Photonics technologies are amazing, fascinating, and you find them everywhere: in communication, entertainment, medical, manufacturing, automotive, energy, lighting, agriculture, photovoltaic, security, art, … Whether you are looking for a new career, a student that needs to make a choice for your studies, if you are a financial investor or a politician that influences policies, think PHOTONICS !
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A day without Photonics
Why all the hoopla about light, lasers, optics and photonics? Why does light and our relatively recent capacity to make it do what we want it to do matter so much? Why is “Waves and their applications in technologies for information transfer” one of the relatively few content areas defined in the Next Generation Science Standards? Because our understanding of light and waves is the foundation for the technology behind so many of the 21st century essentials: cell phones, data storage, medical imaging, just to name a few. Check out this humorous and telling video by SPIE about the horror of imagining just a single day without photonics or the modern conveniences it makes possible!
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Happy International Year of Light 2015!
The International Year of Light is a global initiative which will highlight to the citizens of the world the importance of light and optical technologies in their lives, for their futures, and for the development of society. It is an unique opportunity to inspire, educate, and connect on a global scale.
On 20 December 2013, The United Nations (UN) General Assembly 68th Session proclaimed 2015 as the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies (IYL 2015).
This International Year has been the initiative of a large consortium of scientific bodies together with UNESCO, and will bring together many different stakeholders including scientific societies and unions, educational institutions, technology platforms, non-profit organizations and private sector partners.
In proclaiming an International Year focusing on the topic of light science and its applications, the United Nations has recognized the importance of raising global awareness about how light-based technologies promote sustainable development and provide solutions to global challenges in energy, education, agriculture and health. Light plays a vital role in our daily lives and is an imperative cross-cutting discipline of science in the 21st century. It has revolutionized medicine, opened up international communication via the Internet, and continues to be central to linking cultural, economic and political aspects of the global society.
Dr. Harshavardhan Reddy Pinninty 