The two-day LMN World Laser Manufacturing Conference 2020 was successfully concluded on 13 October in the Shenzhen World Exhibition and Convention Center (Bao’an New Hall). As an important component of LASERFAIR SHENZHEN concurrent with the South China International Industry Fair (SCIIF), LMN 2020 is composed of the plenary session on 12 October and the parallel forums on 13 October, gathering together top experts and representatives of leading enterprises from the optoelectronic industry of the United States, Germany, Russia, Switzerland, Singapore, Lithuania and China to focus on cutting-edge laser technologies, innovative concepts and latest applications. They have discussed the development trend of the global laser industry in the post-pandemic era on the stage of LMN 2020, which provided a platform of exchange and communication for upstream and downstream enterprises and practitioners for knowledge acquisition, application exploration and industrial development.

What sets this year’s event apart from previous years is the combination of online and offline forms for all meetings during the event which has been live broadcast simultaneously at home and abroad. Besides, attendance and presentations of frontline and famous experts of the optoelectronics industry from the United States and Germany have been added to the agenda. According to statistics, the plenary session on 12 October attracted 367 on-site attendees, while the live broadcast on that day drummed up 5,629 visits. Parallel forums of ALAT 2020 China Ultrafast Laser Micro-nano Processing Conference, ALAT 2020 China High-energy Laser Automatic Processing Conference and Investment and Finance Summit for Laser and Intelligent Manufacturing Industry 2020 witnessed a total of 732 on-site attendees and 5,490 online visits. The number of clicking on playback has been continuing to increase so far by an average of 19% over the event day.

More than 50 governmental officials and representatives from associations, universities and well-known enterprises attended the opening ceremony of the 14th LASERFAIR SHENZHEN & LMN World Laser Manufacturing Conference 2020 on the morning of 12 October. Deputy-Director General Mutang Zhou  (Department of Science and Technology Guangdong Province), Deputy-Director Zhan Gao (Industry and Information Technology Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality), Deputy Governor Yanfeng Lou (Bao’an District of Shenzhen Municipality), Chairman Ruohong Hou (Guangdong Laser Industry Association) and Professor Dianyuan Fan (also an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering) all delivered speeches. Dr. Jochen Köckler, Chairman of the Managing Board of Deutsche Messe AG, sent a video speech specifically for the event.

Deputy-Director Zhan Gao remarked that the scale of laser industry of Shenzhen in 2019 registered over 26 billion yuan, accounting for about 70% in Guangdong Province, and 25% of the national total amount thanks to the gradually formed integrated laser industrial system comprising upstream core components, midstream processing equipment and downstream applications. Chairman Ruohong Hou suggested in his speech that COVID-19 which caught everyone by surprise has delivered a severe blow to people’s health and life and to socioeconomic development, against which the laser industry in Guangdong has risen up owing to common efforts from everyone engaged in this industry. This impressive performance bucked the trend and revealed a positive momentum for the laser industry. The organization of LMN 2020, an outstanding and grand event, really does matter for the laser industry and for the Guangdong Laser Industry Association especially under such circumstances.

The Plenary on 12 October was presided over by Prof. Dr. You Wang from Northern Laser Research Institute (Southwest Institute of Technical Physics) and participated by more than a dozen of experts and leading figures including Prof. Dr. Connie Chang-Hasnain, Member of US National Academy of Engineering, Prof. Dr. Yury Kulchin, Academician of Russian Academy of Sciences, Prof. Dr. Carmen Menoni, President of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Photonics Society, Dr. Moritz Förster, Managing Director of Working Committee Laser and Laser Systems for Material Processing within VDMA, Prof. Dr. Beat Neuenschwander, One of the Initiators of SWISSPHOTONICS, Prof. Dr. Chunlei Guo from the University of Rochester (USA), Prof. Dr. Anand Asundi, Past-Founding-Chair of Optics and Photonics Society of Singapore, Kestutis Jasiunas, Member of the Board of Lithuanian Laser Association, Prof. Dr. Xiao Zhu, President of Wuhan Laser Association of Optics Valley of China, Prof. Dr. Gang Chen from Chongqing University, Prof. Dr. Zongsong Gan from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Dr. Daishu Qian, Senior Optical Engineer/Product Manager at Shenzhen JPT Opto-electronics Co., Ltd. with key note speeches. Experts provided displays and engaged in professional and in-depth discussions as well as interaction with the audience on cutting-edge issues such as VCSEL, ultrafast laser, ultrashort pulse laser, prototype development of laser manufacturing equipment, application of photonics in marine monitoring and exploration, and the status quo and market activities of the laser industry in Germany, Singapore, Lithuania and China.

Prof. Connie Chang-Hasnain said during the conference that laser has been used to extract three-dimensional information in 3D sensing and 3D application, examples being facial recognition and unmanned vehicles, while small lasers can substitute eyes in many industries, raising the accuracy of machine processing and laser processing. Prof. Xiao Zhu shared his unique insights on problems faced by China’s laser industry, claiming that laser industry is in a historical period transforming from quantitative change to qualitative change, and that laser will become an indispensable manufacturing tool, which necessitates the establishment of a laser service center and service system. From the perspective of industrial chain, it is hoped to focus on the development of ultra-short lasers of high-repetition rate and large pulse energy and to make breakthroughs in a series of processes centering around the IT industry so as to expand the scale and output value of laser manufacturing industry. Dr. Moritz Förster disclosed relevant data on the export of German laser systems: more than 60% was exported to other European countries in 2019, with the share related to China accounting for about 14%. In Q&A session, he said that the actual difference between the Chinese and German laser markets is the market capacity. Even though the German industry boasts special machine as its strength, part of China's laser industry, on the other hand, might have been more advanced than that in Germany.

Parallel forums on 13 October included ALAT 2020 China Ultrafast Laser Micro-nano Processing Conference, ALAT 2020 China High-energy Laser Automatic Processing Conference and Investment and Finance Summit for Laser and Intelligent Manufacturing Industry 2020, participated by more than 30 famous scholars and business representatives including Prof. Hongbo Sun (Tsinghua University), Prof. Guisheng Zou (Tsinghua University) and Researcher Wenwu Zhang (Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Technology of CNITECH) with on-site presentation on application of ultrafast laser and high-power laser. All reports vividly put technologies into practice and application, warmly welcomed by on-site attendees with a lot of questions and enthusiastic responses. The conferences were well received and highly praised by guests and audience.

Intelligent Laser Manufacturing to Light Up the Future. LMN 2020 is co-organized by Hannover Milano XZQ Exhibitions (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd and Hannover Milano Fairs Shanghai Ltd., for the aim of creating a top-level conference oriented by technology innovation and application on par with the competence of the optoelectronic industry in South China. Please visit the official website www.world-laserconference.com for playback of LMN 2020. LMN 2021 will be held in Shenzhen on 29 June to 1 July, 2021.