After a recent move from Laser Zentrum Hannover to Ruhr-University Bochum, Ostendorf has a broad perspective on laser research in Germany.

Andreas Ostendorf holds the Chair of Laser Applications Technology at the Ruhr-University Bochum (Germany). Before moving to Bochum in 2008 he was the CEO and Board member of Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V., Germany. He studied electrical engineering at the University of Hannover, and received his PhD in mechanical engineering there in 2000. He has authored and co-authored more than 40 peer-reviewed papers and has contributed to five book chapters. He has chaired several international laser conferences ranging from Nanophotonics at SPIE Photonics Europe to Ultrashort Pulsed Laser Processing at SPIE Photonics West and ICALEO. His main research interest is on the interaction of pulsed laser radiation with biological and technical matter as well as on using optical resonances in microspheres. He is a Fellow of SPIE and the Laser Institute of America, and is a member of the German Academic Society of Laser Technology WLT. In 2008 he was the President of the Laser Institute of America.

In this video interview, recorded at Photonics West 2010, Ostendorf talks about the transition from industry-based research to academia, as well as current and future changes in the university research environment.