Optics able to see what is hidden around a corner have been developed by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University, the University of Wisconsin, and Rice University.

Converting a Gaussian beam into a flat top distribution is a pretty standard requirement in laser processing – laser marking machines employ optics to shape the beam into a flat top profile to obtain a sharp, neat mark with well-defined edges; flow cytometry also requires homogeneous distribution of light to illuminate the flow cell. The characteristics of a beam – the profile, its position, whether there are any hotspots, etc – will all contribute to its performance and verifying that the laser output meets its specifications is key to optimising the process.

Optics have been important to astronomy ever since Galileo Galilei built his first telescope and peered into the night sky in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Galileo could not have conceived of the space-based observatories now encircling the Earth or that some of their components come for Chelmsford, England.

Few subjects are as personal as an individual’s health and quality of life, and lasers are steadily making inroads into this most safety conscious of activities, to cure ills and make living that much easier.

It’s been an exciting three years for Trioptics, a company last profiled in Electro Optics during 2009. Now, in 2012, the company is celebrating 20 years of successful operation, and has more than doubled its workforce in the past 36 months.

The company was founded by Eugen Dumitrescu in 1992 in the town of Wedel, close to Hamburg, north Germany. It quickly established itself as a leading provider of optical test equipment across a range of fields, including photonics.