Activities Revisiting Harnessing Light Over the last year, a major priority for the U.S. Advisory Committee for optics has been to raise awareness of the need to update the 1998 NRC report, Harnessing Light, Optical Science and Engineering for the 21st Century. As the first comprehensive report in the field of optics, Harnessing Light not only captured the importance of optics and photonics but also described the major challenges facing the field. The report clearly demonstrated that optics is an enabling technology to many industrial, governmental, military, and healthcare organizations. In the past ten years, much progress has been made in the development of optical technologies for fiber-optic telecommunications, solid-state lighting, digital photography, displays, and diagnostic medicine. While Harnessing Light has been extremely useful to both U.S. and foreign academic, industrial, and governmental organizations, optical science and engineering has advanced to a point where a revisiting of the scientific and policy issues would be timely. An effort is now being made to update the Harnessing Light report, and the USAC is working closely with the National Academies’ National Materials Advisory Board (NMAB), the Board on Physics and Astronomy, and the Board on Science, technology, and Economic Policy. While the NMAB is taking the lead, the USAC remains fully engaged in discussing the project with potential sponsors. The USAC’s white paper on the subject can be read here. Active Learning Opportunities: ALOP Workshops The USAC/ICO has joined UNESCO and SPIE-the International Society of Optical Engineering in sponsoring Active Learning in Optics and Photonics (ALOP) workshops. These week-long teacher training events for physics teachers from universities and senior high schools are typically held in developing countries since optics and photonics are among the few experimental physics areas that have been found to be relevant and adaptable to research and educational conditions in those countries. To date, workshops have been held or scheduled in the following countries: Ghana and the Philippines (2004); Tunisia (2005); Morocco and India (2006); Tanzania, Brazil, and Mexico (2007); and Zambia and Cameroon (2008). Learn more from the attached PowerPoint presentation. Education & Training Conferences: ETOP 2007 Once again, the USAC/ICO is joining ICO, OSA, SPIE, and IEEE/LEOS in sponsoring the 2009 Education and Training in Optics and Photonics (ETOP) conference. This biannual conference is dedicated to international optics and photonics education, and it brings together leading optics and photonics educators from all levels to discuss, demonstrate and learn about new developments and approaches to teaching in these fields. The 2009 ETOP Conference will be held 5-7 July in St. Asaph, North Wales, UK. For more information go to www.etop.org.uk ICO Approved as Scientific Associate Member of ICSU Because optics is deeply rooted in physics, the ICO will also keep its status as an Affiliated Commission in the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. ICSU recognition is considered a first step towards the recognition of optics as a scientific discipline of its own. U.S. Optics Overview Report Read the March 2005 USAC/ICO summary “Optics in the United States” by Chair Vasudevan Lakshminarayanan. ICTP Winter College on Optics The Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and the International Commission for Optics organizes the annual Winter College on Optics. The theme varies from year to year, but the format always features lectures by international experts, internal seminars and group discussions, and laboratory demonstrations. The 2009 ICTP Winter College on Optics in Environmental Sciences will be held February 2-13, 2009 in Trieste, Italy. See http://www.ico-optics.org/pdfs/Poster_WinterCollege2009.pdf for more information. The 2008 ICTP Winter College on Photonics in Nanosciences and Technology will be held February 11-22, 2008 in Trieste, Italy. The 2007 ICTP Winter College, held 12-23 February in Trieste, focused on Fibre Optics, Fibre Lasers and Sensors. View a list of participants and additional program materials. The 2006 ICTP Winter College on Quantum and Classical Aspects of Information Optics took place January 30 – February 10, 2006. View program materials here. ICO Congresses ICO-21, 2008 Congress 7-11 July, 2008, Sydney, Australia The International Commission for Optics’ 21st Congress was held July 7-11, 2008 in Sydney, Australia. The ICO Congress is a triennial meeting where new officials are elected, new initiatives discussed, and the agenda set for the next three years. The NAS-appointed U.S. delegation consisted of professors Iam Choon Khoo (Pennsylvania State University) (chair), Jim Harrington (Rutgers University), Duncan Moore (University of Rochester) and Alexander Sawchuk (University of Southern California). Also attending were ICO Vice Presidents Glenn Sincerbox (University of Arizona) and Phillip Stahl (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center), and the Executive Director and/or senior assistants of three U.S. professional societies: Optical Society of America (OSA), the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers/Lasers and Electro-Optical Society (IEEE/LEOS). Duncan Moore and Jim Harrington were elected ICO Vice President and Treasurer respectively. Both are currently members of the U.S. Advisory Committee. In regard to major activities, ICO has established a Committee for the Regional Development of Optics (CREDO) and has contacts with the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy. Both are designed to support and promote optical science and engineering in developing countries. The annual Winter College on Optics at ICTP is an example of one of these programs. The next Winter College will be held February 2-13, 2009 and will focus on Optics in Environmental Science. ICO also actively supports two conference series: Education and Training in Optics and Photonics (ETOP), which is a global meeting series dedicated solely to optics education, and Information Photonics (IP). The ICO also organizes annual Regional and Topical Meetings, a Traveling Lecturer Program aimed at promoting optics in regions where particular support is needed, and publishes every three years the latest installment in the series "Trends in Optics". Finally, the ICO awards several prizes for outstanding achievements in optics: the ICO Prize, the ICO Galileo Galilei Award, and the ICO/ICTP Award. The ICO Galileo Galilei award is given to scientists from developing nations who have made significant accomplishments under adverse conditions (economic, political, etc).

Revised 21 November 2008