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LIA will Present the R. James Rockwell JR. Award to Safety Leader John O’Hagan at ILSC 2017

The education achievement award recognizes contributions in laser safety and will be presented in Atlanta on March 20

ORLANDO, FL — The Laser Institute of America is pleased to announce the winner of the distinguished 2017 R. James Rockwell JR. Award to John O’ Hagan for his contributions in laser safety. The Rockwell Education Achievement Award recognizes individuals with outstanding contributions in safety education and will be presented on opening day, March 20, at this year’s International Laser Safety Conference (ILSC) in Atlanta, Georgia.

O’Hagan is honored for his work as a laser safety resource for governments and organizations, providing advice on the effects of optical radiation on people, as well as his work in laser safety education at Loughborough University. O’Hagan heads the Laser and Optical Radiation Dosimetry Group at Public Health England’s Centre for Radiation, Chemical, and Environmental Hazards and is also the Group Leader for Laser and Optical Radiation at Public Health England’s Centre for Radiation, Chemical, and Environmental Hazards; a position he has held since 1975.

As a visiting professor in Laser and Optical Radiation Safety at Loughborough University, he has collaborated on joint laser safety courses since 1990 and is also a member of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. He is the Director of Photobiology and Photochemistry at CIE; is credited with over 30 publications; a senior member of SPIE; and a fellow of the Laser Institute of America. O’Hagan will serve as the Conference General Chair for the 2017 ILSC.

O’Hagan will receive the Rockwell award at the ILSC Awards Luncheon. The ceremony will also highlight the winner of the George M. Wilkening Award. To learn more about ILSC and to register, please visit https://www.lia.org/conferences/ilsc.

About Laser Institute of America

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.

Mark Your Calendars for Laser Institute of America’s Biennial International Laser Safety Conference (ILSC®)

Laser Safety experts will gather from around the globe from March 20-23, 2017 at the Sheraton® Atlanta Airport

For Immediate Release

Laser Institute of America (LIA) will hold its biennial International Laser Safety Conference (ILSC®) from Mar. 20-23, 2017. At the Sheraton® Atlanta Airport, LIA will gather laser safety experts from around the globe to offer a thorough and comprehensive four-day conference for a variety of laser industry members. From laser safety officers and nurses, to safety product manufacturers and laser physicists, attendees will not only gain invaluable information from sessions, but will also have the opportunity to network with others and take part in this community of laser safety experts.

In 2017, ILSC – the premiere conference in the field of laser safety – will be led by Conference General Chair John O’Hagan of the Health Protection Agency. The 2017 program will feature knowledgeable speakers and presenters in the plenary session, the poster presentation gallery, the Laser Safety Scientific Sessions (LSSS), the Medical Practical Applications Seminar (MPAS) and the Technical Practical Applications Seminar (TPAS). The MPAS will be co-chaired by Kay Ball, Vangie Dennis, Patti Owens and Leslie Pollard.

Co-chaired by Eddie Ciprazo and Jamie King, the focus of TPAS in 2017 will be a return to the basics. “For the Laser Safety Officer (LSO) who is just starting out, who serves as a collateral duty, or even as a seasoned LSO with years of experience, there is something for everyone,” explains King. “From basic optics to cutting edge technologies, and everything in between, it’s here.”

Karl Schulmeister, Chair for LSSS, assures that ILSC will continue to cover the subject matter that attendees have found most helpful over the years. Among the planned topics are laser product safety, medical laser safety, and bioeffects. The latter will expand upon the interactions between lasers and tissues, discussing injury thresholds for the varying tissues of the eye and skin. Other sessions will focus on eyewear, outdoor lasers, high power lasers and materials processing. Broadband incoherent radiation will also be featured, as these lighting and other non-laser optical radiation sources have become interwoven with laser safety in recent years.

The ILSC 2017 Call for Papers is open for submissions. Authors are invited to submit their abstracts for oral and poster presentations by Oct. 6, 2016. Papers should contain original, recent and unpublished results of application research, development or implementation. To submit your abstract, visit http://www.lia.org/conferences/ilsc/abstract_submission.

“The authors of these submitted papers make up this scientific conference,” states Schulmeister. “The quality of the conference is determined by the quality of the submitted papers as oral presentations, posters and the respective proceedings papers, which are valued sources of information not only for the participants at the conference, but as general references.”

For more information on ILSC 2017, visit http://www.lia.org/ilsc.

Pressing Laser Safety Issues Addressed at ILSC 2015

Bringing together more than 200 laser safety professionals from around the world, the Laser Institute of America’s International Laser Safety Conference (ILSC®­) touched on pressing medical and industrial hazards — as well as safety in unique environments like the Arctic and even outer space.

Held March 23-26 in Albuquerque, N.M., ILSC 2015 illuminated issues with “lasers of immense peak powers, hand-held laser devices with power that cannot have been imagined a decade ago, and ever-expanding applications of the laser,” noted LIA President Robert Thomas of the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Major U.S. facilities like Sandia National Laboratories and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory shared insights into safety issues surrounding the use of multiple lasers. At Sandia, keynote presenter Bill Seng noted that many of the lab’s more than 1,400 lasers —running the gamut from UV to visible to IR to white-light devices — are employed on aircraft, ships and even in the back of a van to detect potential airborne toxins.

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