Photonics for a Better World

Dr. Ashleigh Haruda is a zooarchaeologist. Dr. Ashleigh Haruda She examines animal bones found at archaeological sites to investigate the relationship between animals and ancient human societies. These bones reveal information about ancient societies including diet, trade, migration, and market forces. For her doctoral research, she studied pastoralists living in the Central Asian steppe in the Late and Final Bronze Age (1500-800 B.C.E.). These were people who did not practice agriculture, but lived off of their animals, including sheep. “Primarily these people are experiencing their world and their landscape through their animals,” said Haruda. “So, if they fail to move their animals in the right way, or they fail to understand how the weather is going to be that year, they could all die because there was no safety net for them.” By measuring the bones of sheep found in the steppe from the Final Bronze Age, she was able to determine that these pastoralists did not migrate exte...

PITCH PERFECT: Optics expert Jessica DeGroote Nelson  SPIE Senior Member Jessica DeGroote Nelson works as the director of technology and strategy at Optimax Systems in Ontario, New York. She also teaches as an adjunct assistant professor at The Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester (UR), and is a Conference Chair for SPIE Optifab 2019.  Nelson also teaches  Optical Materials, Fabrication, and Testing for the Optical Engineer  at SPIE conferences. This course is geared toward optical engineers who are hoping to learn the basics about how optics are made, and ways in which to help reduce the cost of the optics they are designing. It is also offered online. "Optical tolerancing and the cost to fabricate an optic can be a point of tension or confusion between optical designers and optical fabricators," Nelson says. "I teach this course to help give optical designers who are new to the field a few tools in their toolbelt as they navigate toler...

PHO-NATIC: The ever-curious  Cheryl Asbury When you think of ballet, photonics isn't usually the first word that comes to mind -- unless you know Cheryl Asbury, Photonic Part Specialist for Mission Assurance at JPL/Caltech, and an avid dancer since childhood. Read the rest of Cheryl's Faces of Photonics story on the SPIE website.  SPIE’s #FacesofPhotonics social media campaign connects SPIE members in the global optics, photonics, and STEM communities. It serves to highlight similarities, celebrate differences, and foster a space where conversation and community can thrive. Follow along with past and present stories on SPIE social media channels: Or search  #FacesofPhotonics  on your favorite social network!

SPIE Women in Optics program has been enhancing and promoting the personal and professional growth of women in STEM since 1998. With its proactive focus on diversity, inclusivity, gender equity, SPIE leverages its extensive networks as well as its funding programs to support professionals and students alike. Two Society grant programs, currently open for application, offer critical opportunities to SPIE Members, their communities, and their families. The SPIE Women in Optics Activity Grant Networking lunches and diversity coffee-and-cake meetups; hosting high-profile visiting speakers; recruiting and building groups of students interested in optics-focused careers; running STEM-engagement workshops aimed at young girls; and creating symposiums at which students interact with women professionals from industry and academia: these are just a few of the myriad activities that recipients of the SPIE Women in Optics Activity Grant have implemented around the world. The program, now en...

Anuja De Silva attending SPIE Advanced Lithography in San Jose, CA Meet the SPIE Faces of Photonics star of the week, SPIE Member Anuja De Silva. Anuja grew up in Sri Lanka and now resides in Albany, New York, where she works as a materials and process researcher in the Semiconductor Technology Research division of IBM. Speaking of her work, she says, "I develop new types of materials and processes that help us to scale the size of computer chips... It's hardware development for next-generation semiconductor devices." Anuja graduated with her Bachelor's in Chemistry from Mount Holyoke College and went on to get her Master's and PhD in Materials Chemistry from Cornell University. Upon conducting a research project for her undergraduate degree, she found her passion for optics and materials research. Anuja and husband Nelson Felix attend SPIE Advanced Lithography together. The couple both work at IBM. "I have always been interested in math and scie...

Mandy Malabi SPIE's #FacesofPhotonics is sharing the story of Rudzani (Mandy) Malabi. Rudzani is a biophotonics research student in the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) National Laser Centre. She is from Thohoyandou, a town in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Originally, Rudzani studied virology and discovered her interest in optics and photonics during her doctoral degree. She has always been an active member of the CSIR SPIE Student Chapter, and is currently vice president. Enjoy her interview! 1. Tell us about when you first became interested in optics and photonics. I first heard of optics and photonics when I applied to do my doctoral degree at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). I was fascinated by how light interacts with biological materials. I come from a virology background, but wanted to know more about light science. What better way to learn than actually doing a research project that involves optics and ph...

JESS WADE: Advocate, organizer, physicist SPIE's #FacesofPhotonics is sharing the story of Dr. Jess Wade, research associate at Imperial College London, SPIE Early Career Professional , collector of graphic T-shirts with a positive message , and longtime advocate of underrepresented communities in the STEM field. When she's not studying plastic electronics or helping to promote and organize amazing outreach events such as Pride of Physics , she writes and edits  Wikipedia pages of female scientists , showcasing their contributions to the field. This project, and others like it, are part of her overarching mission to attract more young girls to the sciences. Her most recent project involved raising over £20,000 to buy a copy of Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong and the New Science that's Rewriting the Story by Angela Saini   for every secondary state school in the United Kingdom (and included a fun "Thank you" message from a certain Daniel Radcliff...