The Journal of Laser Applications (JLA) is the scientific platform of the Laser Institute of America (LIA) and is published in cooperation with the American Institute of Physics (AIP). The high-quality articles cover a broad range from fundamental and applied research and development to industrial applications. Therefore, JLA is a reflection of the state-of-R&D in photonic production, sensing and measurement as well as Laser safety. Due to the current grand societal challenges such as resource saving, energy, mobility, health and defense the foci and trends of applied photonics have been changing over the past years, significantly. Hence, the structure of JLA has been improved to meet these trends, yet maintaining the structure according to scientific areas of competence.