C
O
V
E
R
S
T
O
R
Y
International initiatives
like IYL 2015, NPI,
Horizon 2020, the
BRAIN, and IP-IMI can
only help reinforce what
our industry already
knows: Lasers play a
signifcant role in our
daily lives and will only
become more prevalent
as future applications
emerge.
GAIL OVERTON,
DAVID A. BELFORTE,
ALLEN NOGEE, and
CONARD HOLTON
LASER MARKETPLACE 2015
In our 2014 Annual Laser Market Review & Forecast, Laser Focus World and the photonics communi- ty overwhelmingly sang the praises
of laser technology as an enabling medium that will “forge 21st century innovations” in materials processing, 3D
printing, flow cytometry, smart sensing,
display and cinema, molecular research,
and biophotonics.
And while laser manufacturers may be
happy with the mid-single-digit growth
sales performance of the past few years,
there is more cause for celebration.
Lasers—once an inside secret (or more
tritely, a solution looking for a problem)—
literally surround us in our everyday lives
and are finally being recognized globally and politically: first through the 50th
Anniversary of the Laser events in 2010
and now through numerous global initia-
tives such as the United-Nations-decreed
International Year of Light and Light-
Based Technologies (IYL) in 2015.
“While many players in our industry
may not appreciate the significance of I YL,
this celebration is just one of many initiatives formulated in the past few years including the National Photonics Initiative
[NPI], Photonics21, the BRAIN Initiative,
and the Integrated Photonics Institute
for Manufacturing Innovation [IP-IMI]
that will raise critical awareness regarding the importance and relevance of pho-
tonics and lasers in our everyday soci-
ety,” says SPIE CEO and member of the
I YL Steering Committee Eugene Arthurs.
“Once government officials, corporate
leaders and the financial community be-
gin to understand what photonics and
