Recent announcements from UK laser job shops confirm what was heard at last week's AKL conference in Germany: business is brisk despite the region's economic turbulence.

Arc welding/cutting tool maker Lincoln Electric is broadening the reach of its hybrid laser welding technology by acquiring fellow Ohio firm Wayne Trail Technologies.

A new MicroLine 1120 P system from LPKF will expand the Milpitas, CA firm's laser cutting capacity.

The two-year extension emphasizes preventing exposure to beam and nonbeam hazards in the workplace, disemminating information through media and events.

Laser Operations marketing exec Vittorio Fossati-Bellani is promoted to CEO, and shares a history with the company's new manufacturing director, Robert Miller.

Industrially proven and robust, picosecond lasers are proving their worth in cutting and patterning of delicate materials for a wide variety of industrial applications.

The US federal government is soliciting nonprofit or university proposals for an Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, a proof-of-concept prototype for the proposed National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI).

Researchers in Siberia reportedly have developed a method to laser weld metals considered "unweldable," with application in aerospace and shipbuilding.

Hot discussions on choosing a fiber laser vs. CO₂ laser highlighted the final busy day of this week's International Laser Technology Conference (AKL) in Aachen, Germany, reports Industrial Laser Solutions' editor-in-chief David A. Belforte.

Stephan Brüning from Schepers GmbH&Co KG received the €10,000 Innovation Award for Laser Technology, presented at this week's International Laser Technology Congress (AKL), went to , for his work in 3D microstructuring of metal surfaces with high-power, ultrashort-pulse lasers.

Despite signs of a double-dip recession in the UK, things have never been busier among domestic laser engineering shops, reports ILS' David A. Belforte.

A group of German researchers led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT) have received the 2012 Stifterverband's Science Award for their development of an ultrashort-pulse laser platform that can scale up to several hundred watts.

Fraunhofer IWS is organizing a weeklong International Summer School for undergraduates and Ph.D students to study laser technology: high-speed laser cutting, surface structuring, additive manufacturing, and more.

Adding a fiber laser to a diamond cutting tool shows promise for cutting hard, brittle materials ranging from semiconductors to ceramics to stone.