September 2017
Creating Thought Provoking Presentations at the 2017 Siegman School
Writing articles and giving presentations is the essence of scientific work. To make science is to communicate our findings to our peers and the public. But how do we do it in an...
Added: 02 October 2017
Optical Interconnects in Data Centers: What’s Next?
As technology advances at an ever-increasing pace, the potential applications for optics continue to grow and fuel new discoveries. To highlight...
Added: 28 September 2017
Quantum Technology: The Business Side
One of the meeting’s three “Visionary Speakers” keynote talks on Wednesday included plenty of interesting science, but also focused on the business and political issues emerging as quantum technology drives toward real applications. The speaker was OSA Fellow Wilhelm Kaenders, the...
Added: 20 September 2017
The Dilemmas of a “Post-fact” World
Given what seems an ever more polarized and uncertain political environment, scientists increasingly grapple with the need to persuade policymakers and the public about the importance of the work that science does. In a morning session at the 2017 Frontiers in Optics meeting, Rush Holt, the CEO of the...
Added: 20 September 2017
Prospecting the Coming Automotive Revolution
In his plenary talk, Jason Eichenholz, the cofounder and CTO of Luminar Technologies, USA, took audience members on a tour of the advanced lidar technologies necessary to make the autonomous-vehicle dream a reality.
Added: 20 September 2017
Keys to Successful Proposals for Research
Program officers and senior officials with four major funding agencies in the United States and Europe gave FiO 2017 attendees an inside look at their programs, and at some of the keys to putting in a successful proposal for optics and photonics research.
Added: 20 September 2017
From VR and AR to "Mixed Reality"
Right now, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) largely occupy different domains: VR seeks to immerse users in an entirely separate world, while AR overlays additional data, images and experiences onto the real one. But Scott McEldowney of Oculus Research, USA, sees a future in which those...
Added: 20 September 2017
Self-Driving Cars: A Complex Photonic Supply Chain
In addition to the formidable technical requirements for autonomous vehicles, the self-driving-car revolution will create new and highly complex supply chains and new educational and workforce needs. Ira Moskowitz, the director of advanced-manufacturing programs with the Innovation Institute at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, USA, believes these developments will present huge...
Added: 20 September 2017
OSA Headquarters Gets a New Nameplate
OSA marked the first day of Frontiers in Optics 2017 in a particularly meaningful way: By formally dedicating its newly renovated headquarters building in Washington, D.C., in honor of Jarus W. Quinn, who served as the society’s first executive director from 1972 to 1994.
Added: 20 September 2017
Fixing the Leaky Pipeline
Dozens of industry leaders, researchers, students and other optics professionals came together at OSA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., in the second “Global Women of Light” symposium. The all-day event, co-sponsored by the OSA Foundation and Women in Science, Technology, Engineering...
Added: 20 September 2017
