Innovation and Technology - Strategies and Policies contains a selection of outstanding contributions by world experts on how a culture of innovation is able to produce a response to fast global changes affecting society. The book describes major evolutionary directions and foreseen trends in: environment versus industry; technology breakthroughs; energy planning; education and research; intangible investment requirements; new health technologies; and economics and management of innovative actions at strategic, organisational and technological levels. The actual percolation of the innovative process throughout the multiple facets of society is presented in relation to the main challenges facing us in the 21st Century. The book is addressed to all those concerned with innovation in dynamic terms as a creative response to the ongoing changes in society integrating sciences, technologies, humanities, life-long education and training, and other disciplines.

Optical Metrology is a rapidly expanding field i'n both its scientific foundations and technological developments, being of major concern to measurements, quality control, non-destructive tes ting and in fundamental research. In order to define the state-of-the-art, and to evaluate pre sent accomplishments, whilst giving an appraisal of how each of the particular topics will evolve the Optical Metrology-anAdvancedStudy Institute was organized with a concourse of the world's acknowledged experts. Thus, the Institute provided a forum for tutorial reviews blended with topics of current research in the form of a progressive and comprehensive presentation of recent promising developments, lea ding techniques and instrumentation in incoherent and coherent optics for Metrology, Sensing and Control in Science, Industry and Biomedici ne. Optical Metrology is a very broad field which is highly inter disciplinary in its applications, and in its scientific and technolo gical background. It is related to such diverse disciplines as physi cal and chemical sciences, engineering, electronics, computer scien ces, biological sciences and theoretical sciences, such as statistics. Although there was an emphasis on photomechanics and industri al applications, a marked diversity was reflected in the different background and interests of the participants. The vitality and viabi lity of the discipline was enhanced not only by the encouraging number of young scientists and industrialists participating and authoring, but also by the remarkably promising prospects found in x the practical applications supported by advanced electronic hybridi zation."

The invention of the Laser, 25 years ago, has become an innovation with established industrial technology extended through diverse areas of economic viability (a 25% sales annual growth), and promising market perspectives. In organizing an European Intensive Course on Applied Laser Tooling, it seemed opportune to bring together an international group of scientists to provide an appraisal of industrial Lasers, system integration, and sensitive areas of Laser beam material interaction, while emphasizing those areas which promise to have major impact both in science and technology. Tutorial papers and reports on latest developments both in research and industrial manufacturing were complemented by video and film projections to show the wide variety of applications in industry, stressing the combination of Lasers with other technologies, mainly CNC and Robots. The large participation by the industry fulfilled the intended interaction and cross-fertilization between the scientific, technological and industrial community, reinforcing the innovative capacity readily demonstrated at panel discussions. It was neither possible nor planned to cover all the aspects in full depth. Efforts were addressed to selected areas where discussion of advanced knowled e and technology topics would stimulate further progress of Laser tooling (in main directions: software, hardware and peopleware). Laser tooling was then discussed in light of its major applications covering Laser beam robotic manipulation towards flexible manufacturing systems. The following articles give a fair account of the course programme.

Innovation and Technology - Strategies and Policies contains a selection of outstanding contributions by world experts on how a culture of innovation is able to produce a response to fast global changes affecting society. The book describes major evolutionary directions and foreseen trends in: environment versus industry; technology breakthroughs; energy planning; education and research; intangible investment requirements; new health technologies; and economics and management of innovative actions at strategic, organisational and technological levels. The actual percolation of the innovative process throughout the multiple facets of society is presented in relation to the main challenges facing us in the 21st Century. The book is addressed to all those concerned with innovation in dynamic terms as a creative response to the ongoing changes in society integrating sciences, technologies, humanities, life-long education and training, and other disciplines.