Download LaserFest kicks off in 2010 and continues throughout the year. OSA

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
I
“
LaserFest kicks
off in 2010
and continues
throughout the
year. OSA is a
founding partner
of this worldwide
celebration
commemorating
the 50 th
anniversary
of the first
working laser.”
feel very fortunate to be starting my term as OSA President at a time when the Society is advancing in many positive ways. Many important new projects will launch
this year, while several key initiatives already under way are positioned for significant
growth. I’m confident our society will achieve a great deal in 2010. Here are some of the
highlights that you can look forward to.
In 2008, OSA’s leaders committed to expanding our role as a source for content related
to energy research innovations and commercial applications. Our original ad hoc working
group of OSA officers has grown into an Energy Advisory Group (EAG). The EAG has
focused on enhancing the energy-related content in OSA meetings and publications, with
good results. We are offering several new technical meetings in June 2010, including SolidState and Organic Lighting and Optical Nanostructures for Photovoltaics, which will take
place in Karlsruhe, Germany, and Optics for Solar Energy, in Tucson, Ariz., U.S.A. Plans
are also in place for a meeting on Renewable Energy and the Environment in 2011.
On the publications side, in March 2010, Energy Express will launch as a bimonthly
supplement to Optics Express. We are soliciting submissions in areas that encompass the science and engineering of light and its impact on sustainable development, the environment
and green technologies. For more details, visit Optics Express at www.opticsinfobase.org/oe.
I want to thank Bernard Kippelen of the Georgia Institute of Technology, U.S.A., and
Roland Winston of the University of California, Merced, U.S.A., for their terrific work as
the supplement editor and focus issue coordinator.
Serving optics and photonics communities around the globe is another of OSA’s top priorities. Rod Alferness and Tom Baer, the 2008 and 2009 OSA Presidents, lent a lot of support to efforts in this area, traveling the world on behalf of the Society with OSA’s CEO Liz
Rogan. The size and diversity of our membership continues to grow, and we now have OSA
members in more than 95 countries. I’m pleased to note that the participation of members
from around the world in OSA governance is keeping pace with the Society’s globalization.
This year, one-third of our council and committee members reside outside the United
States. In September, OSA and the Brazilian Physics Society (BPS) will co-sponsor a new
technical event in Latin America: the Latin America Optics and Photonics (LAOP) 2010
Conference, to be held in Recife, Brazil. OSA member and International Council Chairelect Anderson Gomes has done outstanding work in helping to organize this conference.
LaserFest kicks off in 2010 and continues throughout the year. OSA is a founding partner of this worldwide celebration commemorating the 50th anniversary of the first working
laser. OPN will proudly support this initiative with laser-related articles in each issue. In
this issue, check out Jeff Hecht’s history of continuous wave gas lasers (p. 16) and Steve
Wilk’s interesting article on defunct lasers (p. 10). Other programs will reinforce the message that technological innovation improves our daily lives and results in economic prosperity, and they will be targeted to the general public, students and educators, legislators,
funding agencies and government entities.
In my upcoming columns, I’ll talk in more detail about these and other OSA initiatives. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as your president. I encourage
you to send me your feedback about the direction of our society. You can reach me at
[email protected].
—
James C. Wyant
OSA President
4 | OPN Optics & Photonics News
www.osa-opn.org