Photonics for a Better World

SPIE’s #FacesofPhotonics is a showcase across social media that connects SPIE members in the optics and photonics community around the world. It serves to highlight similarities, celebrate differences, and foster a space for conversation and community to thrive. Angeles Rosales Camacho Back in April, we shared the story of SPIE Student Member Angeles Rosales Camacho. Angeles is the 2018 Student Chapter President at the University of Southampton, and a PhD researcher in the Optoelectronic Research Centre. She is the winner of her university’s 2017 Women In Science, Engineering, and Technology (WiSET) award, and is a dedicated outreach ambassador. In Forbes Mexico's most recent edition, Angles was listed as one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women In Mexico! An incredibly well-deserved recognition for her work with young girls and women in STEM. See Forbes' entire list here . We hope you enjoy her #FacesofPhotonics interview. 1. Tell us about when you first became...

Backers of an initiative to raise awareness of the field of photonics and the many contributions photonics technologies and applications make to a stronger economy as well as quality of life have new reason to celebrate. Post the badge on your website to show your support! Last week, the Committee on Science of the the National Science and Technology Council nudged photonics toward the fast track, with the release on Thursday of a report by its Fast-Track Action Committee on Optics and Photonics (FTAC-OP). In a report titled " Building a Brighter Future with Optics and Photonics ,” the FTAC-OP presented a prioritized list of seven recommendations for research opportunities and research-related capabilities. The list aligns with and supports recommendations of the 2013 National Research Council Report Optics and Photonics, Essential Technologies for our Nation , addressing important needs from new methods for stopping disease, to more jobs that strengthen the economy, ...

First cleaning test on a gilded brass panel of the Florence's Baptistery North Door by Lorenzo Ghiberti. This masterpiece is under restoration at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence. Lasers are in the news as usual, this time inspiring a list of what Lewis Carroll’s White Queen might have characterized as "six impossible things” to be believed before breakfast. But thanks to optics and photonics, these things are all possible with the help of lasers: (1) Removing layers of pollution from centuries-old decorative plasters as well as marble and bronze statues . Laser techniques development supported by the TEMART and CHARISMA projects at the Istituto di Fisica Applicata ‘Nello Carrara’ – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IFAC-CNR) have enabled restoration of such masterpieces as Donatello's Profet Abacuc, the Etruscan masterpiece Arringatore from the Trasimene Lake, wall paintings such as the painting of the Santa Maria della Scala museum complex in Sien...