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What's
new with ILDA and the website
This page has news from
2012. For older news, click to get news from
2011,
2010,
2009,
2008,
2007 and 2006.
In addition to the news
items listed below, you may also want to check out the following
webpages for news from ILDA Members:
Laser shows and projects page
New products and services page
Press releases page
April 2012
The Laserist is scheduled to return.
At the April 13 ILDA Board meeting, the
decision was confirmed that the ILDA trade organization would be
reviving "The Laserist” publication, in an effort to bring the the world
of lasers and the work that the trade organization is doing to more
people around the globe.
The Laserist provided readers with insight and
information surrounding the laser light show industry. A variety of
topics were discussed in the magazine including laser safety issues,
laser products, events, ILDA awards and ceremonies, as well as other
related topics. Since the
publication’s last edition, the demand for it to return has been
quite high so the organization decided to bring it back. In the past,
the issue was available in a print format, but for it’s return, the ILDA
organization has decided to release it in a digital format, which they
believe makes it more accessible to their readers and allows the
expenses for the publication’s release to be kept at a minimum.
In addition, ILDA will be offering interested companies
the chance to advertise within their publication. This is a great
benefit for companies in the laser light show business, who wish to get
more exposure for their products and services, as the Laserist magazine
will specifically target and focus on consumers within the laser light
display and show industries. The first issue is scheduled to be
available in June.
The 2012 ILDA Conference
in San Antonio dates have
been confirmed as being Sunday November 4 through Wednesday
November 7. The bulk of the Conference meetings and seminars will be on
Nov. 5-6. The Conference hotel is the St. Anthony Riverwalk Wyndham,
near the famous Riverwalk attraction.
The ILDA
Board has been discussing the ILDA and Laserist List services.
The goal is to keep open discussion while also avoiding flames or
non-relevant content.
The board has clarified that messages must abide by the
Code of Ethics and/or the Code of Business Practice. For example, the
Code of Ethics state that “No member will knowingly make inaccurate or
slanderous statements about any competitor or through silence lend
credibility to statements made by others.” The Board also clarified that
the ILDA Board reserves the right to warn and to temporarily or
permanently suspend subscribers for violations.
Usually, ILDA tries to work out problems behind the
scenes, with the goal of having list messages be constructive and
collegial.
The
March/April 2012 issue of Mondo*dr features an article about ILDA’s
November 2011 Moscow conference. It appears on page 134 and
is
available online.
The ILDA office will be closed the
week of April 1. Awards entry packages will be
received and stored safely during this time. We will be keeping in touch
via email and cell phone during this time as well.
March 2012
Members
who have entered the 2012 ILDA Awards can check the
Awards entry page, to be sure their
submission has been received.
 ILDA
is a "Cooperating Society" for the
2013
International Laser Safety Conference. This event, held
once every two years, is the premier meeting for the world's experts on
laser safety. In addition, at this event the ANSI Z136 Committee also
works on standards important to lightshows including outdoor lasers
(Z136.6) and entertainment & displays (Z136.10). ILSC 2013 is March
18-21 in Orlando, Florida. When registration opens later this year, ILDA
Members will be entitled to a discount.
ILDA Executive Director Patrick Murphy, ILDA Safety
Committee Chair Greg Makhov of LSDI, John O'Hagan of the U.K.
Health Protection Agency and Bill Benner of Pangolin Laser
Systems are among the ILDA Members who have presented papers
and/or participated in past ILSC conferences. For example, at
ILSC 2011, Makhov and Murphy demonstrated eye-safe, MPE-legal
audience scanning to the participants.
February 2012
The 2012 ILDA Conference
in San Antonio will be around Nov. 5-8. The exact
logistics are being worked on, so there may be events on Sun. Nov. 4 as
well. While you should not make reservations at this time, ILDA wanted
to give Members a good idea of what dates they should block out for
attending. The host for this meeting is Tim Walsh of Laser Spectacles.
The
deadline for entering the ILDA Awards has been extended to
Saturday, 31 March 2012. This is for all three award types: Artistic,
Technical and Career Achievement. For entry instructions and forms, see
the 2012 ILDA Awards entry page.
ILDA
Executive Director Patrick Murphy attended the ANSI Z136 Committee
meeting February 17 and 18. This is one of the two key groups
that sets laser safety standards. For example, this year there will be
an update to the Z136.1 laser safety standard, which includes a new
format and wording for laser signage. (Existing signs will be
acceptable, but new signs should conform to the new format.) The result
will be to downplay the danger of lasers, and move from DANGER to
WARNING for more lasers and situations.
Also, the multiple pulse reduction calculations have
been revised. In many laser show uses, it will no longer be necessary to
calculate these. Formerly, one had to do complex calculations involving
the number of pulses to the minus fourth root.
Murphy presented the ANSI Z136.10 sub-committee results
to the entire committee. The “Dot 10”, chaired by Jay Parkinson, is
working on standards for light shows and trade exhibits.
Finally, Murphy and Greg Makhov of LSI helped in the
editing of the latest Z136.6 standard, for outdoor shows. Murphy has
filed three objections with the “Dot 6” committee for areas where the
standard is breaking with current practice and could cause problems for
outdoor laser shows.
ILDA’s goal is to make it clear that lasers can
be legally and safely aimed into airspace, including the "Laser Free
Flight Zone", if control measures are in place to ensure that aircraft
are not illuminated with light that exceeds the FAA light levels within
a flight zone. In other words, if spotters ae used, this is OK for laser
light shows in urban areas (under FAA non-objection, of course). Also,
if an aircraft is accidentally hit with laser light, there should be no
penalty as long as there was no intent and if the light level at the
aircraft is below the level for the FAA flight zone where the aircraft
was at time of illumination.
Details of the ANSI meeting were sent to ILDA Members
in a February 20 ILDA List email message.
January 2012
ILDA Executive
Director Patrick Murphy gave two presentations on laser safety,
to an industry group of experts. On January 31, he presented to the SAE
G10 Human Factors Committee. This includes not only laser/aviation
experts, but all SAE experts in safe aviation human factors. The SAE's
recommendations often are adopted as FAA policies. For example, the
current regulations covering U.S. laser light shows was first developed
by SAE; ILDA experts such as Murphy and Greg Makhov had significant
input into that document.
One of Murphy's presentation was entitled "Eight Useful
Principles of Laser Light for Pilots and Aviation". This discussed some
surprising results, such as the fact that as the power of lasers
increases, the hazard to aviation does not increase nearly as fast. (It
is the square of the power difference. If a laser's power increases 100
times, the hazard distance increases only 10 times.)
The other presentation was a review of the 3,575
laser/aircraft incidents recorded in 2011 by the Federal Aviation
Administration. Murphy noted that almost all of the incidents involved
misuse of pointers and handhelds by the general public. No pilots were
injured (proven retinal damage), though there were 55 reports (1.5% of
all incidents) of eye effects such as flashblindness or eye discomfort.
In three cases, the flight itself was affected (two cases of turning
over control to a co-pilot, one case of having to land early).
In addition to the presentations to the Plenary
Session, Murphy also worked as a member of the G10-T Laser Safety
Hazards Subcommittee. The group is preparing documents for FAA and world
aviation organizations on laser hazards, including a publication
specifically documenting laser pointers and handhelds.
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