#PhotonicsWest 2022: First Impressions

It feels good to be back. It's not just the glorious California sunshine that makes people happy at Photonics West this year. It's also the contact with people they've missed. Old friends, new contacts, colleagues and customers - they're all here. It may have been a risky venture for everyone involved, but it works.

Attendance numbers?

A few hours ago I spoke with Andy Brown from SPIE: "I can't give you any numbers yet, but we are more than happy with the attendance," he said. It is obvious that the number of visitors to the conference and exhibitions will not reach the level of Photonics West 2020. Two years ago, there were more than 20,000 attendees and about 1,300 visitors. I personally estimate that this year we will end up with about 50% of that number.

“It was so great, whether in person or in the kitchen!”

Monday is usually the day where I attend the Laser and Photonics Marketplace seminar. The attendance there was at about 50% of the regular numbers. The program of the seminar was an extension of what we saw last time: Market research, technology updates and CEO’s sharing their insights. Peter Fretty, the new Editor-in-Chief of Laser Focus World did a great job of handling the mixed on-site and online presentations. But beside all the facts and updates, there was plenty of networking. I met a private investor, analysts, and many people from Europe and America. The stack of business cards right in front of me tells a story of a great networking opportunity.

Justine Murphy, the new Senior Editor of Laser Focus World commented on the final online panel discussion: “It was so great, whether in person or in the kitchen!” She referred to Wilhelm Kaenders who spoke live from his kitchen table, which might have been related to some time zone issue - it was 2 AM in Germany.

Carlos Lee posted some images from EPIC’s World Photonics Technology Summit which took place in parallel to the LPMS. With a similar number of participants it was ?well attended: “Lots of networking at the EPIC summit in San Francisco, great presentations, live music for the entertainment, fabulous people ?????? we love live events! “ Carlos said on LinkedIn.

“Anything is better than an online fair”

That’s what Frederik Siegmann (PicoQuant) told me when I asked him about the success of the BIOS exhibition. Sure, the exhibition is smaller than in previous years, there were no big booths, but the aisles were crowded, and the people seemed satisfied with the leads they got.

I didn’t had much time to look at all the presentations of the conference. The one I did attend was a plenary talk at the LASE conference. Tammy Ma from NIF spoke about “On the threshold of laser fusion ignition: recent breakthroughs on the National Ignition Facility and the pathway to inertial fusion energy”. The hall was filled with people standing off to the side of the large auditorium - so the great talk got the attention it deserved.

Spoiler: I will be at NIF tomorrow. I am so excited. For a journalist, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For someone with a PhD in laser science, it's like flying to the moon.