Laser World of Photonics will celebrate its 40th birthday when the biennial trade fair and accompanying World of Photonics Congress are held this spring. The technical conference will welcome visitors to the International Congress Center München May 12-16, and the exhibition will be held May 13-16 in the adjacent Messe München trade fair center. Transparent luminaires: These OLED tiles let through 57 percent of incident light and have a luminous flux of 20 lm/W. The 2011 incarnation of the event attracted more than 1100 companies from 38 countries to exhibit at the fair; overall, 27,490 visitors from 80 countries attended. The 2013 fair will revolve around three focus topics: • Lasers and Laser Systems for Production Engineering: This focus topic will include lasers for manufacturing and, particularly, laser-based additive manufacturing. The application panels will include a session with user presentations on additive manufacturing. • Biophotonics and Medical Technology: This arena will explore diagnostic and research methods such as optical coherence tomography, confocal and two-photon microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. • Illumination and Energy: This targeted topic will include semiconductor light sources such as LEDs and OLEDs for smartphones, TVs and cars as well as for private and public illumination. Raman spectrometers are going mobile. This handheld device is just as efficient as a conventional laboratory spectrometer, according to the manufacturer. The event also will feature optical metrology and its applications in industry, medicine and science, including spectral analysis and hyperspectral imaging; fiber optic sensors that enable distributed measurements of temperature and strain; and improved testing techniques that allow faster, easier manufacture of object lenses with increased quality for a wide range of tasks. The World of Photonics Congress also will address the manufacturing, medical, and illumination and energy focus topics in a series of technical sessions. As in previous years, application panels focusing on practical approaches based on optical technologies will be held in the exhibition halls’ photonics forums.