Artificial intelligence has become a recurring theme at photonics conferences, but the conversation has so far been dominated by two well-established narratives: photonic hardware as an accelerator for AI workloads, and machine learning as a tool for inverse design. While both are important, they leave a broader and arguably more transformative question insufficiently explored: how can AI, and specifically agentic, generative and large language model-based AI actively augment the work of photonics researchers and engineers?

This workshop aims to open that conversation across the full R&D stack: from physical device design and simulation, through circuit-level verification, to system and network-level optimization and scientific discovery.

This year Integrated Photonics Research, Silicon and Nanophotonics (IPR) and Novel Optical Materials and Applications (NOMA) will organize a joint session to highlight the latest breakthroughs in the development of new material platforms and technologies for photonic integrated circuits. Chairs seek contributed submissions for consideration in this special session. 

This year Integrated Photonics Research, Silicon and Nanophotonics (IPR) and Nonlinear Photonics (NP) will organize a joint session to highlight the latest breakthroughs in the investigation and exploitation of nonlinear effects in integrated waveguides and devices. Chairs seek contributed submissions for consideration in this special session. 

Enjoy food and drinks with your friends and colleagues during the Congress Reception.

Admission is included for Full Technical registrants. Additional guest tickets can be purchased when registering for the meeting for USD 75.

This informal, networking-oriented session aims to spark discussion and foster meaningful connections among participants at the Optica Advanced Photonics Congress, with a particular focus on the Specialty Optical Fiber (SOF) community. The session will feature a series of short, high-level lightning talks from invited speakers across academia and industry, highlighting emerging applications of specialty fibers, recent advances in fiber design and manufacturing and pathways from fundamental research to commercialization.

The program will consist of five to eight 5-minute lightning presentations, followed by open and/or structured networking, transitioning into themed roundtable discussions. A brief wrap-up session will conclude the event. Proposed discussion topics include: yield bottlenecks in hollow-core fiber production; alignment and scalability challenges in multicore fibers; overlooked material limitations; machine-learning-designed fibers versus real-world fabrication tolerances; and draw-tower constraints often underestimated in modeling. Attendees will gain insight into current challenges in specialty fiber technologies while building connections across academia and industry.

Speakers:

Leonard Budd
University of Southampton, United Kingdom
Works on hollow-core optical fibers, with a focus on fiber fabrication and metrology.

Amy Van Newkirk
Penn State University, United States
Works on multi-core and hollow-core optical fibers and their applications.

Joel Villatoro
University of the Basque Country, Spain
Works on optical fiber sensors, including fiber Bragg gratings, interferometric and plasmonic sensing, with applications in biosensing and multiparameter measurement.

Christopher Holmes
University of Southampton, United Kingdom
Works on optical fiber and speckle-based sensing, with a focus on integration into composite materials, structural health monitoring and manufacturing-aware photonic systems.

Francesco Tani
CNRS, University of Lille, France
Works on ultrafast nonlinear optics in hollow-core fibers, including frequency combs, attosecond pulse generation and measurement and high-intensity pulse dynamics in gas-filled fibers.

Additional invited speakers, particularly from industry, will be included in the final program.

Goals of the session:

Facilitate meaningful networking and new collaborations among specialty fiber researchers and practitioners. This will be achieved by keeping presentations concise and informal, allowing ample time for discussion and direct interaction among participants.

Highlight emerging trends and key challenges in specialty fiber technologies. Invited speakers will provide high-level perspectives on applications, design and commercialization, establishing common ground for discussion.

Encourage cross-sector engagement between academia, industry and early-career researchers. The session format and speaker selection will intentionally bring together diverse backgrounds and career stages, creating an inclusive and accessible environment.

Optica Members Only. Please RSVP here. 

Join BGPP colleagues for a special evening at The Auld Dubliner (15 minutes walking distance from the conference venue). After brief welcoming remarks, enjoy drinks and hors d'oeuvres at this Irish Pub. Participation is free for full congress registrants from the BGPP community, but confirmation through this form will be appreciated.

Thank you to our sponsors LumIR Lasers and Paris Saclay University for their support of this event and BGPP!

Since the 1996 seminal paper that discussed ultrafast laser writing in transparent materials the field has grown significantly. No longer limited to laboratory experiments, the method is now used by many start-up companies for real-world applications and has, in many cases, proven competitive to existing and well-entrenched photolithographic approaches. Nevertheless, ultrafast laser direct writing remains an exciting and relevant topic for research. On the one hand, it is often the only technique that can produce optical waveguides in many important materials opening up device miniaturisation across different fields. On the other hand, improving our fundamental understanding of the modification mechanism involved with irradiating materials can still provide new and significant improvements to optical functions.

This special symposium will be delivered as part the BGPP Topical technical program and will include talks from four invited speakers covering specific topics from index modification mechanisms under few cycles laser pulses to the demonstration of laser waveguide writing within new materials that have the potential to open new applications.

Organizers

Matthieu Lancry, ICMMO, University Paris Saclay, France
Stefan Nolte, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Germany