Education, Technology at the Heart of Optatec 2018

JUSTINE MURPHY, SENIOR EDITOR, justine.murphy@photonics.com

Biennially, the Frankfurt (Germany) International Exhibition Center hosts some of the world’s top innovators who showcase their work and products at the Optatec International Trade Fair.

To be held May 15-17, this event highlights the latest optical technologies, components, and systems in areas such as optomechanics and laser components. Products and systems to be demonstrated will target those in development and production roles, in addition to the industrial and manufacturing sectors.

This year, more than 500 exhibitors from around the world will fill the exhibition center to unveil, display, and demonstrate their technologies and innovations. Such technologies to be showcased at the conference include optomechanics, optoelectronics, fiber optics, fiber optic cables, laser components, and manufacturing systems. Optatec provides a top-level platform that brings together manufacturers, suppliers, and end-users.

The 2018 exhibitors include Carl Zeiss Spectroscopy GmbH, Leibniz-Institut für, Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Edmund Optics, Optikos Corp., Pyser Optics Ltd., QED Technologies Inc., Gooch & Housego, 4D Technology Corp., Berliner Glas KGaA, and Shenzhen Nano Macro Photonics.

Supplementing the exhibition will be a number of lectures and panel discussions. Industry experts and researchers will offer technical presentations such as Top Five Rules to Make Your Optics Sourcing in China Successful, while developers and manufacturers offer courses and workshops.

The German Industry Association for Optical, Medical, and Mechatronics Technologies (SPECTARIS) and the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) will present the international standards ISO 10110-7 and ISO 14997, DIN ISO 10110-7 (dealing with the specification of surface imperfections in optical elements), and DIN ISO 14997, covering associated test procedures.

A Training and Research: Study Photonics Technology Park will provide young people the chance to learn about programs available at colleges and universities. Demonstrations here will offer insight into disciplines and current research, and the opportunity to talk with professors. In addition, previous graduates of these courses of study will talk with students about their experiences and current work.

Five universities — Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences, Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences in Germany, Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences Jena, Rhine-Main University of Applied Sciences, and Technical University of Applied Sciences of Central Hesse, all based in Germany — will present course offerings related to optical technologies, in addition to hands-on exhibits covering various optics subjects.

Aschaffenburg University will feature its faculty in engineering sciences, who will discuss electrical engineering, information technology, mechatronics, and industrial engineering with a focus on microsystems technology. There will be exhibits, too, which focus on laser engraving of metal and plastic materials and laser-based 3D printing.

Darmstadt University faculty from the school’s departments of mathematics and natural sciences will talk about optical technology and image processing, before hands-on experiments. This will focus on practical information about close-up image recordings, imaging errors, and more. Also discussed will be lasers and laser system setups.

The SciTec faculty at Ernst Abbe University will talk with students about laser and optical technologies, in addition to demonstrating the spectral characteristics of various light sources and white light interference.

Rhine-Main University faculty will present information about the school’s physical technology, applied physics, and interdisciplinary engineering sciences programs. An exhibit will teach students about excitation of evanescent waves with planar waveguides, equipped with an optical micro-diffraction grating at the school’s laboratories that makes it possible to launch a green laser beam into a wave-conducting layer. Students will have the chance to launch the laser beam into the waveguide themselves by varying the laser beam’s angle of incidence.

Faculty from Technical University will focus on programs for mathematics, natural sciences and data processing, information technology, and electrical engineering and mechatronics. Among programs to be presented will be physical technology, optotechnology and image processing, and information and communications technology. This segment also will feature exhibits for fiber specimens that emit light at the sides, lasers for use in medical applications, microscopy for fibers and end-faces, laser triangulation, laser materials processing, and 3D projection.

The Optical Systems Design Congress, organized in cooperation with SPIE Europe, will be held during Optatec. It will feature renowned speakers from academia and industry who will delve into topics such as optical design and engineering, advances in optical thin films, optical fabrication, and illumination optics, among others.

For more information about the 2018 Optatec International Trade Fair, visit www.optatec-messe.de.