By Carlos Lee, director general, EPIC.
Imagine exhibiting at a four-day trade show and your booth being so busy that you hardly have the time to leave…this is the dream for any exhibitor! EPIC was present at the Munich biennial exhibition with six staff and organised three events at the show. In my opinion, Laser World of Photonics is by far the most important event, and despite the mixed messages about industry growth, the trade fair attracted 1,325 exhibitors and 34,000 visitors, which was more than the previous edition.
Although just 163 EPIC members were exhibiting, the majority of our 500 members were visiting. The event gave us the opportunity to update our members on our latest market reports and upcoming events, but more importantly find out about the latest development and challenges for each company. As several new staff joined EPIC this year, it was a good chance for them to get a sense of this exciting industry.
EPIC organised three meetings in conjunction with the exhibition. The EPIC CEO breakfast, gathered 120 CEOs/presidents/managing directors for an early breakfast and featured networking and presentations on ultrafast lasers and lasers and electro-optics for aeronautics application.
The EPIC meeting on surface structuring saw 50 people discuss the key advantages laser technology brings to industry. Precision is always improving, enabling microscopic surface structuring on everyday materials. In turn, this enables new macroscopic features of materials such as hydrophobicity, hydrophilicity, friction-reduction, anti-bacterial qualities and other unique possibilities.
The EPIC meeting on ‘Shaping, analysing and monitoring laser beams in material processing applications’ gathered 45 experts to discuss the optimum beam profile, and how the quality of the laser beam and the processing result can be analysed, or even continuously monitored during the process. The current technologies available on the market, and their suitability for user requirements, were also discussed. Most importantly, the audience discussed the user experience extensively.
Messe Munich is not only a member of EPIC, but also a strong partner, in Munich, and also with their other exhibitions in Mumbai (October) and Shanghai (March). Messe Munich is a European partner with a global reach.
