For Immediate Release
Contact:
Lyndsay Meyer
The Optical Society
+1.202.416.1435
lmeyer@osa.org
Keira Shein
WilkinsonShein Communications
410.363.9494
keira@wilkinsonshein.com
Programming Highlights: Optics Innovations to be Showcased During OSA's Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics 2011
Frontiers in Optics 2011 highlights recent advances in optical and laser science
Advances in optics research and technologies from more than 850 scientific, technical and educational presentations will be highlighted during the Optical Society's (OSA) 95th Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2011, being held Oct. 16 – 20 at the Fairmont San Jose and Sainte Claire hotels in San Jose, Calif. Held in conjunction with Laser Science XXVII, the annual meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) Division of Laser Science (DLS), the meeting will cover the breadth of optical science and engineering in five days of cutting-edge content, powerful networking and opportunities for scientific exchange. Exhibits featuring 80 leading optics companies will complement the in-depth technical programming and offer attendees a glimpse of the latest optical technologies and products.
WHAT: The Optical Society's Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics 2011
WHERE: Fairmont San Jose and Sainte Claire hotels in San Jose, Calif.
WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 16 – Thursday, Oct. 20
Hundreds of papers from researchers around the world will be presented during FiO, covering a wide range of topics across the entire spectrum of optics and photonics. Highlighted research presentations include:
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Microscopy and Spectroscopy on a Cell Phone – Researchers from the University of California, Davis will discuss how they transformed an ordinary iPhone into a high-quality medical imaging device that could be used to help doctors and nurses diagnose blood diseases in developing nations where many hospitals and rural clinics have limited or no access to laboratory equipment.
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Tagging Brain Tumors with Gold – A team of researchers from Duke University have proposed a way to harness the unique optical properties of gold nanoparticles to clearly distinguish a brain tumor from the healthy, and vital, tissue that surrounds it.
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Temporal Cloaks Hide an Event in Time – Scientists at Cornell University have demonstrated for the first time that it's possible to cloak a singular event in time, creating what they describe as a "history editor." Instead of spatial optical cloaks that can hide objects, this new type of cloak can hide an event that happened in time.
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Lasers Inspired by Nature – Researchers at Yale University are studying how two types of nanoscale structures on the feathers of brightly-colored birds produce brilliant and distinctive colors. The researchers are hoping that by borrowing these nanoscale tricks from nature they will be able to produce new types of lasers—ones that can assemble themselves by natural processes.
Additional FiO programming highlights include:
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Plenary Session
Monday, Oct. 17, 8 a.m.
Regency Ballroom, Fairmont Hotel
Professor Ferenc Krausz, Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik & Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany
Seeing is believing: capturing electrons in real time
Atomic-scale electronic motion is a key process in life as well as modern technologies, unfolding within tens to thousands of attoseconds (1 attosecond = 10^-18 s). The talk will review recent advances in laser science that have opened the door to watching and controlling these hitherto inaccessible microscopic dynamics.
Professor Sir John Pendry FRS, The Blackett Lab, Imperial College, United Kingdom
Inside the Wavelength - seeing really small objects with light
Light, through our eyes, gives us the most direct means of observing the world. Using a microscope we can see many objects invisible to the naked eye, but even the microscope has its limitations: it is impossible with a conventional microscope to resolve anything smaller than the wavelength of light. The talk will report on recent progress toward a perfect lens and describe some experiments that bring light to an intense focus very much smaller than the free space wavelength.
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What's Hot in Optics Today?
Sunday, Oct. 16, 4 - 6 p.m.
Regency Ballroom, Fairmont Hotel
This session will provide an overview of today's hot trends in optics, including the scientific and technical advances being made across the entire field of optics. The overviews will highlight recent developments in optics and are designed to be informative and accessible even to the nontechnical attendee.
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Special Symposia
Sunday, Oct. 16 – Thursday, Oct. 20
Fairmont Hotel
Special symposia provide an in-depth look at hot topics in the field of optics and photonics today. Symposia this year include:
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OSA Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE) Workshop
Tuesday, Oct. 18, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Courtyard Room, St. Claire Hotel
The OSA Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE) Workshop provides entrepreneurs from around the globe with a forum to discuss the challenges and opportunities of start-up enterprises and to hear first-hand from successful optics entrepreneurs. This inaugural meeting will feature Greg Quarles, president and COO of B.E. Meyers; Michelle Holoubeck, director in the Electronics Group at intellectual property specialty law firm Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox; and Tom Baer, executive director of the Stanford Photonics Research Center at Stanford University, co-founder of Arcturus Bioscience, Inc. and 2009 OSA president.
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Minorities and Women in OSA (MWOSA) Tea
Tuesday, Oct. 18, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
Sainte Claire Room, Sainte Claire Hotel
This year's event offers a panel discussion featuring OSA's CEO, Elizabeth Rogan, and esteemed OSA Board of Directors members Jannick Rolland of the University of Rochester, Donna Strickland of the University of Waterloo, and Laura Weller-Brophy of FluoroLogic, Inc. The discussion will focus on current issues and trends for women and minorities in science.
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Intellectual Property Workshop
Patent Reform - How to Manage the Switch to a First-to-File System
Monday, Oct. 17, 4 p.m.
Cupertino Room, Fairmont Hotel
Offered by OSA and presented by Washington, D.C.-based IP attorney, Michelle Holoubek, the workshop covers the changes to the U.S. Patent system that are now in effect with the new America Invents Act. Topics addressed will include differences between the old "First-to-Invent" patent system and the new "First-to-File" patent system, as well as corporate strategies and tips to help tech businesses make the most of these changes. RSVP required. Contact astark@osa.org.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A Press Room for credentialed press and analysts will be located in the Fairmont San Jose Hotel, Sunday through Thursday, Oct. 16-20. Those interested in obtaining a press badge for FiO should contact OSA's Lyndsay Meyer at +1 202.416.1435 or lmeyer@osa.org.
About the meeting
Frontiers in Optics 2011 is OSA's 95th Annual Meeting and is being held together with Laser Science XXVII, the annual meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) Division of Laser Science (DLS). The two meetings unite the OSA and APS communities for five days of quality, cutting-edge presentations, fascinating invited speakers and a variety of special events spanning a broad range of topics in physics, biology and chemistry. FiO 2011 will also offer a number of Short Courses designed to increase participants' knowledge of a specific subject while offering the experience of insightful teachers. An exhibit floor featuring leading optics companies will further enhance the meeting.
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About OSA
Uniting more than 130,000 professionals from 175 countries, the Optical Society (OSA) brings together the global optics community through its programs and initiatives. Since 1916 OSA has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing educational resources to the scientists, engineers and business leaders who work in the field by promoting the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics. OSA publications, events, technical groups and programs foster optics knowledge and scientific collaboration among all those with an interest in optics and photonics. For more information, visit www.osa.org.