At the 36th annual conference of the International Laser Display Association (ILDA), which took place in Wroclaw (Poland) at the end of September, Dr. Matthias Frank and the Laser & Light Labs received several ILDA awards. While the Laser & Light Lab received two “Technical Awards” for its new technological achievements, Dr. Matthias Frank was presented with a “Special Achievement Award” in recognition of his many years of work and developments for the association.
“This award means a lot to me, it recognizes the work of recent years to create, develop and promote the specifications of the ILDA Digital Network (IDN) and ultimately goes back to numerous student works around the topic of IDN in the context of Bachelor project groups, Bachelor theses as well as Master Seminar and Lab and Master theses,” says. Dr. Matthias Frank. Without the contribution of the students, this success would not have been possible.
Dr. Matthias Frank was able to collect a total of three awards in Wroclaw. Two Technical Fenning Awards, which primarily recognize student work from 2023 to 2024 in the Laser & Light Lab. He also received the Special Achievements Award together with Dirk Apitz (DexLogic Karlsruhe) for the development of the ILDA Digital Network Standard IDN. These are open communication protocols designed to facilitate the transfer of laser show data between show production software, playback devices, projectors and laser signal recorders.
The Laser & Light Lab at the Institute of Computer Science 4 has been a non-profit member of the ILDA association since 2009. It was set up to support teaching activities in the bachelor lectures in practical computer science. Students have the opportunity to combine scientific questions with fun, for example in project groups and theses, and to work on solutions that are provided to the ILDA association. Over the years, the Laser & Light Lab has won a total of 17 Ilda Awards, making it one of the top 20 institutions that have won the most ILDA Awards.
Based in the USA, the ILDA is now the world's largest association in the laser show industry. Since 1988, ILDA has honored its members at its annual conferences in the three main categories of Artistic, Technical and Career Achievement Awards. The Artistic Award honors artistic laser compositions ranging from graphics to complete shows. The Technical Awards, named after laser pioneer Fred Fenning, recognize technological achievements that advance the industry. The Career Achievement Award honors many years of work in the areas of show quality, innovation and industry services. In addition, the Special Achievement Award is presented at irregular intervals by the Board of Directors to recognize significant achievements outside of these categories.