The 15th Industry Award of The Laser Society of Japan for fiscal year 2023
The 15th Laser Society of Japan Industry Award for 2022 has been decided.
Overview of The Laser Society of Japan Industry Award
The Laser Society of Japan awards The Industry Award to the supporting members of the Society for their excellent achievements in contributing to the development of the domestic laser-related industry in the practical application and the dissemination of laser-related products and technologies.
“Laser Industry Award for Excellent Product” will be given to the technology and market performance of laser-related industrial technology. “Laser Industry Encouragement Award” will be given to the market development and future potential, and “Laser Industry Contribution Award” will be given to the excellent basic technology or long-term cumulative contribution.
Despite the small number of applications, the quality of the application contents was highly competitive overall this time, but we finally selected 4 cases.
I． Laser Industry Award for Excellent Product
“Far UV-C Disinfection Technology without wavelengths harmful to human, “Care222®“”
USHIO INC.
Ushio Inc. noticed the disinfection effect of 222 nm ultraviolet light and harmlessness to human body of its wavelength, then started light source development. They demonstrated for the first time that 222 nm ultraviolet light is not harmful to human skin. They introduced a lamp module equipped with 222 nm ultraviolet light (Care222®), while the effectiveness against the COVID-19 virus was confirmed. This product is innovative regarding the harmlessness of ultraviolet light to the human body. It is highly appreciated that it has achieved a large cumulative sales record. Third parties evaluated the Care222® technology’s safety and thoroughly considered its fairness. It also contributes to revising standards in the UV region and the vitalization of academic discussion—solid expectations for future growth. Therefore, Laser Industry Award for Excellent Product will be awarded.
II． Laser Industry Encouragement Award
“3D Fiber Laser Processing Machine FV series”
MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC Corporation
A unique bi-levered gantry structure and a single-point oriented processing head achieved high-speed and high-precision machining with a made-in-house fiber laser oscillator. In addition, productivity has been improved by shortening the processing time by reducing the waste of machining trajectories through the newly developed three-dimensional high-speed control. It is a top-of-the-line laser processing machine with MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC Corporation’s advanced technology. The fact that the machine downtime risk is minimized and reliability is improved, such as a five-year warranty for the laser oscillator, is also highly evaluated. A challenging target is planned to be shipped globally, and it is expected to gain market share. Therefore, Laser Industry Encouragement Award will be awarded.
III． Laser Industry Contribution Award
” Expansion of laser protection products and laser safety awareness activities to support user environment-building “
YAMAMOTO KOGAKU CO., Ltd.
As laser power increases and the application field diversifies, their development of protective products for laser safety and energetic safety activities deserves special mention. From a technical point of view, in addition to developing products with an OD value of 8 or higher, they have developed new products of laser protective shields, laser protective curtains, and various protective gloves that take into account the improvement of workability. As for awareness-raising activities, they contribute to the appropriate selection of laser protective equipment by holding frequent seminars. They also provide optical environment measurement services to measure leaks in laser-controlled areas. Energetic activities are expected for the safe use of lasers in the future. Therefore, Laser Industry Contribution Award is awarded.
“Contribution by expanding the application of laser hardening technology to the industrial world through the job business”
Fuji Koushuha Industry Co., Ltd.
As a job shop, Fuji Koushuha Industry Co., Ltd. has been entrusted with laser hardening, resulting in spreading laser hardening technology to the manufacturing industry, mainly in the automotive industry. It is developing its unique technology by utilizing the know-how of induction hardening for laser hardening. In addition, they actively use the framework of industry-academia collaboration and deserve recognition for their contribution to the industry through new technology. Further sophistication of heat treatment processes will be required in response to the social issue of reducing CO2 emissions. Therefore, Laser Industry Contribution Award will be awarded.
