Thank You for Supporting the 2018 APOMA Workshop on Laser Tech in Livermore, California!
From Mike Mandina, APOMA President-elect and 2018 Tech Workshop Chair
Thank you to our members who supported this event as speakers and attendees! By all accounts the event was rated successful by those who attended. A total of almost 90 optics professionals participated, representing close to 50 APOMA member organizations. The event was anchored by presentations and a tour of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) from the team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Special recognition and thanks go to Tayyab Suratwala for spearheading LLNL’s engagement with APOMA for the bi-annual workshop.
The Garre Winery was a great setting for the event and proved to be well suited for providing support services that made for a constructive learning and business environment, including a wine and beer social on Thursday evening!
The presentations were primarily applied technology focused. Most talks addressed concerns for optics in laser applications and developments that address those concerns and actual process learning, much of which could be brought back to the shop floor. We were also treated to a brief history of NIF and a tour of the optics fabrication R&D lab, the laser damage repair facility and the laser bay and support areas. We had to clear the laser bay at the end of our tour as the lab was preparing for one of its laser shots, which occur on a very regular basis. The whole experience was very memorable.
This meeting also emphasized the timeliness of industry adoption of the ISO 10110 Standards, and our need to replace the legacy unsupported MIL-standards. All attendees were provided a poster sized "cheat sheet" developed by Dave Aikens, Richie Youngworth and Eric Herman to help accelerate the transformation to the ISO 10110 standards. APOMA is committed to supporting roll-out of the standard as it will help us be more efficient and competitive locally and internationally.
Again, thank you to all who helped to make this event a success with your attendance, presentations and sponsorship. It was a rare opportunity to spend two days in close contact with each other, building the relationships that keep our industry strong.
