Our professional network

May 1, 2013

Internationally, many efforts are underway to support innovation and growth in photonics-which in turn promises to help society in so many fundamental ways.

Conard Holton

Internationally, many efforts are underway to support innovation and growth in photonics-which in turn promises to help society in so many fundamental ways. In Europe, Photonics21 (www.photonics21.org), with more than 1700 member companies and organizations, serves as a platform for establishing priorities in photonics research and innovation and is implementing a common European photonics strategy. In the US, many diverse groups are supporting efforts to create a National Photonics Initiative (http://spie.org/x88993.xml) intended to increase collaboration among industry, government, and academia, and make photonics a national priority in areas that are critical for maintaining competitiveness and national security.

At a policy level these efforts are increasingly critical for competing in the global economy. The real world of photonics technology, however, lies in the hands of scientists, applied R&D specialists, and the engineers, managers, entrepreneurs, and investors who bring innovations to life. Many of these experts will be attending LASER World of Photonics and the World of Photonics Congress this month in Munich (see our preview on page 74).

Many other such individuals show up in the pages of this magazine and on our web site, e-newsletters, webcasts, and videos. For example, in our cover story this issue, researchers from OFS Laboratories describe a new hollow-core optical fiber design with low latency that is potentially suitable for datacenters (see page 31). In another feature, scientists from Beckman Laser Institute and UC Irvine review new developments in optical coherence tomography resulting in high-resolution, high-speed, and long-range OCT imaging (see page 47). And engineers from nanoplus write a feature introducing singlemode interband-cascade lasers, which enable spectroscopic absorption throughout the 3-6 μm wavelength range (see page 70).

As you can see, we are fortunate that the photonics world includes individuals with a very wide range of knowledge and skills, from policy makers to physicists and design engineers.

About the Author

Conard Holton | Editor at Large

Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.