Skip to main content

Going green: Asian directions for photonics

By
Governments in Asia, Europe, North America, and elsewhere are finding new ways to prioritize their efforts to support optics technologies and industries and to advance their own national competitiveness and economic success.

A recent article in the SPIE Professional magazine surveyed the latest developments around the world. This post shares some of the magazine's report on what is happening in Asia, where a major focus is on efficient energy. Future posts will focus on Europe and North America.

Asian governments have taken varied approaches in their support of optics and photonics industries.

Last year, the Chinese government announced the 12th iteration of its Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development. The plan, which runs through 2015, includes a focus on the economic value of seven “strategic emerging industries.” Recent reports have estimated that the Chinese government will spend $1.5 trillion US on subsidies in the fields of biotechnology, new energy, high-end equipment manufacturing, energy conservation and environmental protection, clean-energy vehicles, new materials, and next-generation IT.

The government support includes tax incentives and price subsidies for the solar energy industry in China. Additionally, the government has pledged to spend from 1.75% to 2.2% of its GDP on research and development and work toward increasing the number of patents to 3.3 per every 10,000 persons by 2015. This anticipated increase would double the number approved in 2010.

Taiwan has created three core science parks designed to be magnets for high-tech industries. The parks combine research, production, work, and recreational facilities and have helped Taiwan maintain its competitive research advantage, especially with LCD panels, LEDs, and photovoltaic systems.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010, Taiwan ranked sixth among 133 economies worldwide in the “state of cluster development” index.

The first park, Hsinchu Science Park, was created in 1980, followed by two more in 1996 and 2003. Eight more are slated for construction. With $2.53 billion US invested in Hsinchu Park by the Taiwanese government since its creation, a total of 440 companies are operating within the park, employing 132,161 persons by the end of 2009. Nearly $27 billion US was generated that year by its companies.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cataract surgery: misnomer?

By
On left, the patient’s left eye has no cataract and all structures are visible. On right, retinal image from fundus camera confirms the presence of a cataract. (From Choi, Hjelmstad, Taibl, and Sayegh, SPIE Proc. 85671Y , 2013)   Article by guest blogger Roger S. Reiss , SPIE Fellow and recipient of the 2000 SPIE President's Award. Reiss was the original Ad Hoc Chair of SPIE Optomechanical Working Group. He manages the LinkedIn Group “ Photonic Engineering and Photonic Instruments .” The human eye and its interface with the human brain fit the definition of an "instrument system."   The human eye by itself is also an instrument by definition. After the invention of the microscope and the telescope, the human eye was the first and only detector for hundreds of years, only to be supplemented and in most cases supplanted by an electro-optical detector of various configurations. The evolution of the eye has been and still is a mystery.   In National Geogr...
6 comments
Read more

Taking a Deep Dive into the World of Biophotonics

By
Gavrielle presents her research in Ven SPIE Student Member Gavrielle Untracht is pursuing her PhD at The University of Western Australia. She had the chance to participate in the 9th International Graduate Summer School in Biophotonics this past June on the island of Ven between Sweden and Denmark. At the school, sponsored by SPIE, invited experts from around the globe gave extended presentations on topics like tissue optics, strategies for cancer treatment using lasers, and entrepreneurship in photonics. Attendees also had the opportunity to present their current research projects, results, or ideas. Gavrielle shares her experiences of the summer school with this community in the following guest blog post. I recently returned from a week of great discussions and beautiful weather at the 9th Biophotonics Summer School on the Isle of Ven, Sweden. This experience, made possible (in part) by SPIE, was an invaluable opportunity for networking and a deep dive into the world of bi...
Post a Comment
Read more

#FacesofPhotonics: Opto-mechanical Designer Deven Patel

By
DYNAMIC FORCE: Patel enjoys a rainy day at the Gufufoss waterfall in Iceland Salut!  Meet Deven Patel, a graduate student at Université Laval's Center for Optics, Photonics, and Lasers (COPL) in Quebec City who is also working as an opto-mechanical designer at Esterline Technologies Corporation. Over the past two years, Patel was instrumental in Laval’s exoplanet-imaging project  HiCIBaS , or High-Contrast Imaging Balloon System. He had two main jobs: designing a dynamic structure for the star-pointing system and front-end optics (telescope, etc.), and developing a passive-cooling thermal system for the back-end optics system. "Basically, I developed the mechanical solutions that were necessary for the other systems to function correctly and to perform the science of the mission," he explains. I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW: HiCIBaS' telescope. Credit: Cédric Vallée The HiCIBaS project received quite a bit of media attention , and for good reason: "The proje...
Post a Comment
Read more