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OSA News Releases

Welcome to the OSA News Releases page. This page contains news from the Optical Society, including research highlights from OSA's journals, conference news, award announcements and more. Sort releases by category below to see all the news releases in a particular area.

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News Releases

Photonics Societies Unite to Announce the National Photonics Initiative
23 May 2013
The American Physical Society (APS), IEEE Photonics Society, Laser Institute of America (LIA), the Optical Society (OSA) and SPIE, the International Society of Optics and Photonics, today announced the launch of the National Photonics Initiative (NPI), a collaborative alliance seeking to unite industry, academia and government experts to identify and advance areas of photonics critical to maintaining U.S. competitiveness and national security.
OSA Foundation Receives $250,000 Donation from IPG Photonics for Siegman International School on Lasers
23 May 2013
The OSA Foundation has received a $250,000 donation from IPG Photonics (IPG) for the Siegman International School on Lasers Endowment. The gift provided by IPG will help permanently establish the program, modeled after the summer school program that first took place in 2011 at the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP). The donation will go toward providing world-class lecturers, important student travel grants and achievement awards as well as other general programming costs. In recognition of this significant contribution, IPG has been named co-founder of the school.
OSA Student Members Gather in Ottawa for IONS-NA 5 Conference on Optics
21 May 2013
The International OSA Network of Students (IONSTM) will host the IONS-NA 5 conference—the first in Canada—at the University of Ottawa May 31 – June 2. The conference, organized by the Ottawa-Carleton OSA Student Chapter, will feature technical sessions and programming for graduate students in the field of optics and photonics. The Optical Society (OSA) sponsors the event.
Science Groups Launch National Photonics Initiative in an Effort to Advance the Field of Optics and Photonics
21 May 2013
Webinar to detail white paper recommendations for US funding and investment in photonics
OIDA Releases 2013 Data Center Workshop Report
13 May 2013
The Optoelectronics Industry Development Association (OIDA) today announced the release of a new report titled “Future Needs of ‘Scale-Out’ Data Centers: An OIDA Workshop for Stakeholders,” summarizing the output of a workshop co-hosted by OIDA, The Center for Integrated Access Networks (CIAN), and the U.S. National Science Foundation.
OSA, SPIE and MRS announce 2013-2014 Congressional Science and Engineering Fellows
07 May 2013
The Optical Society (OSA); SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics; and the Materials Research Society (MRS) are pleased to announce their 2013-2014 Congressional Science and Engineering Fellows.
Six OSA Members Elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
03 May 2013
Six members of the Optical Society (OSA) were elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in scientific research and engineering. They were among the 84 new members and 21 foreign associates elected to the NAS in 2013.
On-site Asbestos Detector Offers Promise of Better Workplace Safety
02 May 2013
Asbestos was once called a miracle material because of its toughness and fire-resistant properties. It was used as insulation, incorporated into cement and even woven into firemen’s protective clothing. Over time, however, scientists pinned the cause of lung cancers such as mesothelioma on asbestos fiber inhalation. Asbestos was banned in the many industrialized countries in the 1980s, but the threat lingers on in the ceilings, walls and floors of old buildings and homes. Now a team of researchers from the University of Hertfordshire in the U.K. has developed and tested the first portable, real-time airborne asbestos detector.
New LED Streetlight Design Curbs Light Pollution
24 April 2013
Recent innovations in light emitting diodes (LEDs) have improved the energy efficiency of streetlights, but, until now, their glow still wastefully radiated beyond the intended area. A team of researchers from Taiwan and Mexico has developed a new lighting system design that harnesses high-efficiency LEDs and ensures they shine only where they’re needed, sparing surrounding homes and the evening sky from unwanted illumination. The team reported their findings today in the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Optics Express.
KMLabs Receives 2013 CLEO/Laser Focus World Innovation Award
23 April 2013
The CLEO: 2013 co-sponsors (APS, IEEE Photonics Society, OSA) and Laser Focus World today announced KMLabs (Kapteyn-Murnane Laboratories) as the winner of this year’s CLEO/Laser Focus World Innovation Award.