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OIDA held its 2nd town hall forum on the commercialization of biophotonics; the takeaways were more nuanced compared to the first OIDA town hall held last October. The forum was held at the OSA BIOMED Congress, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on April 29. The town hall addressed the challenges and opportunities in commercializing biophotonics, itself a worldwide market of about $54 billion annually. The takeaways fall into four categories, listed below.
OIDA will issue a roadmap report on this topic later this year. For questions, contact Tom Hausken. Top Facebook hosted another OSA committee meeting at Facebook's new headquarters in Menlo Park, California, and it provided a window into the future of work. The building at first appears unfinished. The reception desk is made of unfinished plywood. In fact, unfinished plywood appears in a lot of places, and there was even a space marked off by bare studs, no sheet rock.Steel I-beams are bare, with the factory marks still on them. This is intentional, to indicate that "nothing is finished", your work is forever a work in progress. There are no white boards—you just write on the walls and wipe it off. There is art everywhere, but not the framed kind, under glass. It's integrated into the surroundings.
The building design grows on you. What seems confusing and unfinished at first, seems stimulating, coherent and purposeful over time. It really does force you to "think different," to borrow Apple's catch phrase. How does this relate to optics and photonics? Companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, and Amazon each have multiple data centers the size of huge warehouses. Each data center is filled with hundreds of thousands of server boards, each connected to a network, much of that network using optics. Microsoft said (at an OIDA workshop no less) that it clears out each data center down to the floor every 3 years and installs all new equipment, just to keep up. That's the equivalent of replacing your laptop every 3 years, except that each data center costs $200 million and up to renovate. Last year, Facebook alone spent $2.5 billion on new equipment. A good percentage of that is optics. This stuff is driving the optical communications industry right now. So yes, Facebook and its siblings matter a lot to our industry. Many of the workplace practices at FB headquarters are not new, but the Frightful Five seem to be stepping things up: Apple is completing its new ring-shaped headquarters in Cupertino, and Google plans a tent-like headquarters in Mountain View. And they're hiring photonics engineers. Top OIDA has reported in the past on the regional photonics markets, and our view is that the U.S. photonics industry is slightly larger than the European photonics industry. They are as alike as fraternal twins, in size and diversification. But the U.S. is stronger in photonics in military, communications, and life science segments, even if Europe is stronger in machine tools and lighting. Yet, OIDA finds that many in the U.S. mistakenly believe that the U.S. is behind Europe in photonics. Europe does have a good brand: there is a European Commission unit dedicated to funding photonics that has no parallel in the U.S. That funding is only €100 million per year, however; non-military funding from all the European Union governments combined is estimated at €500 million. Including non-E.U. governments and military photonics brings the value closer to €1 billion. Compare that to the total U.S. government funding of photonics of at least $1.3 billion, as estimated by OIDA. The shortcomings in Europe are easy to identify. OIDA attended the annual meetings of Photonics21 and EPIC this spring, in Brussels and Zurich respectively. Common concerns are the labor laws and the lack of a path for small companies to scale up. Europe is home to many small companies, but they remain stuck small. And not necessarily because they want to remain "mom-and-pop" cottage businesses, but because the ecosystem doesn't support them to scale. Many companies feel that they have to have a presence in the U.S. to expand. Venture financing is available, but at a much smaller scale, and there is stronger aversion to risk in the culture overall. And about that European Commission funding: there's a lot of paperwork and a low acceptance rate.
Of course it's not a breeze to succeed in the U.S. either. American businesses have plenty of complaints, but just going by the numbers, the U.S. photonics market is in pretty good shape. More information on regional markets can be found periodically in the bi-monthly OIDA Market Update. Top The finalized revised rules for export control reform for Category XII of the U.S. Munitions List and corresponding Commerce Control List are due out soon from the Obama Administration. The rules control the export and import of military-related items, including optics and photonics for a wide range of applications.
The OMB-reviewed rule changes will be sent to the Congressional House and Senate Foreign Relations Committees for a 60-day notification and review. It is unlikely that Congress would suggest major changes or add new language to the proposed rule changes, but it might be able to suggest that proposed language be removed. By law, Congress needs to be consulted, but it has no official vote of authorization over this process. OIDA expects the final rules to be published in the Federal Register by late summer or early fall. In February, OSA's Chief Scientist Dr. Greg Quarles testified before the House Small Business Committee regarding the proposed rule's effect on small business. OSA's public policy staff continue to closely follow and contribute to this process. For questions, please contact Laura Kolton at lkolto@osa.org. Top OSA will recognize this year's corporate Enabled by Optics contest winner at the plenary keynote session of the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), 05-10 June, 2016, in San Jose, California, USA. In addition, corporate winner Consumer Physics will delve into SCiO via a panel demonstration during the conference on Wednesday, 8 June. Consumer Physics' SCiO is a product that takes near-infrared spectroscopy and shrinks the system behind it from room-sized equipment to a hand-held sensor that integrates with smart phones. This molecular sensor then fits in the palm of your hand, offering insights on everything from what's in your lunch to what pills you're taking. "It's remarkable what Consumer Physics has done," said Dr. Gregory Quarles, chief scientist, The Optical Society." By finding a way to condense a full scanning system, spectroscopy applications increase exponentially. As materials are scanned and identified and the spectral image is recorded and stored, the use cases for this technology grow. It's what's exciting about optics: the possibility transcends the technology of today, providing solutions for tomorrow."
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Top NRL is seeking proposals for innovative research supporting ongoing programs within the Optical Sciences Division - the 9 technology topic areas are enumerated here. The Optical Sciences Division is interested in receiving proposals for research related to these interests. White Papers can be sent to OptSciNRL@nrl.navy.mil and should include a rough cost estimate. The subject of the email shall be "Subj: BAA #56-15-01, Topic # and Topic Title". White Papers should be submitted in either Word or PDF format. If the White Paper is found to be consistent with the intent of the BAA, the applicant may be invited to submit a formal proposal. If selected to submit a full proposal, additional guidance will be provided. This BAA is set to close February 17, 2017. Top
The 21st century is an era in which the very nature of what it means to be human will be both enriched and challenged, as our species breaks the shackles of its genetic legacy, and achieves inconceivable heights of intelligence, material progress, and longevity. While the social and philosophical ramifications of these changes will be profound, and the threats they pose considerable, celebrated futurist Ray Kurzweil presents an inspiring vision of our ultimate destiny in which we will merge with our machines, can radically extend our lives, and are vastly more intelligent. The event is free and open to the public. RSVP: LightTheFuture@osa.org. Top Join the "Write the Future" story contest and share your vision of optics and photonics To enter, write a short fiction story in 300 — 500 words on the future of our field. The winner's story will be published in OPN and will be recognized at OSA's 100th annual meeting, Frontiers in Optics, 17—21 October, in Rochester, New York, USA. Enter to win $500 and a trip to FiO. Submission deadline: 30 June 2016. Send entry with your name, affiliation, email and story title to writethefuture@osa.org For detailed contest guidelines go to osa.org/storycontest. Top Applied Optics publishes articles called Engineering and Laboratory Notes (E&L Notes). These articles are intended to give engineers and technicians a venue to highlight laboratory techniques and hands-on skills required for the design, analysis, fabrication, integration, alignment, and measurement of optical components and systems. Check out these recently published E&L Notes:
Top Team nominations for the Paul F. Forman Team Engineering Excellence Award are due 2 July. This is a great opportunity to showcase the value and importance of engineer teams! Named in memory of Paul F. Forman, the award recognizes technical achievements such as product engineering, process and software development, and patent development, as well as contributions to society such as engineering education, publication and management, and furthering public appreciation of optical engineering. Submit your team nominations by 2 July 2016. The awards will be presented in October during Frontiers in Optics 2016, OSA's 100th Annual Meeting. Recent winners include: Logic Analysis Tool Team (LAT Team), Intel Silicon Photonics Solutions Group, ZygoLOT Automotive Precision Optical Team, and Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) Lidar Team. Top Join 3,000 of your colleagues in our Optics & Photonics Industry Network LinkedIn Group. This one-of-a-kind Forum for Industry lets you participate in discussions about cutting-edge issues. Extend your professional network. Exchange information about problems, ideas and solutions. Collaborate with experts in your field. Now is the perfect time to build a relationship with fellow optics and photonics professionals!
We are committed to ensuring the value of your OSA Industry Development Associates Membership, so please email OSA if you have any suggestions for new programs or comments on your membership. Forward this message to your colleagues. Not yet a member? Learn more about the benefits of membership. Top
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