Date: Aug. 13, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Optics and Photonics Research Priorities, Grand Challenges Presented in New Report; National Initiative Recommended to Lead Collaborative Effort
"Much is unknown when pursuing basic optical science and its transition to engineering and ultimately to products, but the rewards can be great," said Alan Willner, professor of electrical engineering at the
"People do not think of Google as an optics company, but a typical Google data center has more than a million lasers in it," said Paul McManamon, technology director of the Ladar and Optical Communication Institute at the
The committee named five grand challenges facing the nation that can be addressed with advances in optics and photonics technology. The first is to keep up the pace of technological achievement established in previous decades. Others include improved military surveillance and missile defense, achieving cost parity for solar power versus fossil fuel across the country's electrical grid, reaching seamless integration of photonics and electronics at the chip level, and developing optical sources and imaging tools to support increased resolution in manufacturing.
Eight particular areas of technological application are discussed in separate chapters: communications, information processing, and data storage; defense and national security; energy; health and medicine; advanced manufacturing; advanced photonic measurements and applications; strategic materials for optics; and displays. Each chapter reviews progress that has occurred since the 1998 National Research Council report Harnessing Light: Optical Science and Engineering for the 21st Century, as well as the technological opportunities that have risen from recent advances in optical science and engineering. The report recommends actions for the development and maintenance of global leadership in photonics-driven industries, including both near-term and long-range goals, likely participants, and responsible agents of change.
A National Photonics Initiative will help manage the breadth of rapidly expanding applications of photonics technologies, the report says, allowing both government and industry to form coherent strategies for technology development and deployment. The recommended initiative should also spearhead a collaborative effort to improve the collection and reporting of research, development, and economic data on this sector.
"The impact of optics and photonics on
The study was sponsored by the National Science Foundation; Army Research Office; Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Microsystems Technology Office and Defense Sciences Office; National Institute of Standards and Technology; U.S. Department of Energy's Basic Energy Sciences and Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy divisions; International Society for Optics and Photonics; Optical Society of America; and Air Force Office of Scientific Research. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering,
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Pre-publication copies of Optics and Photonics: Essential Technologies for Our Nation are available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).
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NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences
Board on Manufacturing and Engineering Design
and
Division on Policy and Global Affairs
Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy
Committee on Harnessing Light: Capitalizing on Optical Science Trends and
Challenges for Future Research
Paul McManamon (co-chair)
Technology Director
Ladar and Optical Communication Institute
Alan E. Willner (co-chair)
Professor of Electrical Engineering
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering
Rod C. Alferness1
Chief Scientist
Alcatel-Lucent (retired), and
Richard A. Auhll Professor and Dean
Thomas M. Baer
Executive Director
Joseph Buck
Vice President of Program Development
Milton M. Chang
Managing Director
Incubic Management LLC
Constance J. Chang-Hasnain
John R. Whinnery Chair Professor
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
Charles Maurice Falco
Chair of Condensed Matter Physics, and
Professor of Optical Sciences and Physics
College of Optical Sciences
Erica R. Fuchs
Assistant Professor
Department of Engineering and Public Policy
Waguih S. Ishak
Division Vice President and Director
Corning Inc.
Prem Kumar
AT&T Professor of Information Technology
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department
Northwestern University
David A.B. Miller1,2
W.M. Keck Foundation Professor of Electrical Engineering
Duncan T. Moore1
Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship, and
Rudolf and Hilda Kingslake Professor of Optical Engineering
The
Edward I. Moses1,+
Principal Associate Director
David C. Mowery
Professor of New
N. Darius Sankey
Director of Portfolio Strategy
Intellectual Ventures
Edward White
President
Edward White Consulting
RESEARCH COUNCIL STAFF
Erik Svedberg
Study Director
____________________________________
1 Member, National
2 Member,
+ Resigned