Obtaining Image Signatures That Can be Used in AI Methods

My research within my work group has focused on recognizing patterns invariant to rotations, scales, displacements, noise, lighting, distortions and partially hidden objects. This line is the one that I have initiated and promoted nationally and internationally through my published articles and within the theses of my students. This has been applied to the successful identification of microscopic and macroscopic organisms and the detection of cancer spots on the skin, a topic that I have been working on lately.

About the Speaker

Josué Álvarez-Borrego received the BS degree in physical oceanography from the Facultad de Ciencias Marinas, Ensenada, Mexico, in 1981, and the MSc and PhD degrees in optics from CICESE, Mexico, in 1983 and 1993 respectively.  He is currently a Professor with the Applied Physics Division, Department of Optics, CICESE. HIs research within his work group has focused on recognizing patterns invariant to rotations, scales, displacements, noise, lighting, distortions and partially hidden objects. This line is the one that he has initiated and promoted nationally and internationally through his published articles and within the theses of his students. This has been applied to the successful identification of microscopic and macroscopic organisms and the detection of cancer spots on the skin.

Metrology Driving Manufacturing Innovation – A Historical Review

This presentation will review the past 30-years of manufacturing and testing innovations including everything from CNC processing to freeform optics highlighting the tried and true message: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t make it."

About the Speaker

Jessica DeGroote Nelson is the Senior Director of Strategic Optical Innovations at Edmund Optics (EO). At EO she is responsible for corporate strategy related to optical components and associated coating technologies. Prior to joining EO, Jessica was the Director of Technology and Strategy at Optimax from 2007 to 2022. She joined Optimax after graduating from the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester with a BS, MS, and PhD in Optics. She furthered her education with an Executive MBA from the Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester in 2013.

Jessica is active in the technical community as a fellow member of SPIE and a senior member of Optica (formally OSA) as well as a member of the Optics and Electro-Optics Standards Council (OEOSC). Optics education is a strong passion for Jessica, and she currently leads the educational outreach activities for Optica-Rochester Section Optics Suitcase program and chairs the SPIE Education and Outreach committee. In addition to The Institute of Optics, Jessica also teaches a course on Managing Technology, Innovation, and Research at the Saunders School of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) as part of their Executive MBA program.

Optical Thermodynamics of Nonlinear Multimode Systems

In this plenary presentation, we will provide an overview of recent developments in the field of optical thermodynamics of nonlinear multimode systems.

About the Speaker

Demetri Christodoulides is an Endowed Chair Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Southern California. He received his PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 1986. After earning his doctorate degree, he joined Bellcore as a postdoctoral research fellow, and was a faculty member in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Lehigh University from 1988 to 2002. Between 2002 and 2022 he was a Pegasus Professor and the Cobb Family Endowed Chair at CREOL–The College of Optics and Photonics at the University of Central Florida. He has served as an associate editor for the IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics and JOSA B. He is a Fellow of APS and Optica. He is the recipient of the Optica’s 2011 R.W. Wood Prize and 2018 Max Born Award and of the 2023 Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science of APS.

Guiding Trojan Beams via Lagrange Points

A new mechanism for guided wave transport, based on stable Lagrange points, is introduced. The concept can be applied to both optical signals and charged particle beams. This
approach can, for the first time, enable the propagation of charged particles in a guided fashion.

About the Speaker

Mercedeh Khajavikhan is a professor at the ECE department. She has also a joint appointment at the Department of Physics & Astronomy, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, & Sciences at USC.
She received her PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 2009. Subsequently, she joined the University of California, San Diego as a postdoctoral researcher, where she worked on the design and development of nanolasers, plasmonic devices and silicon photonics components. In August 2012, she started her career as an Assistant Professor in the College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL) at the University of Central Florida (UCF), working primarily on unraveling novel phenomena in active photonic systems.  She is the recipient of the NSF Early CAREER Award in 2015, the ONR Young Investigator Award in 2016, the DARPA Young Faculty Award in 2018, the University of Central Florida Reach for the Stars Award in 2017, UCF Luminary Award in 2018, and DARPA Director’s Fellowship in 2020. She is a fellow of Optica.

James C. Wyant: Connecting Dots and Minds to Paint Beautiful Picture

Professor James C. Wyant, founding dean of the Wyant College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona, passed away on 08 December 2023, at 80. He profoundly impacted the international optics community and inspired many.

About the Speaker

Daewook Kim is an associate professor of Optical Sciences and Astronomy at the University of Arizona. He has devoted his efforts to a multitude of space and ground-based large optical engineering projects. His primary research focuses on precision freeform optics design, fabrication and various metrology topics, including interferometry and dynamic deflectometry. His contributions cover a broad spectrum of wavelengths, ranging from radio to x-ray. For over a decade, he has actively participated in various conference programs and short courses related to optics, delivering more than 20 plenary, keynote and colloquium talks at various international conferences and universities. His leadership roles include chairing the Optical Fabrication and Testing conference (Optica) and the Optical Manufacturing and Testing conference (SPIE). His academic achievements have led to his recognition as an SPIE Fellow, and he was elected to the SPIE Board of Directors for the term spanning 2024 to 2026. Kim's academic contributions include authoring over 300 journal/conference papers and serving as an associate editor for Optics Express (Optica) for 2013 - 2019.

Quantum Entanglement for Interferometric Sensing

Laser interferometers can operate at a sensitivity level below the standard quantum limit when using squeezed light to induce entanglement between the light beams in the two interferometer arms. This is well known since 40 years for squeezed vacuum states produced by a chi(2) nonlinearity. We show how sensitivity enhancement can be achieved with displaced squeezed states produced by a chi(3) nonlinearity.

About the Speaker

Multiparticle Near-field Dynamics of Plasmonic Waves

I will describe how the classical near-field dynamics of surface plasmons are defined by nonclassical processes of scattering among their constituent multiparticle subsystems. Additionally, I will discuss plasmonic waves excited by electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations.

About the Speaker

Omar S. Magaña-Loaiza received his doctoral degree from the University of Rochester in 2016, and then became a research associate at NIST Boulder. In 2018, he joined LSU, where he is now an Associate Professor of Physics and the leader of the Experimental Quantum Photonics Group. His group's research investigates novel properties of light and their potential for quantum technologies. He was a recipient of the Early Career Program award from the Army Research Office.

Towards Customized Ophthalmic Correction Using Optical Technologies

Imaging techniques including 3D Optical coherence tomography/elastography allow quantification of the eye’s structural, optical and biomechanical properties and personalized models.  Adaptive optics simulators allow patients experience post-treatment vision. Those will shape future customized ophthalmological corrections. 

About the Speaker

Susana Marcos specializes in human vision and applied vision. She was a Director of Optica (formerly The Optical Society) in 2012^. Through studies in ocular imaging, she has pioneered the development of innovative intraocular lenses and the detection of ocular pathogens and infections. Notably, she co-created a visual simulator fo presbyopia and cataract intraocular lenses, providing a pre-surgical assessment. This simulator is a product of 25yesVision, a company she co-founded. In July 2021, she was appointed Director of Center for Visual Science, with dual affiliation in Optics and in Ophthalmology at the University of Rochester. 

Harnessing Extraordinary Guiding Mechanisms in Optical Fibers

Optical fibers with nanometer sized features in the cross-section enable novel propagation effects including photonic band-gap guiding, anti-resonant guiding and guiding by transverse Anderson localization. We will discuss how extraordinary fiber properties can be harnessed. 

About the Speaker

Axel Schülzgen received his PhD in Physics from Humboldt-University of Berlin, Germany. Since 2009 he has been Professor of Optics and Photonics at CREOL, University of Central Florida. He also holds an Adjunct Research Professor position at the Wyant College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona. His research interests include optical fiber devices, components, materials and structures with applications in fiber laser systems, fiber optic sensing and imaging and optical communications. Professor Schülzgen is a Fellow of Optica and the International Society for Optics and Photonics SPIE.

Opportunities in Photonic Sciences

In this talk I will discuss opportunities for study, research training and collaboration in photonic sciences, particularly for students and young researchers. The talk will be based on our long-standing collaborations between ICFO and partners in Mexico and Latin America, and highlight in particular emerging fields with great potential, such as quantum technologies, medical optics, and renewable energy.

About the Speaker

Robert Sewell is originally from Melbourne, Australia, where he completed a dual arts/science undergraduate degree majoring in Physics and Philosophy at the University of Melbourne. He went on to received his PhD in Physics from Imperial College London in 2009 working on precision measurements with ultracold atoms, where he helped develop a matter wave interferometer using atom-chip technology.

He joined ICFO as a Marie Curie Research Postdoctoral Fellow in 2009 in the group of Morgan Mitchell, leading a research laboratory in experimental quantum optics, developing new techniques for quantum-enhanced optical magnetometry with laser cooled atoms and demonstrating how spin squeezing and entanglement generated by quantum non-demolition measurements can help improve precision measurements of magnetic fields.

In 2014 he was appointed Staff Scientist and Coordinator of Academic Programs at ICFO, responsible for graduate education and training programs, including the ICFO PhD program, engagement with local and international Maters programs, the Plus+ training program and academic mentoring of students and postdoctoral researchers.

In addition to his leadership in the area of ICFO’s Academic Programs, he is also Co-Director of the Master of Multidisciplinary Research in Experimental Sciences offered by the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in collaboration with The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST). Also, in 2020, he was appointed SPIE@ICFO Chair for Diversity in Photonic Sciences.

3D Images of Oxygenation by Near-infrared Optical Tomography: State and Prospects

This is an overview of the current state of near infrared optical tomography, an optical method to generate 3D images of tissue. Since it images the oxygenation of tissue, it is of high clinical relevance.

About the Speaker

Martin Wolf is professor of Biomedical Optics at University of Zurich and University Hospital Zurich, where he heads the Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory. He completed his PhD at ETH Zurich and was postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Wolf is one of the leading experts in near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), optical tomography (NIROT) and functional NIRS (fNIRS) covering technological, signal analysis and application aspects. He is also co-inventor of a novel principle to monitor blood constituents non-invasively.