Optics And Photonics Technology Leaders, Researchers And Companies To Convene At Frontiers In Optics

Special programming in Tucson includes professional development program for local science teachers

Innovations from more than 600 scientific, technical and educational presentations will be highlighted during The Optical Society's (OSA) 98th Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2014, being held Oct. 19 - 23 in Tucson, Arizona, USA. Co-located with Laser Science, the 30th 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, as well as provide opportunities for networking and scientific exchange. Exhibits featuring leading optics companies will complement the in-depth educational programming and offer attendees a glimpse of the latest optics and photonics technologies and products.

What: The Optical Society's (OSA) 98th Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics

Where: JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort, Tucson, Arizona, USA

When: Sunday, Oct. 19 – Thursday, Oct. 23 (Exhibits open Oct. 21 – 22)

FiO conference programming will cover a wide range of topics across the entire spectrum of optics and photonics. In addition to market and industry trends, FiO will feature hundreds of technical paper presentations from researchers on topics ranging from nanophotonics to high-power lasers. Programming highlights include:

FiO 2014 Exhibition

Oct. 21, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Oct. 22, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Arizona Ballroom Salons 1-7

FiO's exhibit show floor features complimentary access to the latest products and innovations from more than 60 participating companies, spanning the optics and laser field. Industry leaders such as the Arizona Optics Industry Association, Edmund Optics, Newport Corp., Thorlabs and Toptica Photonics will be on hand. In addition to hearing the latest industry trends from company representatives in their booths, the exhibit includes educational programming from OSA's Student Chapters and technical presentations during the FiO Poster Session.

Plenary Session

The FiO Plenary Session focuses on timely global issues, highlighting the broad range of optics uses and solutions. Along with award presentations, featured speakers this year include welcoming remarks from U.S. Rep. Ron Barber of Arizona's 2nd Congressional District and four leading researchers in point-of-care diagnostics, atom-light interactions, high-harmonic spectroscopy and photonic topological insulators.

FiO Plenary Session and Awards Ceremony

Oct. 20, 8 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Arizona Ballroom, Salons 1-6

Plenary Speakers:

• Point-of-Care Diagnostics for Low-Resource Settings
  Rebecca Richards-Kortum
  Chair of Bioengineering, Rice University, USA
• Atom-Light Interactions in Photonic Crystals
  Jeff Kimble
  Director of the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter, California Institute of Technology, USA

Award Speakers:

• A Petahertz Oscilloscope - All optical measurement in the atto domain
  Paul Corkum
  National Research Council, Canada
• Photonic Topological Insulators
  Mordechai Segev
  Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Israel

Technical Programming

Paper presentations from leading researchers around the world are divided into nine topical areas in optics, from biology and medicine to information science. A sample of highlighted presentations includes:

• Rediscovering Venus to Find Faraway Earths, New optical device designed to measure gravitational pull of a planet should speed the search for Earth-like exoplanets
• All That Glitters is....Slimy? Gold Nanoparticles Measure the Stickiness of Snot, New laser-based method helps doctors determine how well mucus oozes through the lungs with potential for better treatment of lung diseases
• The Skin Cancer Selfie, New gigapixel camera that takes high-resolution snapshots of entire body could be simple new tool for whole-body skin cancer screening
• A New Approach to On-Chip Quantum Computing, New low-power method opens the door for easily fabricating future quantum communication and computing devices
• Predicting Landslides with Light, New tool using optical fiber sensors to monitor early signs of landslide risk

Special symposia organized by hot topic areas in the field include:

Symposium on the 50th Anniversary of the College of Optical Sciences Anniversary

Sunday, Oct. 19, 4 - 6:30 p.m.

Arizona Ballroom, Salons 1-6

This 50th Anniversary Symposium will include a brief tour through the history of the College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona, leading to talks that capture how the seeds planted 50 years ago by Aden Meinel have blossomed into today's vibrant collection of research endeavors. Welcoming remarks to the symposium will be given by the Honorable Jonathan Rothschild, Mayor of the City of Tucson.

Symposium on Translational Biophotonics - Focus on Cancer

Monday, Oct. 20, 1:30 - 3:30 p.m.

Tucson Ballroom, Salon A

Optical tools have great potential for innovation in pathology and diagnostics. New imaging modalities, contrast mechanisms and design improvements could enable novel ways of diagnosing, treating and monitoring cancer. Optical technologies are attractive for probing cancer because they provide unique insight into tumor physiology, and are low cost platforms for clinical translation. This symposium will showcase promising optical technologies in cancer research and oncology that are at various stages of clinical translation.

Symposium on 50 Years of Lasers in Ophthalmology and the New ANSI Safety Standard years lasers

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 8 - 11 a.m.

Tucson Ballroom, Salon A

In this symposium, historical highlights on the use of lasers in ophthalmology will be given alongside the state-of-the-art in the current ophthalmic use of lasers and corresponding safety limits.

Symposium on Laser Particle Acceleration and Novel Acceleration Methods

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 1:30 - 6 p.m.

Arizona Ballroom, Salon 12

2014 is the 10th anniversary of the first generation of quasi-monoenergetic electron spectra from laser wakefield acceleration. This achievement has given a significant boost to the development of compact laser plasma acceleration as well as alternative laser-driven acceleration scenarios such as electron acceleration in vacuum by laser or THz fields producing high energies and ultra-short pulses. The rapid evolution of these sources has made them a competing alternative to conventional accelerators by extending their properties and opening up novel application fields from light sources to energy frontier physics.

Post-Deadline Papers

Oct. 23, 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Arizona Ballroom, Salons 8-9/Arizona Ballroom, Salons 11-12/Tucson Ballroom, Salons A-B

The FiO 2014 Technical Program Committee accepts a limited number of post-deadline papers for presentation. The purpose of post-deadline sessions is to give attendees the opportunity to hear the newest breakthroughs in rapidly advancing areas. Only those papers judged to be truly excellent and compelling in their timeliness are accepted.

Special Events

Q&A on the $200 Million Integrated Photonics Manufacturing Institute

Wednesday, October 22, 8:30 - 9:30 a.m.

Tucson Ballroom, Salon J

President Obama recently announced a competition to award $100 million in federal funding to be matched 1:1 by private funding for creating an Integrated Photonics Manufacturing Institute. This session will be an opportunity to learn more about the institute and the process. Invitation only. Members of the press who are interested in learning more about the potential impact on the Tucson area can arrange for one-on-one interviews with on-site experts by emailing, lmeyer@osa.org.

Science Educators' Day (EDAY)

Oct. 22, 5 – 8 p.m.

Tucson Ballroom, Salon E

EDAY celebrates all things science, by bringing together educators and thought leaders in the fields of science and technology. Local middle school and high school science teachers are invited to a special event designed to enhance their knowledge of the latest advances in science and technology. The program's objective is to help improve the quality of instructional learning in STEM studies and support the success of all student learners. Attendance at this professional development opportunity is complimentary for local science teachers.

The keynote speaker is Michael Raymer, a physicist and Phillip H. Knight Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Oregon who co-founded the University's Oregon Center for Optics. Raymer also founded the University of Oregon's Science Literacy Program, which reaches across the departments of physics, chemistry, biology and geology.

In support of the International Year of Light (IYL), The OSA Foundation (OSAF) will launch a special campaign at FiO to distribute thousands of Light Blox Education Kits to students and teachers around the world. Light Blox, the official IYL Education Kit, is an educational light experiment kit for kids 8+ that demonstrates all the basics of light and color. Tucson-area teachers participating in EDAY will be the first to be given kits to use in their classrooms.

Tucson-area science teachers who wish to attend Science Educator's Day can register via email to eday@osa.org. The free event includes dinner and a speaker session and is only open to middle and high school science teachers and credentialed members of the press. RSVP required.

Press Registration: A press room for credentialed press and analysts will be located in the Marriott, Sunday through Thursday, Oct. 19-23. Those interested in obtaining a press badge for FiO should contact OSA's Lyndsay Meyer.

About FiO/LS
Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2014 is The Optical Society's (OSA) 98th Annual Meeting and is being held together with Laser Science, the 30th 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 optics and photonics—the science of light—across the disciplines of physics, biology and chemistry. An exhibit floor featuring leading optics companies will further enhance the meeting. For more information, visit http://www.FrontiersinOptics.org.