This year the Photonica International Exhibition will be staged by Expocentre for the fifth time. Since establishment, Photonica has become a reputable event, which provides an opportunity for developers and manufactures from many countries to demonstrate their newest developments and equipment to a wide audience and primarily to the users of these products.

The exhibition enjoys participation of leading research and development centres and manufacturers from Russia and other countries. This ensures the high status of the show and testifies to the fast-moving development of laser technology, optical engineering, optical electronics and photoelectronics. The photonics industry is rightfully considered to be a leader driving the technological progress, and the exhibition with so large a display featuring the broadest range of fields of study under one term ‘photonics’ will encourage international cooperation and translation of innovative projects into real economy.

It is of particular note that the 5th Photonica Exhibition will run in the year celebrating the 50th birthday of the laser: one of the most efficient and widely applied inventions of the past century. This jubilee is special for Russia as our positions in many braches of photonics have always been strong (it’s worth mentioning that two out of three Nobel Prize Winners in quantum mechanics, whose researches led to the invention of laser and maser, were Russians. They were Alexander Prokhorov and Nikolai Basov, and I am proud to have been well acquainted with them). Laser has revolutionized many industry sectors. Now the world is unimaginable without lasers and laser technology, and such a giant technological leap was made within only 50 years. Photonics can solve the broadest range of tasks defining the development of science, high technology, industry, business and society. I believe that photonics has virtually unlimited potential.

I wish every success to the exhibitors at Photonica’2010.