include RF and millimeter-wave photonics, flexible displays, coherent optical communication and photonic and phononic properties of engineered nanostructures.

In addition to the basic oral presentations, two new panel sessions will focus on the potential and challenges of using micro-optical mechanical systems (MOEMS) and nanodevices in space. A special OSRAM-sponsored invited session will be dedicated to the interaction of light and health, examining human factors relating to the emergence of solid-state lighting (SSL).

SSL is also one of the four key themes making up the new "green photonics" track, which is chaired by Stanford's Stephen Eglash. The other cleantech themes are laser-assisted manufacturing, high-efficiency communications networks, and renewable energy generation through both fusion and photovoltaics.

Technical highlights at the wide-ranging event include Andrew Shields' team from Toshiba Research Europe, who will speak about the development of an LED chip that emits entangled photons – an achievement that may one day find practical applications in quantum computers. On the medical side, Vadim Backman from Northwestern University in Chicago will describe a spectroscopic screening method for lung cancer that requires only a cheek swab from a patient.

Photonics West takes place at The Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, USA from 22 - 27 January 2011.