Apr 3 2010
SPIE Photonics Europewill provide a major forum for discussion of the latest developments in one of the key enabling technologies identified by the European Commission during its weeklong run in Brussels this month.
The congress will include more than 1.300 presentations, making it the largest and broadest technical programme of any European photonics event in 2010. The event will be held 12-16 April in The Square Conference Centre.
The congress will also showcase photonics innovation, with the presentation of a student innovation prize sponsored by the Research, Education, and Training Work Group of the Photonics21 technology platform and SPIE, and an Innovation Village award competition held in cooperation with the European Union and the Brussels Photonics Team at the Vrije Univ. Brussel (VUB).
Keynote and hot topics sessions will provide overviews of important developments in photonics across multiple disciplines. Speakers include:
- George Anania, Cube Optics and Photonics21
- Stefan Hell, Max Planck Institute
- Kishan Dholakia, Univ. of St. Andrews
- Mario Paniccia, Intel Corp.
- Radhakrishnan Nagarajan, Infinera Corp.
- L. Kobus Kuipers, Univ. of Amsterdam
- Bernard Kippelen, Georgia Institute of Technology
- Benjamin Eggleton, Univ. of Sydney.
Laser anniversary
A special laser anniversary plenary session will celebrate 50 years of development of the technology including the some of the latest developments, with talks by laser experts Wolfgang Sandner of Max-Born Institute, Ursula Keller of ETH Zürich, and Mike Dunne of the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council.
Photo displays will pay tribute to laser luminaries whose work has been important in advancing the technology. To help spread an understanding of laser technology among the public at large, a Hit-the-Target Laser activity workshop will train attendees on the use of a hands-on education outreach kit using lasers and mirrors
Innovation and networking
Approximately 120 leading companies from throughout Europe and the United States will present their latest equipment and technologies in the three-day exhibition, open 13-15 April. Also in the exhibition area, eight new European networks will present themselves in a "Network Village". The networks' projects involve new research in biophotonics, communications, photovoltaics, automotive, and nanophotonics stemming from the EU Framework 7 Programme.
The 21 Innovation Village contestants representing startup projects in the EU, Singapore, and Thailand will show potential breakthrough products which will be evaluated by a jury during the week. Winners will be announced during a ceremony on 15 April.
Student networking activities, organized in cooperation with the SPIE VUB Student Chapter, include a lunch with the experts, two professional development workshops, and career workshops, in addition to the awarding of the Photonics21 2010 Student Innovation Prize.
Eleni Alexandratou of the National Technical Univ. of Athens is the guest speaker at a Women in Optics luncheon, poster receptions will be held Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and two walking dinners are planned during the week.
Industry sessions on 12 and 13 April, open to all attendees, will give a broad summary of the photonics industrial sector across Europe. Photonics21 representatives will report on each sector of the field as well as the EC Strategic Photonics Planning for FP7 and FP8. The ACCORD project will conduct a final review of its work over the past two years in attempting to connect photonics industry and photonics students. A new project out of FP7, the Nanophotonics Europe Association, will hold its first meeting. Anatoly Zayats of Queen's Univ. Belfast, Roel Baets of Univ. of Ghent, and Gonçal Badenes, president of the NEA, are among the speakers. Pre-registration with the NEA is required.