Plenary Speakers
26 - 30 July 2026
Hilton Long Beach
Long Beach,
Margaret Murnane
University of Colorado, UNITED STATES
Ultrabright tabletop UV sources for nuclear-referenced optical clocks and materials metrologies
We demonstrate ~100mW of VUV light at 8.4eV at a MHz repetition rate using four-wave mixing in structured hollow fibers. The novel source has applications in photoionization and photoelectron spectroscopies, and in nuclear-referenced optical clocks.
About the Speaker
Margaret Murnane is a Professor of Physics, Fellow of JILA, Distinguished Professor of the University of Colorado, and directs the NSF Science and Technology Center for Real Time Functional Imaging called STROBE. She works with a multidisciplinary group and collaborators in ultrafast laser and x-ray science, with broad applications in nanoscale functional imaging. She was awarded the Optica Wood Prize and the Optica Ives Medal, among other honors.
Elaine Wong
University of Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
Re-thinking Fiber-to-the-Home and Building Networks for the Next Decade: Challenges and Emerging Solutions
The telecommunications industry is transitioning toward an experience-driven era, shaped by immersive and interactive applications that place stringent demands on network latency, bandwidth and reliability. Over the past two decades, passive optical network (PON) technologies have been central to delivering high-capacity broadband access to homes and businesses. As fiber access continues to evolve beyond the curb and basement and deeper into indoor environments, this trajectory is set to accelerate. This talk examines the key drivers behind this shift, the technical and architectural challenges of deploying fiber within buildings, and emerging solutions aimed at ensuring indoor fiber networks can consistently meet user experience and application performance expectations.
About the Speaker
Elaine Wong received her Ph.D. (2002) degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Melbourne, Australia. She is a Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor and is currently Pro Vice Chancellor (People & Equity) of the University. Her current research interests focus on advancing optical communication and networking technologies to enable future human–machine immersive applications. Elaine currently serves on the IEEE Communications Society Emerging Technologies Committee and previously served on the IEEE Technical Activities Board Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She is a former elected member of the IEEE Photonics Society Board of Governors and past Chair of the IEEE Communications Society Optical Networking Technical Committee. Elaine previously served as General Chair of the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC) 2025 and has held editorial roles on several leading journals, including IEEE Network, IEEE/Optica Journal of Optical Communications and Networking and IEEE/Optica Journal of Lightwave Technology. She is a Fellow of Optica and Engineers Australia.
