Plenary Abstract 1

Through a series of events and programs called LaserFest, the world-wide scientific community is celebrating this year the 50th anniversary of the first laser: the pulsed ruby laser, with its powerful red output beam, first operated by Ted Maiman on May 16, 1960.  On behalf of that community, I will give a brief historical review of the crucial ideas and individuals who made possible first a series of microwave masers in the 1950s, and then the explosion of lasers and laser technology that followed that first laser.  Then, knowing that many in the EIPBN community are already users of lasers, I will attempt to give a brief overview of selected laser applications and technologies that may be either new or of special interest to the group.