Photonics for a Better World

Allison Barto "'Where did we come from?' and 'Are we alone?' are two of the most fundamental questions humans have been asking throughout history. I get to be involved in supporting astrophysics research at a time when we have the technology to take meaningful steps toward answering those questions." Allison Barto is a force to be reckoned with in the astrophysics community — she graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Physics and has worked at Ball Aerospace for 21 years. Currently, she is the Senior Program Manager for both the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, Camera Optics. "The James Webb Space Telescope will be able to observe the first generation of luminous objects after the Big Bang," she says, "and detect possible signatures of life in the atmospheres of extra-solar planets." Allison has also been an active member of the SPIE community for many years, including being Symposium ...

CubeSat in space. Image courtesy of NASA. It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a … CubeSat? Small, boxy, cost-effective nanosatellites are helping to change the way we explore space. Not only are they making low Earth orbit (LEO) space exploration more accessible due to cheap production, but they can be used in both commercial and amateur projects, making applications versatile. Originally, CubeSats were invented by researchers at California Polytechnic State University and Stanford University to “enable graduate students to design, build, test and operate limited capabilities of artificial satellites within the time and financial constraints of a graduate degree program,” Space Daily reported recently . This was accomplished by establishing a standard CubeSat dimension of 10x10x11 cubic units — small enough to speed up the process and ensure low costs. (A search on CubeSats literature in the SPIE Digital Library provides insights into how the technology has developed...

Ultraviolet image from NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows NGC 3242, a planetary nebula frequently referred to as “Jupiter’s Ghost.” Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech Are there any connections between space technologies and healthcare? You bet there is, says Shouleh Nikzad, senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the principal engineer, co-lead, and technical director for JPL’s Medical Engineering Forum. Numerous optics and photonics technologies originally developed for space applications have found their way into consumer and medical markets, Nikzad writes in the April 2017 issue of SPIE Professional magazine . Infrared thermometers, workout machines, compact cameras in mobile phones, and imaging technologies are just a few familiar examples. Ultraviolet imaging is also used in medical applications to reveal disease, as in this image of cancerous brain tissue. ...

The second annual Peer Review Week spans 19-25 September 2016. This global event celebrates the vital role that peer review plays in achieving exceptional scientific quality. Recognition for Review is the theme for this year’s event, which is dedicated to recognizing contributions made by those participating in peer review activities ranging from conference submissions to publication and grant reviews. “Reviewers are the unsung heroes of scholarly journals," said Optical Engineering editor-in-chief Michael Eismann in his first editorial of 2016 . "Generally operating in anonymity, they ensure that published articles meet the journal’s standards of originality, significance, scientific accuracy, and professional quality.” In another editorial, " Four attributes of an excellent peer review ", Eismann defined how to ensure that peer review results in quality publications. The Peer Review Week event calendar includes a several webinars on variou...