ORLANDO, FL, November 7, 2011 — From attoseconds to zettawatts, the 30th-annual International Congress on Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics looked once again to the future with another powerful conference packed with cutting-edge research from around the world.
The message of the Laser Institute of America’s premiere conference — which returned to LIA’s hometown of Orlando — was clear: The power of the laser is being leveraged enthusiastically and with great success in everything from micromachining to carbon nanotube-based cancer therapies to railway repair and concrete cutting. The next-generation applications are upon us, as lasers are being used with increasing precision to modify more and more delicate materials or tackle huge manufacturing and repair tasks. They’re not only cutting and etching stents, iPhone components and flexible glass substrates, they’re also repairing mining equipment. (more…)
Chu, co-winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics for development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light, will receive the honor during a luncheon Sept. 29 and speak during the event. Laser pioneer Schawlow nominated Chu for the Nobel while the two were colleagues at Stanford University. Chu will receive a silver medal, a special citation and a cash prize, and become a fellow and lifetime member of LIA. 
