The Association of Industrial Laser Users (AILU) was established in 1995 as an independent,

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organisation run by and for

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

users involved in activities including

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...

healthcare Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

, academic and industrial

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

; as well as suppliers of laser-related products and

service Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a pu ...

s. The association promotes many activities surrounding

Laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

use, such as the fostering of co-operation and collaboration and the dissemination of

information Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random ...

, experience and expertise relating to industrial laser technology, laser materials processing; its applications and related technologies.

Organisation

The organisation of AILU is under the direction of an elected standing committee made up of representatives from the UK industrial laser community.

Elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

are held annually at the Annual General Meeting. AILU provides a wide range of general services to

users and suppliers and hosts a number of special interest groups (SIGs) to better support members who have particular interests in common. These include a

Job Shop Job shops are typically small manufacturing systems that handle job production, that is, custom/bespoke or semi-custom/bespoke manufacturing processes such as small to medium-size customer orders or batch jobs. Job shops typically move on to diffe ...

SIG (established in 1995, with 86 members) for subcontract laser-based

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

companies; a Market Development SIG (established in 2005, with 240 members) for suppliers of laser-related products and services; a Medical SIG (established in 2007, with 55 members) for

clinicians A clinician is a health care professional typically employed at a skilled nursing facility or clinic. Clinicians work directly with patients rather than in a laboratory or as a researcher. A clinician may diagnose, treat, and otherwise care for pat ...

, manufacturers using lasers for manufacture of

medical devices A medical device is any device intended to be used for medical purposes. Significant potential for hazards are inherent when using a device for medical purposes and thus medical devices must be proved safe and effective with reasonable assura ...

and suppliers of laser-related products and services; and the Micro:Nano SIG, AILU’s newest, launched in mid 2008 at AILU's 10th microprocessing workshop.”

Activities

The current activities of AILU include: *The AILU magazine - a quarterly

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

*Workshops of topics of laser

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

and applications. *A Product and Services

Directory Directory may refer to: * Directory (computing), or folder, a file system structure in which to store computer files * Directory (OpenVMS command) * Directory service, a software application for organizing information about a computer network's u ...

Forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses * Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...

s. *Consultancy services. * Surveys

AILU’s Membership

Application for membership of AILU is open to the industrial laser community worldwide. AILU currently has over 300 members, which make up (by sector) manufacturing industry including laser job shops (40%), suppliers of laser-related products and services (30%) and research and consultancy organisations (25%).

The AILU Award

The AILU award recognises those individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the industrial use of lasers in the UK. The AILU Award is presented to an individual for significant contribution to laser materials processing and that preferably has wider benefit for the industrial laser user community.

References

*https://www.ailu.org.uk Association of Industrial Laser Users (AILU) website {{Primary sources, date=January 2023 Non-profit organisations based in the United Kingdom Laser awards and associations