Optica Blog
A message from the 2024 Optica President, Gerd Leuchs
Some of you may have heard that Optica has recently made some leadership changes. Given the significance of these changes, I wanted to provide a brief overview of them and why they occurred.
Added: 03 Sep 2024
Seeing the Unseen
All around us, a hidden world exists that remains invisible to the naked eye. The adult human body has between 28 and 36 trillion cells spread over 400 cell types, all too small to be seen, except for egg cells.
Added: 15 May 2024
Lasers for Sustainability
The International Day of Light is held on May 16th every year, a date that marks the anniversary of the first successful operation of the laser by Theodore Maiman in 1960. This pivotal moment changed the course of human history by introducing a technology that has now become widespread in science, industry, and everyday life.
Added: 14 May 2024
Nobel Laureate Bill Phillips at Optica Leadership: Optics and the Quantum Reform of the Metric Syste
Nobel Laureate in Physics and Optica Honorary Member, known for laser cooling and trapping of atoms, joined the 2024 Optica Leadership Conference to cover measurement standards and how light plays a critical role in modern standards for time, distance, electrical current and more.
Added: 13 Mar 2024
Mathematician, physicist and entrepreneur Stephen Wolfram chats with Optica Leadership
Stephen Wolfram, the computational innovator behind Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha and the Wolfram Language, joined Optica Leadership to discuss his career and his thoughts on technologies of the future.
Added: 12 Mar 2024
Optica celebrates World Engineering Day
From biophotonics and quantum computing to renewable energy and material science, optical engineers harness the power of light to change the world. We join UNESCO in celebrating the World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development and recognizing the contributions of the engineers of Optica who are shaping a brighter future.
Added: 04 Mar 2024
Synopsys to acquire Ansys
Two familiar names in the optical design software space are to join forces. Synopsys, which owns Code V, OptSim and other optical design tools, is acquiring simulation and analysis software developer Ansys, the firm behind the Speos, Zemax OpticStudio and Lumerical brands.
Added: 28 Feb 2024
The UK re-joining Horizon Europe signals a commitment to collaboration
The UK re-joins the €95.5bn Horizon Europe programme in a move many scientists have been holding their breath for, signalling that the UK and Europe are ready to collaborate more closely again on research.
Added: 08 Sep 2023
Empowering Community Solutions to Climate Challenges: Optica and AGU’s GEMM Initiative Collaborate w
Optica through the GEMM Initiative—a joint international project with the American Geophysical Union (AGU)—has joined hands with AGU’s Thriving Earth Exchange (Thriving Earth) to promote community science efforts that provide tools and solutions to community priorities related to climate change and environmental issues.
Added: 06 Sep 2023
Edwin Land and the Birth of Instant Photography
Photography can show us who we are, and make permanent the ephemeral stories carried by light. From the two-tone heliography to modern smartphones, the story of photography is a story of innovation. It’s the story of optics
Join us in celebrating World Photography Week and reflect on a monumental photography development: ...
Added: 16 Aug 2023