It’s critical for Laser Focus World—and the multidisciplinary photonics community that we represent—to recognize the accomplishments and excellence of early career individuals. That’s why we’re very pleased to present the 2021 honorees of the inaugural Laser Focus World Rising Stars Award program, which was developed to recognize young professionals in the photonics industry who have shown a dedication to the field and are on a path toward leadership in the future. In this issue, Senior Editor Justine Murphy highlights the accomplishments, outstanding attributes, involvement, contributions, and motivations of each Rising Stars award honoree (see article).
In keeping with promises of the future, we also look at how machine learning reduces barriers for the future of healthcare photonics. Nearly every significant advancement in healthcare has been enabled by photonic instrumentation ranging from the simple optical microscope to the fluorescence microplate scanner. Today, countless photonics technologies stand poised to spark the next revolution in healthcare, many of which, like Raman spectroscopy and nonlinear microscopy, have been covered quite extensively over the past year. One of the roadblocks associated with translating these technologies into clinical settings has been the sheer size and complexity of the datasets. In this issue, contributing editor Robert Chimenti explores how machine learning is now being applied to image and spectral processing and its potential to revolutionize the role of photonics in the healthcare industry over the next several years (see article).
Also in this issue, we cover microwelding glass with ultrashort-pulse lasers (see article); one-laser, multicolor nanoscopy (see article); multiscale optical simulation (see article); tunable external cavity lasers that power high-speed coherent transmission (see article); and glass-based diffusers in healthcare applications (see article). As always, I hope you enjoy this issue!
