The world’s largest annual photonics event, SPIE Photonics West, which includes BiOS, LASE, OPTO, Quantum West, the BiOS Expo, the Photonics West exhibition, and the co-located AR|VR|MR conference and exhibition, took place from 25th to 30th January 2025 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Innovation, research, and insights about emerging technology were in the spotlight, presented by world-class speakers and industry experts from the thriving optics and photonics community, bringing together researchers, innovators, engineers, entrepreneurs, and business leaders from across the globe.
Technology Scotland was in attendance to represent our members and raise awareness of the Scottish photonics cluster (Photonics Scotland) and their capabilities. Several of our members had booths at the exhibition: Coherent, Fraunhofer UK, Kelvin Nanotechnology, Singular Photonics, Sivers Photonics, Skylark, Space Forge, Photon Force, and PowerPhotonic.
One of the first events of the week was the SPIE Global Business Forum, This business forum for executives, investors, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders across the globe provided an informational and networking opportunity focused on the photonics industry and market. The meeting provided a detailed look at data and trends impacting business provided by leading global analyst organisations. Topics included: Global economic outlook; Photonics as an enabling technology for new applications; Market update for photonics; Global government affairs update; Photonics industry trends, benchmarks and futures. The event concluded with a networking reception where we had the opportunity to meet the speakers and converse with fellow attendees. The date for next year is Monday 19th January 2026.
The Department of Business and Trade hosted a series of events throughout the week of Photonics West 2025 to showcase the organisations attending from the UK.
- A breakfast briefing where delegates were introduced to the UK Governmental bodies supporting activity at Photonics West including the Science and Innovation Network, UK Research and Innovation, and members from the Department for Business and Trade.
- An evening reception to showcase the UK where His Majesty’s Consul General in San Francisco Tammy Sandhu MBE spoke about the UK’s latest developments in the sector.
- A panel session to meet thought leaders and Silicon Valley VCs in the photonics industry, to better understand the current investment landscape, and the criteria used when selecting investment opportunities.
- A UK Pavilion tea party to drive footfall to the participating organisations’ booths.
Having the opportunity to meet with our international counterparts, raise awareness of the capabilities of the Scottish photonics sector and discuss potential collaborations is always a key element of the trip. We participated in the Cluster Leaders meeting, with clusters from Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Switzerland, UK and USA, where each cluster presented information relating to their network. Following this meeting we attended the SPIE photonics cluster leaders reception, where we met organisations spanning the globe.
I was very proud to once again be one of the judges for the PRISM Awards, an annual international competition, celebrating its 17th year, that honours the best new optics and photonics products on the market. Congratulations to the 2025 winners! Our Photonics Scotland vice-chair, Shahida Imani, announced the winner and presented the award for the Sensors category.
SPIE Photonics West 2025 featured 1,588 exhibitors, 24,000 professionals registered from more than 75 countries across the international optics and photonics community, and included 5,000 technical presentations throughout the week, reminding us all of the ubiquitous nature of photonics and showcasing the varied ways optics and photonics technologies impact our lives.
SPIE Photonics West 2026 will take place from 17th – 22nd January at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, with the addition of VisionTech, a new exhibit and technical program that will showcase the photonics technologies enabling the imaging and vision markets. The call for papers for the 2026 event will open in spring of 2025.