2023 Program
| 8:30-9:00 | PHO 9th floor atrium | Registration and Breakfast |
| 9:00-9:10 | PHO 906 | Opening Remarks and Welcome Address
Photonics Center Director, Prof. Thomas Bifano, and BU SPIE&OPTICA Executive Board |
| 9:10-10:00 | PHO 906 | Keynote Presentation
Topic: Near-field terahertz networking Speaker: Daniel M. Mittleman ｜Professor of Engineering at Brown University, OPTICA, APS, IEEE fellow The recent dramatic growth in interest in the use of high-frequency (millimeter-wave and terahertz) carrier waves for wireless communications has spurred a great deal of research activity. In some cases, such as fixed point-to-point backhaul, systems operating above 100 GHz are already in or nearing commercial deployment. On the other hand, significant research challenges remain for the deployment of local area networks, which must manage factors such as user mobility and line-of-sight blockage of directional beams. Interestingly, such networks may often be able to operate in a regime in which most or all of the broadcast sector is located in the near field of the transmitter. This possibility opens up a host of new ideas for wave front engineering, in particular wave fronts that can only exist in the electromagnetic near field. Here, we discuss a few examples, focusing on the class of wave fronts that can be engineered to curve around an intervening obstacle, delivering data to a user located in the shadow of the obstacle. This near-field effect presents an intriguing alternative to the popular notion of intelligent reflecting surfaces for blockage mitigation.
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| 10:00-11:00 | PHO 906 | Featured Presentations |
| 10:00-10:25 | Topic: From Photonics Education to Industry Leadership: My Journey and Lessons Learned
Speaker: Yunzhou (Sophia) Shi ｜ Clinical Research Operations Manager at Meta Career trajectory, highlighting the skills and experiences gained during their photonics education and how she translated them into industry leadership roles. |
| 10:30-10:55 | Topic: Career Transitions in Photonics
Speaker: Matthew Posner | OPTICA Ambassador 2023 Navigating career transitions within the photonics field, such as moving from academia to industry or transitioning into leadership roles, and discussing strategies for a successful transition. |
| 11:00-12:30 | PHO 9th floor atrium | Student Poster Session
Winners: Hongli Ni – Boston University: “Millimeter-deep micron-resolution vibrational imaging by shortwave infrared photothermal microscopy” Krishangi Krishna – Brown University: “Engineering ultra-low power optical tweezers using femtosecond lasers” |
| 12:30-13:30 | PHO 906 | Lunch |
| 13:30-14:45 | PHO 906 | BU Alumni Talk |
| 13:30-13:50 | Topic: Photonics research at BU as an undergraduate, graduate and now post-doctoral associate
Speaker: Panagis D. Samolis | Postdoctoral Researcher at Boston University | Ph.D. advised by Prof. Michelle Sander An alumni speaker sharing the journey of photonic research during both undergraduate and graduate studies. |
| 13:55-14:15 | Topic: Job Preparation Strategies during Ph.D.
Speaker: Peng Lin | Optical Scientist | Ph.D. advised by Prof. Ji-Xin Cheng An alumni speaker sharing his journey from academic research to industry, highlighting the transferable skills and strategies gained and the impact of job finding. |
| 14:20-14:40 | Topic: Bringing Optics and Photonics to Undergraduates
Speaker: Allison M. Marn | Assistant Professor at Roger Williams University | Ph.D. advised by Prof. M. Selim Ünlü An alumni speaker discussing the transition from optics major graduate student to an educator in the university. |
| 14:45-15:30 | PHO 906 | Panel Discussion
Topics: Opportunities and Challenges in Optics and Photonics Fields Guests: Daniel M. Mittleman, Yunzhou (Sophia) Shi Optica ambassadors: Matthew Posner, Joshua Burrow BU alumni: Alex Matlock, Peng Lin, Allison M. Marn, Raeef Istfan, |
| 15:30-18:30 | PHO 7th floor atrium | Optics & Photonics Fair
Thorlabs | IDQuantique | Energetiq | Tissue Vision | Metalenz | PlenOptika | Fundamental Optical Solutions |
| 17:30-18:30 | PHO 7th floor atrium | Reception |