SPIE Defense, Security and Sensing 2009 will kick off with a record-breaking 500-plus exhibitors, as well as an expanded topical focus and talks by government funding experts. The event will be held April 13-17 at the Orlando World Center Marriott Resort and Conference Center in Orlando. As the largest international event for sensing and related technology for industrial, commercial and defense applications in the fields of optics and photonics, organizers are expecting an attendance of more than 6000 technology researchers and developers from around the world in government, industry and academia fields. More than 500 exhibitors are confirmed for the three-day exhibition (April 14-16), which will feature infrared imaging, optics and sensing equipment. Specialized equipment, applications and systems providers, as well as nine of the top 10 global defense contractors will be present. Other events at SPIE Defense, Security and Sensing 2009 include a panel on the Future Direction in US Government Funding; a plenary talk by Norman Augustine, retired chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin who will speak about the global competitiveness and fundamental changes needed in the engineering field; and a cyber-sensing hot topic session.The event will also deliver a special display of robotics and unmanned systems which will include a germ-free mobile laboratory designed to analyze safely hazardous biological and chemical samples, also supporting newly developed analytical equipment, including Raman and FTIR. A demonstration on the exhibition floor will include a real-time wireless aerial surveillance system that broadcasts electro-optical and infrared to a local ground station. Also to be displayed are tactical expeditionary systems engineered to minimize launch time and maximize target time, the “Knight Rider” autonomous car that participated in the DARPA Urban Challenge 2007, and potential platforms and applications for short-wave infrared imagers and detectors designed for use with long-endurance, high-altitude unmanned aircraft in a multi-mission system.The 2009 symposium is slated to provide attendees with over 2200 papers presented in 55 conferences, panel discussion on related topics and a professional development program with 57 courses and workshops. An expanded topical scope of the event is expected to reflect synergy in the industrial, defense and security fields, as applications for optics and photonic devices and systems developed for one area are adapted for other fields. SPIE is an international optics and photonics society that serves more than 188,000 constituents from 138 countries. It annually organizes and sponsors approximately 25 major technical forums, exhibitions and education programs in North America, Europe, Asia and the South Pacific. For more information, visit: www.spie.org/defense-security-sensing.xml