On October 14th-18th, 2018, Laser Institute of America (LIA) organized the 37th International Conference on Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics (ICALEO) in Orlando, USA. During the annual meeting and award dinner on Thursday evening, LIA announced that Professor Minlin Zhong, from School of Materials Science and Engineering of Tsinghua University, was elected the President of LIA after finishing his President-designate duty in 2018, his presidency term will begin on January 1st , 2019. LIA is just celebrating its 50th anniversary, Prof. Zhong will be the first LIA president from Asia.

Laser Institute of America was founded in 1968, by a group of scientists in the field led by Nobel Laureate in physics Dr. Arthur Schawlow and the first Ruby laser inventor Dr. Theodore Maiman. LIA is a recognized international society aiming to foster lasers, laser applications and laser safety. LIA president is the academic leader of the society, who is responsible for the core agenda. The president is elected from well-recognized international experts in this field for a one-year term. Before his presidency, one needs to serve the society as a member of the Board of Directors, an Executive Board member, a Secretary and a President-designate. In the 50 years history of LIA, most of the presidents came from US, while some were from Germany, UK and other developed countries with advanced laser technology.

Laser technology and laser manufacturing technology have been developed rapidly in recent years. This year's Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three scientists from the United States, France and Canada for their breakthrough contributions to laser physics.

Professor Minlin Zhong has been focused on the research on laser materials processing and manufacturing for years, with major areas including laser micro-nano manufacturing, laser surface engineering and laser additive manufacturing. He has been the PI for 19 international cooperation projects and more than 40 domestic projects. He has been active in international academic field, serving as chair/co-chair or keynote speaker for numerous international and domestic conferences. He was the president of the International Academy of Photonics and Laser Engineering(IAPLE) from 2015-2017.

Professor Minlin Zhong
 

 
Newly elected Executive Board members and some board members