OSA: Attendance Up at Frontiers in Optics 2012

Frontiers in Optics 2012, the Optical Society's (OSA) 96th annual meeting, attracted more than 1700 attendees — a significant increase over last year, the society reported Friday.

The five-day event, which is collocated with the American Physical Society Div. of Laser Science's annual meeting, Laser Science XXVIII, featured nearly 900 presentations on the latest advances in optics and photonics, from adaptive optics and optical sensing to silicon photonics and quantum information science.

OSA's 96th annual meeting, Frontiers in Optics 2012, collocated with the APS/DLS's Laser Science XXVIII, took place Oct. 14-18 in Rochester, N.Y. Photos courtesy OSA.

Sunday, the first day of the conference, featured a variety of short courses on timely optics topics as well as a tribute to optics luminary Emil Wolf, whose work at the University of Rochester and elsewhere has had a considerable impact on the optics community, the society said.

Frontiers in Optics 2012 plenary Speaker Al Goshaw of Duke University spoke about the particle discovery that rocked the physics world last summer, the likely discovery of the Higgs boson.

Monday began with a plenary session and awards ceremony showcasing presentations from five world-renowned researchers. OSA's Frederic Ives Medal winner Marlan Scully discussed quantum photocells, followed by APS' Arthur L. Schawlow Prize recipient Michael D. Fayer of Stanford University in California, who covered ultrafast 2-D infrared vibrational echo spectroscopy. Attendees then saw a special guest keynote presentation by Al Goshaw, a Duke University researcher who worked directly on the likely discovery of the Higgs boson particle that rocked the physics world last summer (See: Search for Higgs Boson at LHC Reveals New Particle)

Rounding out the session were David Williams of the University of Rochester and Paul Corkum of Canada's National Research Council and the University of Ottawa, who discussed retinal imaging and attosecond photonics, respectively.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the exhibit floor featured the latest products and features from 80 optics and photonics companies. The exhibits were supplemented by programming including a town hall discussion with key members of the National Academy of Sciences' Harnessing Light Committee, as well as an intimate conversation with Idex Optics & Photonics President Michael Cumbo as part of OSA's Executive Speaker Series.

Dr. Michael J. Cumbo, president, IDEX Optics & Photonics (left), is interviewed by the University of Rochester's James M. Zavislan for OSA Corporate Associates' Executive Speaker Series.

Networking opportunities included several receptions — such as OSA's disco-themed member reception — as well as more formal opportunities at the Minorities and Women of OSA breakfast featuring Digital Rochester's 2012 Tech Woman of the Year Jennifer Kruschwitz, and the society's entrepreneurs' session, foundation breakfast and lunch for fellows.

Highlighted technical session papers included a new technique for halting the progression of myopia in children, the use of pure spider silk in optical applications such as biosensors, detection of explosives using a laser pointer and Raman spectroscopy, a new 3-D handheld scanner for point-of-care diagnostics, and the first report of a direct violation of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.

Registered technical attendees have free access to recorded sessions from more than 40 percent of the technical conference, and all conference papers are now accessible through OSA's Optics InfoBase, the society said.

Frontiers in Optics 2013 will be held in Orlando, Fla., in October.

For more information, visit: www.frontiersinoptics.org or www.osa.org