EDITOR
Dave MacLellan SUB-EDITOR
Catherine Rose ISSN 1755-5140
© 2025 – Association of Industrial Laser Users
FIRST WORD This month we celebrate the 30th
anniversary of AILU. The first meeting of AILU was held on 1 November 1995 at the National Motorcycle Museum. The first president was Bill Steen from Liverpool University and there were 5 vice-presidents including John Powell, Malcolm Gower and Tim Weedon.
Although AILU has changed, grown and developed a lot in the last 30 years it still has the same overall structure including members representing job shops, manufacturers, researchers and end users as well as suppliers of components and subsystems in the supply chain.
AILU now looks to engage more internationally, partnering with LIA in USA, CLP in France, BLZ in Germany, LLA in Lithuania and JLPS in Japan. Over the years we have forged partnerships, and we seek to build a bigger international footprint over the next years, aided by our Steering Committee's External Engagement Group.
In the past 10 years, since I have been involved at the heart of AILU, we have put on over 60 events including six ILAS symposia and 10 job shop business meetings. We are building on these foundations with our Internal Engagement Group.
For 2026 we are planning to run workshops on Optics & Beam Delivery, Hand-held Lasers, High Power Laser Welding and Ultrafast Lasers. Look out for more details on page 35.
Dave MacLellan
dave@ailu.org.uk EDITOR
The Laser User is the house magazine of the Association of Industrial Laser Users. Its primary aim is to disseminate technical information and to present the views of its members. The views and opinions expressed in this magazine belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of AILU.
The Editor reserves the right to edit any submissions for space and other considerations.
Authors retain the right to extract, in part or in whole, their material for future use. The Laser User is published quarterly in March, June, September and December by AILU for its members and is available in print or online.
Editorial Board for this issue:
Paola De Bono TWI Chris Waters
Micrometric
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Cover image: Conductive trails on a glass wafer enabled by Selective Surface Activation Induced by Laser (SSAIL). Courtesy of Akoneer. Find out more in Ekspla's article on page 28.
Association of Industrial Laser Users Oxford House 100 Ock Street Abingdon Oxfordshire OX14 5DH
+44 (0) 1235 539595
info@ailu.org.uk ailu.org.uk
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