You are cordially invited to the 3rd International Symposium on Laser Ultrasonics and Advanced Sensing (LU2013) to be held at a cultural fusion city of Yokohama, Japan, from June 25 to 28, 2013.

　The symposium was started in 2008 in order to offer a forum for those involved with basic researches and industrial applications of laser ultrasonics, bringing a remarkable impact to this field. In the last conference in Bordeaux, we had nearly 120 papers and more than 150 participants, featuring plenary and invited talks.

　In LU2013, we focus on the laser generation and/or detection of acoustic waves, application to nondestructive testing, ultrafast optoacoustics and innovative instruments. Research achievements in biomedical applications, guided waves, advanced sensing including noncontact, micro/nanoscale or nonlinear measurements, as well as theory and simulation of ultrasound are also welcome. We believe this symposium will promote further progress of laser ultrasonics as an interdisciplinary science and technology by its nature. 

　Authors are encouraged to submit either a web-based proceedings paper or a regular paper to a high level academic journal, Materials Transactions, so that the achievements can widely be appreciated in academic society. At the closing ceremony of the symposium, Best Poster Award will be given to some of the poster presenters.

　Finally, as all of you know, Japan was struck by an unexpectedly huge earthquake and its resulting tsunamis on March 11, 2011. We would like to express our sincere sympathy to the disaster victims, and also our heartfelt thanks for the supports from all of you around the world at that moment.

　Due to the disaster, we had to postpone the symposium for about 6 months. However, please do not hesitate to join it since we have already recovered our usual lives and we believe LU2013 will offer not only an excellent but also a meaningful opportunity for discussing the safety issues in response to the current situations after the disaster.

We look forward to seeing you at the symposium. 

Prof. Kazushi Yamanaka
Prof. Ikuo Ihara
Dr. Makoto Ochiai