The Optical Society is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2016. This milestone marks a century of powering optics and photonics by inspiring the study and application of these technologies.
Over the last century, the importance of optics and photonics is seen through advances in science, technology, medicine and the quality of life. Optical equipment and technology were critical components of the U.S. Apollo program, which culminated in the first steps by humans on the moon. The laser, which placed optics at the center of a technological revolution, has become an integral part of our lives with applications in consumer electronics, communications, sensors and medicine. Throughout the Centennial, The Optical Society will honor the significance of these advancements and others while also empowering the next generation of optics and photonics leaders.
The Optical Society's Centennial Advisory Panel, chaired by Dr. Chris Dainty, Professorial Research Associate at Institute of Ophthalomolgy, University College London, have been working with staff and OSA volunteeers to develop a year-long series of programs and products to comemorate 100 years. These include a quarterly booklet series in Optics & Photonics News (OPN), the launch of a Centennial microsite, "Century of Optics" and "OSA 100" books, and celebrations at U.S. and international meetings including FiO, The Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC) and Latin America Optics & Photonics Conference (LAOP). Other Centennial activities will feature the unveiling of a special exhibit, giveaways, receptions, travel grants, traveling lectures and much more.
Throughout 2016, the Society will invite visionaries, futurists, Nobel Prize winners and others in the optics and photonics fields to join the 'Light the Future Speakers Series.' These discussions — open to the public — will be part of several meetings in the United States and across the globe, offering an opportunity to hear directly from those that are paving the way for another century of innovation in light such as one of the world's leading futurists Ray Kurzweil, Director of Engineering at Google and Trustee of MIT Corporation, and Michio Kaku, professor of theoretical physics at City College of New York (CUNY), Princeton University and New York University as well as co-creator of string field theory.
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