Harnessing Light: Optics and Photonics Conference

Morgan Monroe

President of Women in STEM

Bio: Morgan is a senior this year at BSU and a Biology major with Chemistry and Biochemistry minors. Morgan does cellular and molecular research with Dr. Ken Adams on Alzheimer's Disease related proteins and is the president of Women In STEM where they provide a community to talk about ongoing developments in the field and while also doing workshops to help them find opportunities here at BSU and prepare for their careers following there time here. 



Morgan will be a part of the panel discussion in DMF 288 from 1-2 PM during the lunch period.

David O'Malley

Professor of Social Work

Bridgewater State University

https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-o-malley-6b5265b/

Dr. O'Malley's educational and professional background includes having worked with community and faith-based organizations which were engaged in inter-faith and interreligious work in education, housing, health and human services work. His experience in having worked in a variety of settings and with a diverse set of people has prepared him to respond to the issues he faced in his career as a social worker and now as a social work educator. His particular commitments are in helping students develop their knowledge, skills and self-awareness so that they are prepared to be life-long learners. A changing work environment with emerging issues requires students to be adaptable to working in a variety of settings with different populations and issues. This includes the emerging issues of climate change and climate resilience, with a focus on sustainable practices.  Another element of Dr. O'Malley's professional activity is in designing and providing on-going staff development for local agencies and field education instructors.



Talk: Exploring the Social, Economic, and Environmental Sustainability Implications in Using Photonics in Food Production, Safety and Quality

Michael Williams

Optica Ambassador, Founder of Black in Photonics

Boston Electronics

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjwilliamsphd/

Michael J. Williams is from Philadelphia, PA, USA. He received a Bachelor of Science in Physics in 2009 from Morehouse College and a Master in Science in Materials Science in 2012 from Fisk University. He received a PhD in Optics from Delaware State University in 2018. His research was the investigation of the linear, nonlinear, and fluorescent characterization of various nanodiamond suspensions using well-established characterization methods and techniques. The purpose was to determine a deeper understanding on how to engineer nanodiamonds to enhance their optical properties for lasers, biophotonics, and quantum optical applications. He has served on several committees promoting new leadership in optics and photonics and racial diversity and inclusion. He has also presented ground-breaking science policy to the US Congress. Currently, he is an Applications Specialist for Boston Electronics, a photonics distribution company that enables its customers to develop and manufacture superior products and perform leading edge research by providing them with a broad range of advanced electro-optical solutions and knowledgeable application support.



Talk: Black in Photonics



This talk will discuss Dr. William's experience being Black working in Photonics and his experience as the founder of Black in Photonics.

Anu Agarwal

Principal Research Scientist

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anuradha-agarwal-a654265/

Dr. Anu Agarwal is a Principal Research Scientist at MIT, developing a Si-CMOS compatible platform for mid-IR sensing and imaging. She is an Optica Fellow (2022), has over 250 journal and refereed conference publications, 17 awarded patents, and 4 pending patents. She is director of electronic-photonic packaging at the MIT Microphotonics Center and leads the Lab for Education and Application Prototypes (LEAP) at MIT.nano within the Initiative for Knowledge and Initiative in Manufacturing (IKIM). Through this LEAP initiative her team has built hybrid advanced manufacturing skills training programs to bridge the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities gap in STEM across the workforce supply chain from K-Gray. 

Website: https://photonics.mit.edu/people/principal-investigators/anu-agarwal 

Talk: Harnessing Light for Sensing 

This talk will include the use of light in Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) sensing in general, and for chemical sensing in particular.

Juejun Hu

Professor

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jj-hu-253b816/

Prof. Juejun (JJ) Hu is currently the John F. Elliott Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT. His research primarily focuses on integrated optics and photonics. Prof. Hu has authored and co authored more than 150 refereed journal publications, and he has been recognized with the SPIE Early Career Achievement Award, the Robert L. Coble Award from the American Ceramic Society, the Vittorio Gottardi Prize from the International Commission on Glass, the NSF CAREER award, and the DARPA Young Faculty Award, among others. Hu is a fellow of Optica, SPIE, and the American Ceramic Society. He is also the co-founder and president of 2Pi Inc., a start-up focusing on metasurface optics technologies.

Talk: A Fisheye View of (Meta-)Lens Making

In this talk, I will provide an overview on the history and state-of-the-art on making lenses – arguably the most important optical element. The talk will also introduce metalenses, a new type of lenses using nanostructures to bend the propagation direction of light, and discuss their transformative impacts on applications ranging from consumer electronics to biomedical imaging.

Matthew Sheinman

Graduate Student

Boston University

Bio: Matthew is a graduate student research assistant at Boston University. He is interested in ultrafast optics and biological microscopy. His research is focused on the development of novel imaging techniques. With Professor Shyamsuner Erramilli, he has worked on leveraging femtosecond laser sources for imaging at upward of 1 trillion frames per second. With Professor Jerome Mertz, he is researching new techniques for biological microscopy.



Talk: 5 Trillion Frames per second camera

Robert Vigneau

Program Manager

Spark Photonics Foundation

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-vigneau/

Robert  Vigneau has over 17 years of experience in education. He started as a high school teacher and has worked in higher education and youth workforce development before leading the SparkAlpha program. Since joining Spark in 2021, Robert has successfully implemented the program throughout Massachusetts and opened students’ eyes to new and exciting education and career pathways in STEM.

Workshop Session: SparkAlpha Design Jam

The design jam is an opportunity for student teams to work together to address a problem by conceptualizing a photonics-based sensing device. Teams will then pitch their idea to a photonics expert and will be asked questions about their concept.