1st AutoOptics Technology Forum held in Wernigerode

On September 25th, scientists from Harz University, AIDO, KELET and Budapest University met in Wernigerode for the AutoOptics Technology Forum to discuss the future of the AutoOptics project. The partners agreed, that the success the project has enjoyed so far, is reason enough to continue the scientific exchange after AutoOptics ends in March of 2008. The partners plan to expand their area of cooperation into the field of optomechatronics, which has developed into a more and more important research field during the last years. Among the suggested projects were and interregional optomechatronics competence network and an EU-wide, multilingual education project, which would focus on optomechatronic technologies.

The AutoOptics consortium currently searches for interested parties within the EU who would like to participate in such an interregional project and are interested in sharing or broadening their knowledge of optomechatronic sciences. All companies and institutions interested in participation or cooperation are welcome to contact the AutoOptics project consortium – contact information can be found in the imprint of this newsletter or on the web under: http://autooptics.harzoptics.de.

Upcoming events organized by members of the auto-OPTICS community

4th National Workshop on Materials Processing with Lasers

Valencia – Spain, October 18th 2007: AIDO facilities will hold the celebration of the annual workshop of materials processing with laser technology focused on its great potential for several industrial processes: cutting, welding, marking, surface treatments, etc. The aim of the workshop is to provide an overview of the state of the art and future trends in the field of laser technology applied to materials processing, from different points.

2nd International Forum of Machine Vision

Valencia – Spain, November 29th 2007: For a second year, the international forum of machine vision will congregate new advances in the application of machine vision technologies, quality control and inspections, metrology and other disciplines related. AIDO will hold this event where entities, suppliers and system integrators are invited to attend.

More information on the AIDO website: http://www.aido.es

Ongoing preparations for the AutoOptics TechnologyForum

The AutoOptics team at Harz University is currently busy with preparing the first AutoOptics TechnologyForum, which will be held in Wernigerode next week on September the 25th. After the frist AutoOptics event in Germany – the AutoOptics ShortCourse from May 29th to May 30th – was able to generate so much attention – the speakers list included researchers from HarzOptics GmbH, DieMount GmbH, PhotonicNet GmbH, CODIXX AG and Polykum e.V. - Harz University is looking foward to hosting this year's TechnolgyForum as well.

The AutoOptics TechnologyForum will feature several presentations and showcases related to the subject of optical data transmission via polymeric fibers (POF) . In the second part in the afternoon, we plan to have a technical discussion and a little plenum and brainstorming on how to go on with the project and what best to do with the rest of the valuable project time. There are many good ideas floating around – from creating a multilingual knowledge exchange wiki about optomechatronics over setting up permanent business partnerships and student exchanges to organizing even more companies and universites for an even bigger research project and applying for EU research grants – and we need to seize the opportunity and discuss all of them in a live plenum – this is certainly going to be a very interesting day.

Once the organisation stands, we will post timeline, agenda and topics list on this blog to keep all attendants out there updated on the proceedings. If you plan to attend and have any questions about the forum, please feel free to write to the organizers via autooptics@harzoptics.de