Plenary Speaker
Plenary Speaker 1
Date: Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Time: 09:00 - 09:45 hrs
Venue: Conference Hall
Metamaterials Open New Horizons in Electromagnetism
John Pendry
Imperial College London,UK
Abstract
Metamaterials have generated a great deal of enthusiasm partly because they have lifted restrictions imposed by the limited palette of properties available in nature. As a result we can now start to deploy a powerful design algorithm, transformation optics, that allows almost total control over electromagnetic fields, provided that we can design suitable metamaterials. On example of such an application is a cloak which hides a given volume of space from the outside world whilst itself remaining invisible. However this is only one of many potential applications. Transformation optics can for example be applied to designing structures that strongly enhance non linear effects. Finally I shall address the question of metamaterials with a negative refractive index and ask whether losses are inevitable in such systems or whether, given suitable constituent materials, it is possible to strive for systems with arbitrarily small losses.
Biodata
John Pendry is noted for his work on the interaction of electrons and photons with surfaces. He has explored many novel and ingenious aspects of these interactions. In the past decade he has concentrated on problems in photonics, first introducing a computational methodology to study photonic crystals in which the constituents were metallic and therefore dispersive. Then in collaboration with scientists at The Marconi Company he went on to design a series of ‘metamaterials’ whose properties owed more to their micro-structure than to the constituent materials. These made accessible completely novel materials with properties not found in nature. He has recently captured the attention of the media and the popular imaginations as his work has given rise to the potential for invisibility and a perfect lens where the resolution is unlimited by the wavelength of light.
Plenary Speaker 2
Date: Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Time: 09:45 - 10:30 hrs
Venue: Conference Hall
Optical Trapping & Manipulation for Biomedical Applications
Arthur Chiou
National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan
Abstract
In this talk I will begin with a brief historical overview of optical trapping and manipulation, followed by a discussion of recent developments in photonics force microscopy (PFM), optical trap-and-stretch, and oscillatory optical tweezers. Recent theoretical and experimental results from my research group will be presented, and potential biomedical applications of these techniques will be discussed.
Plenary Speaker 3
Date: Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Time: 11:30 - 12:15 hrs
Venue: Conference Hall
Stable and Reconfigurable High-Capacity Optical Networks
Alan Willner
University of Southern California,USA
Abstract
This presentation will highlight issues related to trends needed for enhancing stability and robustness in future optical communication systems. Specific topics include: performance monitoring, channel-degrading effects, efficient modulation formats, and flexible and reconfigurable networking.
Biodata
Alan Willner received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University. He was a Postdoctoral Member of the Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories (Crawford Hill) and a Member of Technical Staff at Bellcore. He is currently Professor of Electrical Engineering - Systems at the University of Southern California. He is the Associate Director for the USC Center for Photonics Technology, is Co-Director of the USC Communications Sciences Institute, and was an Associate Director for Student Affairs for the NSF Engineering Research Center in Multimedia. Prof. Willner has served on several scientific advisory boards for small companies. Prof. Willner has received the following awards: the Presidential Faculty Fellows Award from the White House, the David & Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship in Science & Engineering, the National Science Foundation National Young Investigator Award, the Fulbright Foundation Senior Scholar Lecturing and Research Fellowship, the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) Lasers & Electro-Optics Society (LEOS) Distinguished Lecturer Award, the IEEE LEOS Distinguished Service Award, the USC Associates Award for University-Wide Excellence in Teaching, the USC/TRW Best Engineering Teacher Award, the USC/Northrop Outstanding Junior Engineering Faculty Research Award, the 2001 Eddy Paper Award from Pennwell Publications for the Best Contributed Technical Article (across all 30 magazines in Pennwell's Advanced Technology Division) and the Armstrong Foundation Memorial Prize for the highest-ranked EE graduate student at Columbia Univ. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and the Optical Society of America (OSA), and he was a Fellow of the Semiconductor Research Corp.
Plenary Speaker 4
Date: Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Time: 12:15 - 13:00 hrs
Venue: Conference Hall
Diode Pumped High (average) Power Lasers
Horst Weber
Technical University Berlin,Germany
Abstract
to be updated
Biodata
Technical University Berlin
Diploma Degree 1961
Ph. D. 1965
Carl Scheel Award (DPG-Berlin) 1967
University Lecturer 1968 - 1971
University of Berne/Switzerland
University Lecturer 1970 - 1972
Associate Professor 1972 - 1975
University of Kaiserslautern/Germany
Department of Physics, Applied Physics
Full professor 1975 - 1987
Technical University Berlin Optical Institute, Physics Department
Full professor (1987-2003)
General Manager of the Institute (2000-2003)
Prof. emeritus (since 2003- )
Managing Director (1987-1995) Festkorper-Laser Institut Berlin GmbH (Solid State Laser Institute)
Managing Director (1995-2000) Laser- und Medizin Technologie gGmbH, Berlin
Current Activities
Research: Laser beam characterization (spatial coherence, Wigner/Ambiguity-function, Diode pumped Lasers