contents 3
contents
leader
Warren Clark
Battling through
News 4
a crisis
Latest news from around the world
With visitor and exhibitor numbers
Company profi le 8
matching those of last year, there
John Murphy on the rise of Avantes
were no visible signs of an industry
in crisis at last month’s Photonics
Burgeoning biophotonics 10
West. The offi cial visitor fi gures
In lean economic times, William Payne
revealed that 2009 was just as
explores one sector that is thriving
attractive an event as the 2008
Organic growth 14
Biophotonics on the rise 10
exhibition and conference. More
Has the time for OLEDs fi nally arrived?
than 17,000 visitors attended this
Greg Blackman investigates
year, suggesting that whatever
fi nancial concerns there are in
Testing made easy 16
the wider economy, it was nothing
Gemma Church discovers how test equipment
that a good dose of photonics
suppliers are pushing ease of use
innovation couldn’t fi x.
It would have been no great
New blood for photonics 20
surprise to see a few empty booths
Greg Blackman looks at schemes to encourage
here and there, with companies
graduates to enter the industry
deciding that they could not afford
The fi nishing touch 22
Testing ... testing... 16
the space or spare the staff. The
A round up of the latest in lenses, coatings
San Jose Convention Center, along
and fi lters with two large marquees at the
back of the main hall, was full to
Distributor news 24
bursting, though – and there was
Latest news and product launches from distributors
still a waiting list.
Talking to exhibitors revealed
Product update 26
that, while they were impressed
Latest product launches from around the world
(not to say relieved) at the aisles
Hard Talk 34
full of potential customers, they
Robert Yeo, partner, Pro-Lite
were all remaining ‘cautious’ for
The rush to recruit 20
2009. For this year, just about
everyone had given up on pursuing
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business – but for positive signs,
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one need look no further than the
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photonics has a key role to play in
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In terms of the mood of the
Cover image courtesy of Lasermet
whole event, the feelings were a f
ebruary/mar
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mixture of caution and resilience,
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but were very far from defeatist.
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EOfeb09 pp02-03 Contents.indd 3 25/2/09 12:27:10
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