Enclosing laser science: Laboratory design challenges (and opportunities) in academic research

As lasers find application in every corner of academic research, from communications to biology to computer science, we find the lasers themselves installed in increasingly difficult and interesting locations: high bays, glass-walled rooms, on cars, airplanes, ships and satellites. Further complicating the problem, these spaces are often subject to other constraints, whether technical, social, or financial. Existing infrastructure, insufficient communication between users of shared spaces, rapidly-changing research directions, difficult personalities, and lack of time, space and funds must be accepted as the boundary conditions of these design problems. The laser safety officer in an academic institution must engage in a collaborative process with the researchers themselves in order to design or renovate a laboratory space that permits the safe operation of the lasers in question while also ensuring the technical quality of the work and without imposing impractical engineering controls that will be defeated as soon as we look away. By establishing a presence in the labs and developing a relationship with the researchers, we hope to be seen as a resource, rather than another bureaucratic hurdle standing in the way of the research. At many institutions, there are simply too many lasers, laboratories, and principal investigators to manage without mutual trust and a shared commitment to both safety and technical excellence. Presented here are several recent laser laboratory design projects, which required creative solutions to meet the needs of the research and researchers while also ensuring the safety of both laser users and ancillary personnel. We also present a framework for engaging in a collaborative design process with the research personnel who best know their needs and capabilities.