114INNOVATION UKINNOVATION Ultra- Efficient Lighting The global market for lighting is valued at around $ 75bn. New lighting technologies such as LEDs and OLEDs along with efficient control systems offer new opportunities for the public sector to enable them to meet the government's carbon- emission targets, while offering excellent value for money through lower running and maintenance costs, and also improved environmental benefits. Imaging Every image, whether live or stored, static or moving, con-tains vast amounts of information which can be exploited for economic, social and cultural benefit. The challenges range from generating useful images to extracting and using significant information from these images. A brand new generation of academics and innovative companies are at work developing exciting applications in medical diagnostics, policing, security, industrial automation, entertainment, advertising and transport management. Industrial Photonics Photonics has become a pervasive technology over the last few decades for a variety of products in industrial and factory automation, robotics, test and measure-ment. Developments in lasers, LEDS, micro- optics, inte-grated optics and fibre optics are making photonics a key enabling technology in machine tools, machine vision, robotic arms and metrology instrumentation. Photonic components, including new photonic materials The design and manufacture of components underpins worldwide photonic activity. Photonic materials and components serve as the foundation for the manufacture of systems at different levels of complexity. In many cases they perform a key function and dictate the performance of these systems and therefore are a strategic ingredient in a commercially successful photonics industry The new KTN has been designed to maximise benefit to our members and communities. It will deliver a pro-gramme of activities and events including tutorials, work-shops, seminars, roadmapping and partnering that will accelerate innovation over the coming years. Member-ship to the Photonics & Plastic Electronics KTN is free to all, so take a few moments to visit our website. For more information, visit: Website: www. ppektn. org to register Photonics photonics & plastic electronics ktn

UKINNOVATION UK115 Light years ahead A look at Laser Materials Processing and its role within the Photonics and Plastic Electronics KTN. By Dr Mike Green, Executive Secretary, AILU Laser Materials Processing ( LMP) is a key technology underlying many of the interests and activities within the scope of the Photonics and Plastic Electronics KTN. Industrial lasers are well established as a non- contact, high- quality, highly flexible manufacturing tool, and within this context, recent developments in industrial laser sources, including high- brightness fibre lasers and ultra- short pulse, high- repetition- rate lasers, are transforming the LMP landscape and opening up new techniques and applications. This is particularly relevant both to the health of the UK manufacturing industry and to the challenges of the 21st century, from the ever- increasing miniaturisation of com-ponents, such as those used in the electronics ( micro-electro- mechanical systems) and medical ( implants) industry, to the improved efficiency of transportation ( eg the use of composites for weight ( and fuel) reduction, improved fuel injection and engine wear characteristics). As revealed in a survey of UK research activity in LMP, undertaken by the Photonics KTN in late 2008 ( the first survey of its kind in the UK), the academic and industry research community has the skills and infrastructure to exploit the many new LMP opportunities. Nearly 100 academic and 27 industrial research groups were identi-fied as being active in LMP with 16 and 18, respectively, ranked as top level. Almost all now belong to the " Prod-uct and Process Innovation" Special Interest Group set up within the Photonics KTN for the LMP research com-munity. In July 2009 the UK's first two- day Industrial Laser Applications Symposium ( ILAS) - supported by the Photonics KTN and the Materials KTN - attracted over 100 delegates. The challenge for LMP in the UK is historically the under-investment in UK manufacturing industry. This is borne out by a recent assessment undertaken for the Photonics KTN by the Association of Laser Users ( AILU), which benchmarked the UK against Germany ( the world leader in the use of lasers in manufacturing) and concluded that the use of lasers in Germany per unit of manufactured output is around five times higher than in the UK. Through workshops ( including the recent ILAS sympo-sium), Special Interest Groups and the Design for Laser Manufacture website ( www. designforlasermanufacture. com), the PPE KTN is working to spread the message and encourage networking between the LMP research community and manufacturing industry. Photonics Photonics & plastic electronics ktn