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28 March 2018
Astrophysicist Nergis Mavalvala to Deliver OSA Light the Future Keynote
28 March 2018
Astrophysicist Nergis Mavalvala to Deliver OSA Light the Future Keynote
Prospects for the new field of multi-messenger astronomy will be presented in this public lecture hosted at
The Philips Collection
WASHINGTON – The Optical Society (OSA), the leading global professional association in optics and photonics, will host the latest in its Light the Future speaker series on 9 April, 5:30 – 6:30 P.M. ET during OSA’s Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. The Curtis and Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Fellow of The Optical Society, Professor Nergis Mavalvala will detail the launch of the new era of gravitational wave astrophysics.
Dr. Mavalvala is a longstanding member of the scientific team that announced the first direct detection of gravitational waves from colliding black holes by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. She has also conducted pioneering experiments on generation and application of squeezed states of light, and on laser cooling and trapping of macroscopic objects to enable observation of quantum phenomena in human-scale systems. Prior to joining the physics faculty at MIT in 2002, Mavalvala was a postdoctoral fellow and research scientist at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech).
With 129 papers published in gravitational wave astrophysics and quantum measurement science, Mavalvala is an accomplished researcher and explorer. In 2017, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. She received the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, as a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration in 2015. In addition to being an OSA Fellow, she is also MacArthur Fellow and an American Physical Society Fellow.
The Light the Future speaker series was created during The Optical Society’s Centennial in 2016 to highlight the optical sciences in our everyday lives. Speakers have included visionaries, futurists and Nobel Laureates.
Additional information can be found by following @OpticalSociety on Twitter and by using the hashtag #OSALightTheFuture. OSA’s Light the Future presentations will be recorded and available on The Optical Society’s YouTube channel. Hosted at: The Phillips Collection, 1600 21st Street, NW, Washington.
About The Optical Society
Founded in 1916, The Optical Society (OSA) is the leading professional organization for scientists, engineers, students and entrepreneurs 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.
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