Maiman Tribute Set at CLEO

A symposium in honor of the late Theodore Maiman, inventor of the first operable laser and twice nominated for a Nobel Prize, will be among topics at CLEO/QELS, to be held May 4-9 at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, Calif. (See also: Laser Inventor Dies at 79)

The Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO) is one of the largest exhibitions in the photonics industry, geared toward laser topics and the electro-optics community. CLEO 2008 will be held in conjunction with the Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference (QELS) and the Conference on Photonic Applications, Systems and Technologies (PhAST). Nearly 6000 leaders in the fields of optics and photonics are drawn to this annual technical conference to discuss the research and scientific findings in the industry, and end-users from a variety of industries attend to learn about current applications of optics technology. CLEO/QELS is sponsored by the American Physical Society/Div. of Laser Science, IEEE/LEOS (Lasers and Electro-Optics Society), and the Optical Society of America (OSA).

The "Theodore Maiman Tribute Symposium: Invention and Demonstration of the World’s First Laser and Evolution of Laser Technology and Resultant Diverse Applications," will be held May 4 from 3-6 p.m. Registration is required. Organizers are Michael Barnoski, president and CEO of NanoPrecision Products Inc. and CLEO chairman; Anthony Siegman, an engineering professor emeritus at Stanford University; Konstantin Vodopyanov, a physics professor at Stanford and CLEO Program Chair.

"In May 1960, at the Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, Calif., the first burst of light amplification by stimulated emission hit the laboratory wall. It was the result of the relentless, determined efforts of Theodore Maiman, who developed, demonstrated and patented the world’s first laser," OSA said in a statment.

The symposium is intended to describe the events leading to the first laser and the pervasive impact it has had on all aspects of modern society.

"In its 47 years of existence, the laser has affected an enormously broad array of human endeavors from medicine, Ted’s passionate field of use, to consumer products like the laser pointer used in this symposium," OSA said.

Presentations at the symposium will include "The Man Behind the First Laser," by Maiman's wife, Kathleen; "The Road to Ted Maiman's Ruby Laser," Jeff Hecht, contributing dditor, Laser Focus World, and author of Beam: The Race to Make the Laser,; "Some Thoughts on 48 Years of Lasing," by David Hanna, a physic professor at the University of Southampton, in England, and former director of its Optoelectronics Research Centre; "Laser Applications in Medicine," by Nicholas J. Razum, former executive director at the Western Institute of Laser Treatment, Santa Barbara, Calif.; "Wavelength Selective Absorption and Biostimulation Effects of Laser Radiation in Medicine," by Delwin McCarthy, DDS, of Millennium Dental, Cerritos, Calif.; and "Reversal of Solar Skin Damage and Aging with Lasers," Gregory S. Keller, MD, founder of the Western Institute for Laser Treatment.

Other symposium topics will be hollow-core photonic-crystal fibers and waveguides, nonlinear microscopy and spectroscopy in biology, novel resonators, integrated optical isolators and magneto-optical phenomena, light filaments and light propagation in atmosphere, and quantum light-matter interfaces.

Photonics.com will participate in the CLEO/QELS exhibition, May 6-8 (Booth 2429).

For more information, visit: www.cleoconference.org