The beaming Italian

About 18 months ago, Davide Bleiner took over the helm at Empa's Laboratory for Advanced Analytical Technologies. And he has big plans - for small things. Right at the top of his wish list is the development of a plasma-based X-ray laser - albeit on a foosball scale. His curiosity and thirst for knowledge have not only taken him around the globe, but also into a vast range of different fields. Most labs at Empa conduct research into new materials. My lab, on the other hand, develops new measuring methods to observe chemical processes during the application of these materials." Davide Bleiner has ambitious plans, including for his laboratory, which he renamed "Advanced Analytical Technologies" (from "Analytical Chemistry"). While laser beams were regarded as playthings for atomic physicists half a century ago, they have become an integral part of everyday life.