Photonics for a Better World

A clear and present interest in using optical sciences and photonics to better our world shone through (no pun intended) at the Photonics for a Better World pavilion and other activities at SPIE Optics and Photonics last month in San Diego. Organizations are making dedicated efforts to improve the future of photonics, increase awareness in science education and improve the global community, and even to teach us how to have fun with photonics! The other Olympics: Optics Outreach! Nearly 220 people attended the Optics Outreach Olympics on Sunday 5 August. Teams from 16 Student Chapters from 9 different countries competed against each other by presenting their best optics outreach demonstrations that they use to teach children at schools about optics. The goal was to showcase effective, original educational activities that promote science education. In 2011, SPIE Student Members promoted science outreach to over 9,000 young students. This year, the winning demonstrations inclu...

A new report on the U.S. photonics industry updates a 1998 study. 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 on policy in North America is the final part in a series that borrows from the magazine's report and has been edited to reflect the release on 13 August of the U.S. National Academies’ “Optics and Photonics, Essential Technologies for Our Nation.” The report was commissioned as an update to the National Academies’ "Harnessing Light" report of 1998, credited with inspiring and informing policy strategies around the world following its release. Photonics in Canada In Canada earlier this year, the merger of the Canadian Institute for Photonic Innovations (CIPI)...

Horizon 2020 aims for R&D invesment in the EU. 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 on European policy is part of a series that borrows from the magazine's report. A previous post focused on what is happening in Asia; next up is North America, where an update to the "Harnessing Light" report of 1998 is expected to be released by mid-August. The European Commission (EC) is negotiating the budget details of its landmark Horizon 2020 program, unveiled last November, which aims to invest €80 billion for research and innovation between 2014 and 2020. Photonics was named one of Europe’s five key enabling technologies (along with advanced materials, biotechno...

Quick quiz: List five examples of how photonics technology has changed how you live -- how you work, travel, relax, look after your health --- whatever. Easy, right? Now, name five photonics-based changes you expect to see in the near future. Also easy. Photonics solutions are everywhere, and the time is ripe for more photonics innovation. Governments, industry, and other funders around the world are developing new policy initiatives and offering new sources of funding in support of photonics R&D. Some of those initiatives need your participation to be successful. Among them: ●   In the UK, photonics recently was named one of the potential candidate areas for investment in the next phase of the Strategy and Implementation Plan for Technology and Innovation Centres (TICs). If you live in the UK, you can help influence that choice: Comments about what photonics can do are being sought, and can be posted on the photonics TIC discussion space or emailed to centres@tsb.g...

As pervasive and vital as photonics technologies are in industry, healthcare, communications, entertainment, and elsewhere in modern life, the term “photonics” is not exactly a household word. More to the point, it is not a term that is immediately understood in many houses of government, where decisions are made about which research, innovation, and education programs to fund and how richly to fund them. Yet, programs benefit more when policy makers and budget writers understand the importance of the technologies and the scope of the industry. Information about the size of the photonics industry and the influence of photonics science, in the form of comprehensive national and regional reports, has been a powerful tool for helping to communicate with governments about the importance of photonics funding. In the past few years, reports have surveyed industry activity, market trends, and opportunities regionally in the European Union and in Asia, while additional reports focus on...