(VIDEO) MIRTHE Summer Workshop concludes; new roadmap coming soon
Houston, TX--On August 1-7, 2010, the Mid-Infrared Technologies for Health and the Environment (MIRTHE) Center held its MIRTHE Summer Workshop at Rice University in Houston. Launched in 2006, MIRTHE is a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center headquartered at Princeton University with five other universities as partners: City College of New York; Johns Hopkins; Rice; Texas A&M; and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
The official goal statement on the MIRTHE website is to develop mid-infrared (3-30 µm wavelength) optical trace gas sensing systems based on new technologies such as quantum-cascade (QC) lasers or quartz-enhanced photo-acoustic spectroscopy, with the ability to detect minute amounts of chemicals found in the environment or atmosphere, emitted from spills, combustion, or natural sources, or exhaled.
According to Claire Gmachl, Princeton University professor and MIRTHE director, funding for the MIRTHE Center has been renewed for its fifth year and the Center has been commended for its R&D, cross-center integration, educational outreach, industry relations program, and active boards. The funding includes a few new pilot projects on mid-IR eye surgery and QC laser-pumped solid-state lasers. MIRTHE has also added a research and teaching fellow (Yamac Dikmelic at Johns Hopkins University) who is available as a guest lecturer. Gmachl noted that the 2010 Summer Workshop had 47 oral, 75 poster, and 13 keynote and tutorial presentations (as well as 190 registrants).
Gmachl added that in October, a press release would be timed with the document release of the newest version of the MIRTHE Center Roadmapping Report (available in October by contacting [email protected]), which highlights the most important mid-IR applications and the technology required to develop effective sensors. She added that MIRTHE is working to create a more public forum for discussion of the Roadmap above and beyond the Roadmapping blog that appears on the MIRTHE website at http://mirtheroadmapping.blogspot.com/.
--Posted by Gail Overton; [email protected]; www.laserfocusworld.com