Here in Vilnius

It is 7:30 am here in my hotel and the lobby computer is available. This place is an amazing mixture of the old, modern, and postmodern. From my hotel room I can view the "old town" section of Vilnius with its small streets and many old churches. Some of the vista from my room reveals buildings and architecture from the Soviet era. But, I can also view several shopping centers and new postmodern buildings which show that since being the first of the countries to break away from the Soviet Union in about 1990 Lithuania is open for business. It is meaningful that I can from here see the TV tower where about 13 people gave their lives to the cause of freedom in that year.

Yesterday I visited the Laser Research Center of Vilnius University. They have spun off several laser businesses from that department. They lead the world in certain aspects of Femtosecond Laser technology. I was impressed learn of their new Yb doped Lithium Niobate based laser that promises to allow these types of lasers to be much smaller. The world will be a better place when we can get smaller and cheaper femtosecond lasers.