Monthly Archives: September 2016

Weekly Lasers Wrap Up – Week of September 26, 2016

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Bringing you up to speed with the latest in laser industry news, LIA updates, and relevant conferences, the Weekly Wrap Up aggregates everything you may have missed this week, in the world of lasers.

Conference News and Updates

The scope of Photonics and Electro-Optics is constantly changing. What does this mean for conferences like ICALEO®, that foster the idea of conversation and collaboration between researchers, companies, and end users? Check out a few key industry disruptors and innovators, some of which will be in attendance at ICALEO this year, here.

ICALEO® is less than a month away and registration spots are still open! ICALEO® will take place October 16–20, 2016, in San Diego, California. Find everything you need to know about this premiere conference here. Already planning to attend? Get all the info you need in regards to transportation in the San Diego area here.

LIA News

Intrigued by the idea of taking LSO training, but not sure if it’s right for you? Check out this intriguing infographic illustrating the 8 biggest benefits of taking your Laser Safety Officer Training online. Find it here.

LIA will host a Laser Safety Chat on Twitter, featuring LIA education director, Gus Anibarro. Taking place October 12 from 12–1 PM EST, Gus will answer all of your questions regarding laser safety under #AskGusLIA. Be sure to follow @laserinstitute on Twitter, so you don’t miss a single tweet!

Laser Industry News

MedGadget reports that the market for femtosecond lasers for cataract surgery will reach $2.4 Billion dollars until 2019. The growth is due, in part, to an aging population worldwide, in need of cataract surgery. Femtosecond lasers are used in a more automated, and often times more accurate surgical process, compared to cataract surgery of the past. Learn more about this exciting industry growth here.

Could lasers help us predict natural disasters? Researchers at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas are determined to find out. Using a much smaller version of the laser interferometer, similar to LIGO, the researchers are looking into the potential to detect geophysical disruptions. Check out their progress here.

Don’t miss a single laser industry update! Subscribe to Lasers Today for the latest in lasers and LIA news, delivered straight to your inbox! Be sure to follow LIA (@laserinstitute) on Twitter for up-to-the-minute industry news and updates.

The Laser Institute of America (LIA) is the international society for laser applications and safety. Our mission is to foster lasers, laser applications, and laser safety worldwide. Visit us at www.lia.org

LIA’s Inaugural Industrial Laser Conference at IMTS Highlights Lasers in Manufacturing

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Conference’s diverse program instructed shops and industry professionals in how to leverage lasers to revolutionize manufacturing processes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ORLANDO, FL (PRWEB) SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

Laser Institute of America held its first Industrial Laser Conference on Tuesday, September 13, 2016 at the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago. Tailored exclusively to the future-forward industrial manufacturing professional, the conference showcased leading laser applications driving the evolution of manufacturing, and instructed manufacturing shops and industry professionals in how to leverage lasers into their manufacturing processes in a high-demand marketplace.

Thirteen experts in laser manufacturing, including technical directors, laser applications engineers, and program managers, presented a diverse program in room W190-A of Chicago’s renowned McCormick Place. Hailing from leading manufacturing organizations such as IPG Photonics Corporation, SLM Solutions NA, Inc., TRUMPF Inc., FANUC America Corporation, Laserline Inc., Optomec Inc., Lincoln Electric Company, Fraunhofer USA – CLA, Alabama Laser, Mitsui Seiki (U.S.A.), Inc., and Imperial Machine & Tool Co., the presenters covered topics like technology advances in additive manufacturing, hybrid additive and subtractive tool technology, laser additive manufacturing in production, advances in welding with fiber lasers and novel beam delivery products, and the role of flexibility in laser automation.

These innovative techniques are emerging and revolutionizing the industry to meet market demands, all rooted in the field’s collective understanding of conventional machining. From advancements in technology to expected challenges, the LIA’s Industrial Laser Conference provided a newfound clarity on the present and future of industrial manufacturing.

“LIA was proud to deliver an elite lineup of laser experts in our first year of the Industrial Laser Conference, covering 360 degrees of lasers-in-manufacturing technology,” said Jim Naugle, LIA’s Marketing Director. “The opportunity to dive into a real machine shop’s journey into metal additive manufacturing with lasers and cover new innovations in directed energy deposition (DED) systems in one day, all while
receiving access to cutting edge exhibitions at the IMTS show, is a thrilling opportunity for manufacturing engineers, automation specialists, and sales managers.”

From seasoned manufacturing experts new to lasers, to shops who have already begun reaping the benefits of laser technology, the conference offered something for everyone in the sector, including James Hail of L-3 Communications. “[The show provided] excellent information! I learned a lot,” Hail said.

Attendees like Mansour Ashtiani of Huf North America hope to attend the event again. “It was a very professionally done conference,” Ashtiani said.

The Laser Institute of America (LIA) is the international society for laser applications and safety. For more information about the Industrial Laser Conference, including presenters, programs, and sponsor information, please visit http://www.lia.org/laserconference.

About LIA

The Laser Institute of America (LIA) is the professional society for laser applications and safety serving the industrial, educational, medical, research and government communities throughout the world since 1968. http://www.lia.org, 13501 Ingenuity Drive, Ste 128, Orlando, FL 32826, +1.407.380.1553.

What Major Innovations in Photonics and Electro-Optics Mean for ICALEO®

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As any laser professional or enthusiast knows that the scope of Photonics and Electro-Optics is constantly changing. Crossing over into other industries and bringing in a tide of innovation in their wake; the use of this technology is altering the way we practice medicine, enjoy entertainment, create parts and goods, and explore our world. Conferences like ICALEO® and others do their part to not only educate, but create a dialogue around innovation.

Companies and Researchers alike are accomplishing great things.

SPI Lasers recently developed fiber lasers that are able to produce high-quality welds between dissimilar metals. For those who use lasers for manufacturing, this is a particularly interesting development. Typically, dissimilar metals, such as copper and aluminum, pose a few challenges when a weld is attempted. The two metals react differently at different temperatures. So where one metal would begin to soften under heat, the other may become brittle and unusable. Fiber lasers reduce the heat input and area affected by heat. The laser developed by SPI Lasers, redENERGY 70 W EP-Z is able to create three spot welds in about one second. Fast? Effective? Innovative? This development from SPI Lasers can check all three off the list.

Photo Credit: SPI Lasers

Worth noting: SPI Lasers will be in attendance at ICALEO® 2016, with a number of other key players innovating and disrupting photonics and electro-optics as we know it.

ICALEO® has established a reputation for being “the conference where researchers and end users meet to review the state-of-the-art in laser processing.”

One particularly interesting innovation coming out of the news recently is the idea of using inkjet printersto print “multi-layer graphene circuits” on laser-treated graphene paper. We’ve talked about inkjet printing, using lasers on Lasers Today in the past. The development is in the use of laser treating for graphene; printing tiny electronics was do-able, but researchers needed to find a way to improve conductivity and performance. Researchers at Iowa State University saw these challenges and implemented the use of a pulsed layer laser on the electrodes. In doing so, the future of printable electronics has a much brighter potential for mass-use!

While this is just a micro-glimpse into the current climate of photonics and electro-optics, it is strikingly clear that the fields are drastically shifting and evolving daily. Conferences like ICALEO® help foster the growth around these fields, increasing awareness, encouraging discussion, and emphasizing education for laser and photonics professionals. With just a handful of weeks before the 35th iteration of the conference, one can only imagine what developments and innovations could shake the foundations of what we know, between then and now.

Don’t delay! The 35th ICALEO® will take place October 16–20 in San Diego, CA. Registration spots are still available but are running out fast. Register here today. Already registered? Be sure to check out our “What to See and Do in San Diego” post, available on Lasers Today, for tips on what to check out when it town for ICALEO®. 

The Laser Institute of America (LIA) is the international society for laser applications and safety. Our mission is to foster lasers, laser applications, and laser safety worldwide. Visit us at www.lia.org

Weekly Lasers Wrap Up – Week of September 19, 2016

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Bringing you up to speed on the latest updates in laser industry news, LIA updates, and other laser-related developments, the Weekly Wrap-Up aggregates all that you may have missed this week:

Industry News:

In a recent trade advisory, OSHA announced that they will be sharing safety and health updates via Twitter. The account @OSHA_DOL will provide information to the public regarding OSHA initiatives, activities, publications, and more! OSHA encourages professionals to share these updates within their own networks. LIA will be sharing all laser industry-related updates at our own Twitter handle @laserinstitute. Check out our summary of the advisory here.

Manufacturing Day takes place October 17 This year’s theme is “Opening Doors and Minds.” LIA will be covering all Manufacturing Day updates on Twitter. Check out #MFGDay16 to stay up to date on all activities and insights throughout the day — and stay tuned for more LIA Manufacturing Day updates!

Multi-beam laser additive manufacturing process

Researchers at the Photonics Institute at Vienna Institute of Technology have developed a device that “emits super short flashes of infrared light with extremely high energy.” Combining long infrared wavelength, short duration, and high energy, the pulses are able to be compressed, without sacrificing the energy. Check out the original article on Science Daily here.

LIA Updates:

LIA remembers Laser Safety Community Leader Darrell Seeley. Seeley was a renowned laser safety teacher and consultant. He passed away August 16, 2016, after battling cancer. Seeley was 66 years old. Read our tribute to his memory here.

Conference News:

ICALEO is less than a month away! Registration for this premiere conference is still open. ICALEO takes place October 16-20, 2016 in San Diego, CA. Review photos from last year’s event here.

ICALEO 2016 is almost here! View photos from last year’s event.

Don’t miss a single laser industry update! Subscribe to Lasers Today for the latest in lasers and LIA news, delivered straight to your inbox! Be sure to follow LIA (@laserinstitute) on Twitter for up-to-the-minute industry news and updates.

 

The Laser Institute of America (LIA) is the international society for laser applications and safety. Our mission is to foster lasers, laser applications, and laser safety worldwide. Visit us at www.lia.org

Laser Institute of America Remembers Laser Safety Community Leader Darrell Seeley

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Renowned laser safety teacher and consultant and 2007 Laser Institute of America (LIA) R. James Rockwell Jr. Award winner Darrell Seeley passed away on August 12, 2016 after a hard-fought battle with cancer. He was 66.

A longtime LIA corporate member and past member of the LIA Board of Directors, Seeley was also a laser safety pioneer, becoming one of the first nine people in the United States to become a CLSO

A smiling Darrell Seeley, as remembered by family and friends on his online tribute wall.

(8/12/2002). In addition, he served as a member of the BLS Board of Commissioners and the ANSI Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) Z136 for Safe Use of Lasers as well as two of its subcommittees.

Seeley established his storied laser career as a professor of physics at Parkland College in Champaign IL, and later, served for over two decades at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. In 2002, he started his own laser safety consulting company, and in 2011, joined Rockwell Laser Industries as Vice President. He was also an industrial laser safety trainer in the US and Canada for LIA for more than ten years, a visiting laser scientist with the US Army, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD; Cedar Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA; and the Austrian Research Centers, Seibersdorf, Austria.

“Darrell is fondly remembered at LIA, not only as a trailblazer in laser safety, but most importantly, as a friend,” said LIA’s longtime Marketing Director, Jim Naugle. “When I first started at LIA, he volunteered his time as an intern for us, and I remember how dedicated he was to helping us develop accurate content for our laser safety courses. He will also be remembered for his critical service on LIA’s safety committees. Darrell will always have a place in LIA’s history and our hearts.”

LIA’s Education Director Gus Anibarro remembers Darrell’s outstanding example in laser safety excellence. “I worked with Darrell for 15 years. His endless patience with LIA’s course attendees and enthusiastic effort to get our students to understand hazard calculations makes him one of my greatest mentors. It was my honor to have worked with him and learn from him. The laser safety community has lost a great instructor, and we will miss him dearly.”

Tributes from family, friends, and colleagues alike have poured in on Seeley’s online tribute wall, including that of Steve Augustine of the MSOE Physics and Chemistry Department. “Darrell was one of my first mentors when I began teaching at MSOE almost 20 years ago,” he wrote. “He was the consummate teacher, and much of the approach I take toward my job to this day is patterned after what I learned from Darrell.”

In addition to his impactful laser contributions, Seeley is best known by his friends for his woodworking workshop, and for his music and witness ministry at Sedona’s Christ Lutheran Church. He also enjoyed dancing and singing in church with his wife, Trisha.

As stated on Darrell’s tribute page, in lieu of flowers, memorials are requested for either Serenity Inn of Milwaukee or Lutheran World Relief.

About LIA

The Laser Institute of America (LIA) is the professional society for laser applications and safety serving the industrial, educational, medical, research and government communities throughout the world since 1968. www.lia.org, 13501 Ingenuity Drive, Ste 128, Orlando, FL 32826, +1.407.380.1553.