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29 November 2016
Sir David Payne Delivers OSA Light the Future Keynote at Photonics India 2016
29 November 2016
Sir David Payne Delivers OSA Light the Future Keynote at Photonics India 2016
Visionary and Inventor of the Erbium-doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) To Discuss Photonics Advances in Telecommunications
WASHINGTON – The Optical Society (OSA), the leading global professional association in optics and photonics, will host its final centennial Light the Future speaker series on Monday, 5 December, 17:30 – 18:00 (IST) during the Photonics India 2016 Conference in Kanpur, India. OSA Fellow and Director of the Optoelectronics Research Centre, Southampton, United Kingdom, Sir David Payne CBE FRS FREng, will give the special keynote presentation.
“The Optical Society is delighted to have the distinguished Sir David Payne speaking at our centennial celebration with the eighth presentation of the Light the Future speaker series,” said Alan Willner, President of The Optical Society. “Sir David Payne has contributed enormously to the field of optics with his research of fiber fabrication and fiber amplifiers, giving our community the foundation for future impactful advances and applications of optics.”
Much of Payne’s research has led to breakthroughs in both the telecommunications and fiber laser industries. In the 1980s, Payne and his colleagues invented the erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA). The erbium amplifier is used on optical repeaters which work to amplify a modulated laser beam directly without the need of optoelectronic and electro-optical conversion. The development of the EDFA has become the framework for today’s faster internet transmission speeds and has led to the major deployment and cost-effectiveness of optical fiber networks.
With over 650 published conference and journal papers, founding SPI Lasers plc, now a subsidiary of Trumpf Corporation, Ditzingen, Germany, and leading 11 photonics companies around the Southampton area, Payne is an accomplished entrepreneur and academic. He is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng), a fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) and was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2004.
The Light the Future speaker series kicked off in February of this year in Washington, D.C. with Ira Flatow, host of Science Friday, and has toured eight international cities as part of The Optical Society’s Centennial program. The series has featured Mary Lou Jepsen at OFC 2016; Ray Kurzweil and fomer U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu at CLEO 2016, and world renowned futurist and theoreotical physicist Michio Kaku.
You may stay up to date with the Light the Future program by visiting www.osa.org/lightthefuture. All sessions are free and open to the public and media. RSVP at lightthefuture@osa.org. Additional information can be found by following #OSA100LTF and @OpticalSociety on Twitter.
Most Light the Future presentations will be recorded and available at: osa.org/100 or on The Optical Society’s (OSA) YouTube channel.
About The Optical Society
Founded in 1916, The Optical Society (OSA) is the leading professional organization for scientists, engineers, students and business leaders who fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate achievements in the science of light. Through world-renowned publications, meetings and membership initiatives, OSA provides quality research, inspired interactions and dedicated resources for its extensive global network of optics and photonics experts. For more information, visit osa.org/100.
About Photonics India
Photonics India is a premier conference in the emerging areas of Photonic science and technologies. The first Photonics conference was held at Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore in 1992. Since then the conference is being organized biennially in different parts of the country.
Photonics India 2016 is the thirteenth biennial international conference that will be held at IIT Kanpur from Sunday, 4 December 2016 to Thursday, 8 2016. Photonics India continues to focus on this theme and extends its reach by pushing the limits and boundaries of science amongst students and young researchers. The program will include pre conference short courses to be delivered by well-known experts on emerging topics in Optics and Photonics. This will provide an opportunity to discover recent technical advances, promote information exchange and ideas towards innovations through interaction with research and technology pioneers from across the globe. More information at: www.iitk.ac.in/photonics2016/
OSA 100 Sponsors
The Optical Society acknowledges the generosity of our corporate sponsors and media partners: Thorlabs, Inc., Corning, Inc., Edmund Optics, Go!Foton, Hamamatsu Corporation, IDEX Corporation, Navitar, Inc., OFS, Optimax Systems, RPC Photonics, Inc., Synopsys, Inc., Toptica Photonics, Inc., TRUMPF, Inc., Business Wire, Laser Focus World and Photonics Media.
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