What are Lasers Good For?

Level: Introductory Length: 3 hours Format: Online Intended Audience: Intended for engineers who want to increase their knowledge of laser technology and technicians working with lasers, viewers should have a basic understanding of scientific principles and elementary algebra. Description: Lasers are becoming increasingly important in our high-technology environment. Many technicians and engineers who sell, install, operate, and maintain them have limited training in the field of electro-optics. The result can be less efficient usage of these important tools. This 5-part series seeks to rectify that problem by presenting the fundamental operating principles of lasers in an intuitive, non-mathematical manner. Part 1 of this 5-part series addresses what lasers are good for by explaining what a laser is and addressing the many various applications. Learning Outcomes: This course will enable you to: - name several different types of lasers and explain basic laser operation - describe the characteristics of a laser beam and explain the two basic concepts needed to understand a laser - describe the basic modifications that can be made to a laser to change its output characteristics - explain the advantages and limitations of laser material processing - explain various applications of lasers, such as color printing, defect detection, and fiber optic communication Instructor(s): Breck Hitz served for 20 years as the executive director of LEOMA-the Laser and Electro-Optics Manufacturers' Association-and organized much of the U.S. laser industry's political activities during that period. He is the current chairman of the ISO Laser Standards Committee, and has represented the U.S. laser industry at export-control negotiation at both COCOM (Paris) and Wassenaar (Vienna). During the past 25 years, he has presented the course to literally thousands of engineers, scientists, technicians, and business people. He holds Bachelor and Master degrees in physics from the Pennsylvania State University and the University of Massachusetts, respectively.