Jun 16 2010
The Optical Society (OSA) has hosted two meetings in Tucson -The Imaging and Applied Optics Congress, and the Optical Interference Coatings Topical Meeting. Both the events concentrated on the impact of optics and photonics’ developments on the clean energy sector and the environment.
The Imaging and Applied Optics Congress convened two topical meetings, namely, Optics for Solar Energy (SOLAR), and Optical Remote Sensing of the Environment (ORS). The SOLAR meeting brought together managers and engineers who make use of optics to generate solar energy. Topics on all forms of transmission, storage, and generation of solar energy were covered in the meeting.
On the other hand, ORS focused on the use of optical sensors in agriculture, forestry, environmental monitoring and other areas. In addition, another conference “Optics in Energy: A Live Interactive Short Course” was also held under the Congress. This conference was targeted on students and researchers to help them gain knowledge on optical and solar fields.
The Optical Interference Coatings Topical Meeting included lectures from Edward Moses, and Robert Byer. Edward Moses is an optical science expert and is the principal associate director of the Lawrence Livermore National Lab’s NIF and Photon Science Organization. Moses discussed an energy concept that is based on laser fusion. Robert Byer is a professor in Stanford University; and he discussed the advantages and disadvantages of optical coatings in combination with lasers.