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Simon Fraser University will lead a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first laser with a symposium in May that will feature a rare demonstration of the device functioning – exactly 50 years to day it was first fired.

Leading experts will gather at the Wosk Centre for Dialogue in Vancouver May 15 – 16 to compare notes on how the laser has impacted the world since its inception. Participants will learn about the laser’s history, its impact on society and what the future will bring.

The first operational laser was created, demonstrated and patented in California by Theodore Maiman, who moved to Vancouver with wife Kathleen in 1999.

An adjunct professor at SFU after he arrived, his laser caused an international stir that led to new lasers being created, sparking a wide range of applications, from supermarket scanners to surgical or dental procedures.

“It was a remarkable invention, one of the most important of the 20th century, and it changed our approach to everything from medicine to technology,” says SFU engineering professor Andrew Rawicz, a personal friend of the Maimans and the symposium organizer.

Ted Maiman was a three-time Nobel nominee and recipient of many international awards. He received an honorary degree from SFU in 2002. He died in 2007.

“He changed my whole philosophy with his approach,” adds Rawicz, who together with Maiman designed courses in bioptics and optical engineering and established a curriculum in biophotonics engineering – now part of SFU’s biomedical engineering program. “He initiated an avalanche of ideas that still has not stopped.”

Maiman’s laser weighs in at less than 300 grams and is under 12 centimeters long. Referred to by some as a ‘death ray’ amid initial concerns that it might lead to weapons for war, it was dubbed the ruby laser because it uses a synthetic ruby to turn non-coherent light into a concentrated laser beam.

Maiman’s laser remains in a bank vault in Vancouver. It will be dusted off and put on display during the symposium, then hooked up to a power source on May 16 for a demonstration at the end of the symposium.

The symposium, Laser Celebration  - Tribute to Theodore Maiman, will focus on the impact of the laser as well as Maiman’s contribution. One of many being held globally to celebrate the landmark, it’s expected to draw key researchers from Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

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