  Since long time, the compelling scientific goals of future high energy
physics experiments were a driving factor in the development of advanced
detector technologies. A true innovation in detector instrumentation concepts
came in 1968, with the development of a fully parallel readout for a large
array of sensing elements - the Multiwire Proportional Chamber (MWPC), which
earned Georges Charpak a Nobel prize in physics in 1992. Since that time
radiation detection and imaging with fast gaseous detectors, capable of
economically covering large detection volume with low mass budget, have been
playing an important role in many fields of physics. Advances in
photo-lithography and micro-processing techniques in the chip industry during
the past decade triggered a major transition in the field of gas detectors from
wire structures to Micro-Pattern Gas Detector (MPGD) concepts, revolutionizing
cell size limitations for many gas detector applications. The high radiation
resistance and excellent spatial and time resolution make them an invaluable
tool to confront future detector challenges at the next generation of
colliders. The design of the new micro-pattern devices appears suitable for
industrial production. Novel structures where MPGDs are directly coupled to the
CMOS pixel readout represent an exciting field allowing timing and charge
measurements as well as precise spatial information in 3D. Originally developed
for the high energy physics, MPGD applications has expanded to nuclear physics,
UV and visible photon detection, astroparticle and neutrino physics, neutron
detection and medical physics.
