Highlight Optatec: Festival of light with great internationality

From May 14th to 16th, 2024, the optotechnology specialists will celebrate the 16th Optatec, the international trade fair for optical technologies, components and systems. The focus here is on the technical use of light. The industry highlight at the traditional trade fair location in Frankfurt/Main brings together 422 exhibitors on 18,000 square meters of space in Hall 3.1. 64 percent of the exhibitors come from abroad.

At the 16th Optatec, 422 international exhibitors will show innovations in photonics and celebrate light for three days. The highly specialized top event covers optical technology, image processing, new technologies, manufacturing processes and machines. For three days, the leading trade fair brings together all optics fans from different industries and different countries. It builds bridges between research and industry, science and technical application. Optical technologies are cross-sectional technologies – they combine engineering sciences with natural sciences.

“Photonic components are enablers for new applications,” emphasized Dr.-Ing. Erik Beckert, head of the optomechanical components and systems department at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Jena. The component technologies include, for example, fiber optics for light transport, coatings and structures as well as components for satellite and communications technology. Microscopy for materials and laboratory research as well as for electronics production is also a sub-area of photonics. Another trade fair theme is exemplary applications of optical measurement technology, for example with 3D scanners, which can also be used mobile and can be used to automatically measure components and objects of all kinds.

The German photonics industry includes around 1,000 companies with a total of around 190,000 employees, generating annual sales of 54 billion euros. A focus of photonics research and industry is Jena in Thuringia and Berlin; Other photonics strongholds are also located in the states of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. Germany has a 40 percent share of the European photonics market, followed by the United Kingdom and France with 15 percent each.

There is a strong focus on research and innovation in photonics. Within Europe, Germany is the leader in patent applications in photonics, informed Dr. Wenko Süptitz, Head of the Photonics Association at Spectaris, German Industrial Association for Optics, Photonics, Analysis and Medical Technology in Berlin. “Photonic technologies enable, for example, high-tech solutions for new recycling processes, material savings and the reduction of CO2 emissions or electricity consumption,” says Süptitz. “Photonic components and subsystems are also the technological basis for many quantum technology systems.”

“Optatec shows important applications for how ecological, economic, social and technical challenges of the present and future can be solved. That’s why optical technologies are one of the most important future industries of the 21st century. We are pleased about the great interest in this exclusive specialist meeting and about the high level of internationality,” says Bettina Schall, Managing Director of the trade fair organizer Schall. There is still the chance to visit this trade fair highlight until May 16, 2024, which, in addition to the very well-attended exhibition, impresses with a top-class supporting program: The Spectaris Photonics Association invites you to seminars, and a CEO roundtable deals with the topic “The photonics and optics industry in times of uncertain markets”, the technology park “Education and Research – Studying Photonics” provides information about photonics master’s programs from Hesse, and the exhibitor forum as a trade visitor-oriented communication platform provides additional information about the participating companies and technologies.

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Schall has developed successful business platforms with internationally recognised trade fairs for quality assurance (Control), optical technologies, components and systems (Optatec), stamping technology (Stanztec), automation in production and assembly (Motek), bonding technology (Bondexpo), plastics processing (Fakuma), sheet metal working (Blechexpo) and joining technology (Schweisstec). This has given rise to entirely new markets in various sectors, whose protagonists are distinguished by tremendous innovative strength, comprehensive systems competence and practical application solutions.