Presentation Proposals Welcome For SPIE Defense And Commercial Sensing

Abstracts for presentations in sensors, infrared technology, laser systems, spectral imaging, radar, LiDAR, and photonics research being accepted through 9 October

Proposals for research reports in sensors, infrared technology, laser systems, spectral imaging, radar, LiDAR, and other topics are being accepted through 9 October by organizers of SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing 2018, the leading global sensing, imaging, and photonics technologies event.

Sponsored by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, SPIE Defense and Commercial Sensing will run 15 through 19 April in Orlando, Florida, its long-time home and now a regular venue in a three-year rotation among cities on both coasts. Complete event information is at www.spie.org/DCS.

The technical conference is the largest meeting for sensing and imaging engineers, scientists, and industry leaders, bringing together 5,000 people from around the world to share reports on the latest results from the lab along with overviews on key governmental missions relevant to the industry.

Participants span the whole of the international defense, security, and sensing community, including industry, government, and academia. Researchers, scientists, engineers, program managers, and suppliers gather for information-sharing, business creation, professional development and training, networking, and an exhibition.

Conferences are being organized around longstanding anchor technologies such as infrared (IR), radar, and hyperspectral imaging, and in dynamic new areas of focus.

Highlighted applications areas and technologies include:

• Cyber-physical systems and the Internet of Things (IoT), highlighting innovations in areas such as sensor fusion, big data, deep learning, cyber security (a blog post at www.photonicsforabetterworld.org/2017/09/changing-life-as-we-know-it-ubiquitous.html details many technologies involved, including quantum computing, machine vision, and many others)
• Unmanned autonomous systems for air, ground, and underwater, utilizing technologies such as LiDAR; IR, multispectral, and hyperspectral imaging; and imagery and data analysis (a blog post at www.photonicsforabetterworld.org/2017/09/healthier-crops-faster-disaster-relief.html details intriguing commercial and defense applications)
• Agricultural and food safety applications of photonics, including agricultural and food safety/quality applications such as unmanned aerial vehicles for crop inspection, hyperspectral imaging, phenotyping, and infrared thermography
• Hyperspectral imaging, multispectral sensors, and ultraspectral spectrometers, with commercial applications in precision agriculture inspection, cancer tissue analysis and more; and defense and security applications in chemical analysis, target and anomaly detection, and others (a blog post at www.photonicsforabetterworld.org/2017/09/hyperspectral-imaging-defense.html illustrates versatility of the technology in defense and commercial applications).

“Our 2018 Orlando location will bring attendees into a region boasting a major hub of defense technology, a premier aerospace and space location, and the world-renowned optics and lasers program at CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics at the University of Central Florida,” said SPIE Senior Director Andrew Brown.

As examples of the area’s focus, Brown noted that Orlando is home to BRIDG (Bridging the Innovation Development Gap), the world’s first industry-led smart sensor consortium, and Luminar Technologies, which recently announced a novel approach to LiDAR design to will make autonomous vehicles both safe and scalable. Leading international nanoelectronics research center imec is establishing imec Florida in Osceola County.

The area is also home to innovative sensor companies such as Photon-X, Talawah Technologies, and NanoZyme, and notable defense companies including Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Harris, L3 Technologies, Rockwell Collins, General Dynamics, and DRS Technologies.

About SPIE
SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics, an educational not-for-profit organization founded in 1955 to advance light-based science, engineering, and technology. The Society serves nearly 264,000 constituents from approximately 166 countries, offering conferences and their published proceedings, continuing education, books, journals, and the SPIE Digital Library. In 2016, SPIE provided $4M in support of education and outreach programs. For more information, visit www.spie.org.