OSA Rochester Section Newsletter

have recently turned into reality. The talk is sure to be enjoyable for Trekkies and non-Trekkies alike. Some examples of modern technologies the appeared in the original Star Trek series prior to their actual invention include 3D print-ers, mobile phones, tablet PCs, remote spectrome-ters, flat screen displays, and lasers as both weap-ons and medical devices. Recent advancements in photonics research suggest that more Star Trek based technologies will be devel-oped in the near future including invisibility cloak-ing through metamaterials, teleportation through quan-tum entanglement, and tractor beams based on optical tweezers. Come celebrate some of the amazing achievements of the past 50 years at the

This year not only marks the 100th anniversary of the OSA, but also the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. Looking back, we find that in 2016 many of the “futuristic” devices and ideas found in the TV show have become common-place in the real world. The show’s creator Gene Rod-denberry dreamed of socie-ties capable of interstellar travel, but also of charac-ters whose daily lives relied on photonics and light-based technologies, much like us today. The OSA Rochester Sec-tion is excited to announce that Star Trek expert/enthusiast Peter Hallett will speak at this year’s annual dinner about the photonics-enabled ideas and props from the original show (1966–69) that visionary scientists and engineers

OSA Rochester Section annual dinner May 3rd at the Burgundy Basin Inn (1361 Marsh Rd Pittsford, NY 14534). Be sure the set your phas-ers to stun! Pre-register for the event at www.osarochester.org Please contact to house @osarochester.org with any questions and/or in-quiries.

The Photonics of Star Trek to headline annual dinner

Highlights:

The Photonics of

Star Trek to be

celebrated at an-

nual dinner

MCC Optical

Tech. open house

RIT researchers

contribute to LI-

GO gravitation

wave detection

The Optical Society

Rochester section

Founded in 1916

OSA Rochester Section Newsletter

Inside this issue:

Past/Upcoming talks 2

Local outreach 3

Research Highlight 4

Industry Connection 5

About us 8

Sponsors 8

OSA Rochester Section 2015-2016 Council

Early Spring 2016 2015-2016, Issue 4

President Jessica Nelson (Optimax)

Past president Wade Cook (QVI)

President elect Jason Rama (Newport RGL)

Treasurer Jim Sydor (Sydor Optics)

Secretary Ben Zwickl (RIT)

Education chair Tanya Kosc (LLE)

Program co-chair Mike Marcus (Lumetrics)

Program co-chair Daniel Balonek (Harris)

House co-chair Dmitry Vorobiev (RIT)

House co-chair Pedro Vallejo Ramirez (UR)

IT chair Daniel Staloff (Corning)

Councilor-at-large Mari de Wit (QED)

Councilor-at-large Mark Palvino (Meliora Enterprises)

Councilor-at-large Garreth Ruane (RIT)

Councilor-at-large Derek Walvoord (Exelis)

Contact us: [email protected]

Captain Kirk using a phaser.

http://www.osarochester.org

mailto:[email protected]




Monroe Community College Optical Tech. open house by Jason Rama, Newport Richardson Grat ings Laboratory

Past and upcoming talks

The Rochester community has a very rich history in optics and related technolo-gies, along with a proven support system to develop talented workers to help de-velop and sustain such tech-nologies. No doubt, this intrinsic characteristic of our community is one of the core attributes that drove the gov-ernment’s decision to locate the Photonics Manufacturing Institute here. Since that decision, there has been even greater interest in the community at large, related to how they can become involved in this technology renaissance, and the signifi-cant impact it will have on this region’s potential for economic growth. That is precisely where insti-tutions such as Monroe Community College come in. In 1963 MCC became the first school in the nation to create a two-year degree program (A.A.S.) for training technicians to work in the optical industry. On February 23rd, the com-munity joined OSA Roches-ter at the MCC Optical Tech-nology Open House and Lab Tour, where we all had a valuable opportunity to learn more about what this im-portant teaching program has to offer, and gained some valuable insight into how it will support the ever-

rising interest and demand for education in these fields, and help to produce capable, competent and passionate employees to support the companies involved. The Open House and Lab Tour was graciously hosted by both Dr. Alexis Vogt, En-dowed Chair and Associate Professor of Engineering Technologies and Optical Systems Technology, and Mr. William Strong, Professor, Engineering Technologies. The tour included a walk-through of the various facili-ties available to the students in the program, which in-clude many optical tables for optical system construction and testing, a facility for grinding and polishing, in-cluding high technology in-strumentation capable of performing asphere shaping, a phase matching interfer-ometer with precision rail, and many other metrology and fabrication instrumenta-tion as well. The department relies signifi-cantly on donations and sup-port from the industrial com-munity. It benefits profound-ly when various companies furnish it with various instru-mentation, and in turn, the companies benefit as the students are learning directly on the instruments, using the

techniques that they will be deploying in their fields post-graduation. With the syner-gistic relationship in place, MCC clearly demonstrated what a strong relationship it has with the industrial fabric of the community -- a valua-ble asset indeed. MCC has received national and international recognition for its comprehensive optics program which includes manufacturing and electron-ics, design and function of optical components, optical instruments, and experi-mental techniques.

continued on page 6

Date Speaker Title or topic

Jan 26 Andrew Berger (UR) Measuring Bone Density w/ Raman Spectroscopy

Mar 15 Jiebo Luo (UR) Computer Vision with a Billion Eyes

Apr 5 Francisco Duarte (Interferometric Optics) The origin of the quantum entanglement experiments

Apr 19 Arun Varshneya (Saxon Glass Technologies) Chemically strengthened glasses

May 3 Peter Hallett (SPIE) The Photonics of Star Trek

“… students are

learning directly on

the instruments,

using the

techniques that

they will be

deploying in their

fields post-

graduation.”

-Jason Rama

Dr. Alexis Vogt, Endowed Chair and Associate Professor of Engineering Technologies and Optical Systems Technology

2015-2016, Issue 4

RMSC showcases the science of light in new exhibit

Local

outreach

ture. Crank, spin, and illumi-nate to make light bend, sound emanate, and shad-ows dance. Spark your pas-sion for science and discover the true wonders of light. You can also try some fun experiments yourself! Vis-it www.YouTube.com/RMSCVideo for directions on how to build your own incan-

The Rochester Museum and Science Center has a great exhibit dedicated to optics called Illumination: The World of Light and Optics. Immerse yourself in more than 15 interactive exhibits that demonstrate exciting scientific concepts from re-flection and refraction to ra-dio waves to color tempera-

descent light bulb using ma-terials at home. The exhibit is perfect for kids and young adults. Sponsors include: Apollo Optical G-S Plastic Optics Harris Corporation Navitar RPC Photonics AccuCoat Applied Image Group EMF, A Dynasil Company FluxData LaserMax Navitar Optimax Rochester Precision Optics Sydor Optics TOPTICA Photonics, Inc. Vincent Associates Other exhibits may be of interest are the Electricity Theater, a Tesla coil show, and Nano, an interactive exhibit about nanoscale sci-ence, engineering, and tech-nology.

“Featured Presenters” spread knowledge at RMSC

Think of a hot day when the asphalt road has a shimmer-ing mirage that looks like a puddle of water. The hot road warms the air causing strong refraction of light. The same exact thing happens to the air around our bodies, but it is much harder to see. With the help of students from the Rochester Institute of Technology, see the heat coming from your hand with a Schlieren, or streak, imag-ing system and learn about why heat and light behave in this way. Much Ado about Nothing: The Wonders of Vacuum Science and Technology Saturday, March 19, 11am–3pm Get hands-on to discover what happens in a vacuum.

The Rochester Museum and Science Center (RMSC) has been the cornerstone for public science outreach in Rochester for decades. Members of the Rochester optics community both con-tribute and take advantage of RMSC programs. The “featured presenters” series may be of particular interest. Enjoy these opportunities to meet and greet, do hands on experiments and discover the research being done right here in Rochester. Fea-tured Presenters Times may vary depending on the pre-senter. “Seeing the Invisible”: Schlieren Imaging Sunday, March 13, 11am–3pm

What happens when air is removed from a "Magdeburgh Sphere"? With the Mohawk Valley Chapter of the AVS and ESTG, com-pare objects falling through air to objects fallng through a vacuum. Examine liquids moving in vacuum, balloons expanding in vacuum, and, of course, what happens to Marshmallow Peeps in vacu-um. URMC Brain Awareness Week Saturday, March 19, 1-2pm In honor of brain awareness week, learn about reflexes and visual adaptation with University of Rochester grad-uate students. Learn more at RMSC.org

A laser demonstration at the RMSC exhibit “Illumination: The World of Light and Optics.”

http://www.YouTube.com/RMSCVideo

http://www.YouTube.com/RMSCVideo

http://www.rmsc.org/science-museum/programs-and-events/item/114-science-alive

Detection by international LIGO Collaborative opens new window on the universe with detection of gravitational waves from colliding black holes Six Rochester Institute of Technology researchers are among the authors of a pa-per announcing what may be the most important scientific discovery in a century—findings that confirm the ex-istence of gravitational waves predicted in Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. For the first time, scientists have observed ripples in the fabric of spacetime called gravitational waves, arriving at the Earth from a cataclys-mic event in the distant uni-verse. This confirms a major prediction of Albert Einstein’s 1915 general theory of rela-tivity and opens an unprece-dented new window onto the cosmos. Gravitational waves carry information about their dra-matic origins and about the nature of gravity that cannot otherwise be obtained. Phys-icists have concluded that the detected gravitational waves were produced during the final fraction of a second of the merger of two black holes to produce a single, more massive spinning black hole. This collision of two black holes had been pre-dicted but never observed. The gravitational waves were detected on Sept. 14, 2015, at 5:51 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (9:51 UTC) by both of the twin Laser Inter-ferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detec-tors, located in Livingston, La., and Hanford, Wash. The LIGO Observatories are

funded by the National Sci-ence Foundation and were conceived, built, and are operated by Caltech and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The discovery, accepted for publication in the journal Physical Review Letters, was made by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (which includes the GEO Collaboration and the Aus-tralian Consortium for Inter-ferometric Gravitational As-tronomy) and the Virgo Col-laboration using data from the two LIGO detectors. RIT researchers listed as co-authors of the paper to be published in Physical Review Letters are John Whelan, associate professor in RIT’s School of Mathematical Sci-ences and principal investi-gator of RIT’s group in the LIGO Scientific Collabora-tion; Richard O’Shaugh-nessy, assistant professor in the School of Mathematical Sciences; Carlos Lousto, professor in the School of Mathematical Sciences and an American Physical Socie-ty Fellow; James Healy, post-doctoral research fellow; and graduate students in RIT’s astrophysical sciences and technology program Jacob Lange and Yuanhao Zhang. They are all mem-bers of RIT’s Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation, a research hub in the College of Science and an RIT Research Center of Excellence, led by Ma-nuela Campanelli, director of the center, professor in the School of Mathematical Sci-ences and an American Physical Society Fellow. RIT President Bill Destler lauded the team for its role in this scientific revelation. “This is a historic day in sci-

ence, and RIT is thrilled that our researchers played such an important role in this col-laboration's profound discov-ery,” Destler said. “Their commitment to their field and to their research exemplifies what we set out to do at RIT. We are delighted that our university has been able to facilitate their work and look forward to supporting them as they continue their re-search.” The LIGO paper prominently cites 2005 landmark re-search done by Campanelli and her team on binary black hole mergers. Based on this milestone work, Lousto and Healy numerically modeled the merger of a pair of black holes and simulated gravita-tional waveforms that match the one which LIGO detect-ed. Campanelli’s team was one of the first to solve Einstein’s strong field equations de-scribing the inspiral, merger and ringdown of binary black hole systems—and simulate colliding black holes on a supercomputer. Her collabo-rators were Lousto and Yosef Zlochower, an associ-ate professor in RIT’s School of Mathematical Sciences, and Pedro Marronetti, pro-gram director of the division of gravitational physics at the National Science Founda-tion. Hans-Peter Bischof, RIT professor of computer sci-ence and a member of the center and the LIGO Scien-tific Collaboration, has pro-duced scientific visualiza-tions of their seminal re-search and subsequent work.

continued on page 7


“The gravitational

waves were

detected ... by both

of the twin Laser

Interferometer

Gravitational-wave

Observatory

(LIGO) detectors,

located in

Livingston, LA and

Hanford, WA.”

Research

highlight

RIT researchers among group whose work confirms

Einstein’s theories by Susan Gawlowicz, Rochester Inst itute of Technology

Rochester Precision Optics has been selected as a final-ist for the 2016 Prism Awards for Photonics Inno-vation, a leading internation-al competition that honors the best new photonics prod-ucts on the market. The PRISM award is the “Oscars of Photonics”, re-ceiving applications from more than 35 countries across the globe. Winners will be announced in Febru-ary 2016 at a gala event held during SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco, California. Rochester Precision Op-tics is a finalist in the catego-ry of Imaging and Camer-as for its latest integrated system design, CMOS Night Observation Device, also

known as CNOD. This digi-tal system brings a brand new approach to electro-optical technology for both day and night use. Night vision systems have been very prominent in the field of Military/Defense and have successful applications in sectors such as Security, Law enforcement and Sur-veillance. To support these applications, the CNOD was designed to be a hand-held monocular, a clip-on in line weapon sight, or as a stand

alone weapon sight. The device relies on superior optics and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. CMOS image sensors have re-ceived much attention over the last decade, offering the promise of ultra low power and camera-on-chip integra-tion. Learn more about the CNOD at http://www.rpoptics.com/systems-integration/cnod-system/

2015-2016, Issue 4

Rochester Precision Optics is a PRISM Award Finalist from Rochester Precision Optics (rpoptics.com)

Industry

connection

“[The PRISM Award]

displays the great

technology coming

out of RPO and what

good quality optics

can do for a system

type device. We are

excited about this

recognition.”

-Richard Bryant,

Director of Advanced

Programs of RPO

RIT ’s CCRG p layed an impor t ant ro l e i n in t erpre t ing the s igna ls measured by the

twin Lase r In te r fe rometer Grav i ta t i ona l -wave Observatory (L IGO) detec to rs . (Front

row, le f t to r i gh t ) Jam Sadiq , John W helan, Jason Nordhaus , Mon ica Ri zzo, Car l os

Lous to and Manuela Campanel l i ; (second row) Joshua Faber , Brennan I re land and

Nai x in (Chr is ) Kang; ( th i rd row) Yosef Z lochower , Yuanhao (Har ry) Zhang and

Richa rd O’Shaughnessy; ( four th row) Dennis Bowen and Jake Lange; and ( f i f th

row) Zachary S i lberman, Hans -Peter B ischof and James Heal y .

RPO’s CMOS Night Observat ion Device (CNOD)

http://www.rpoptics.com/systems-integration/cnod-system/




MCC Optical Tech. open house, continued from page 2

“...the faculty are

continually hard

at work to modify

and advance the

curriculum to

continue to

include the latest,

most cutting edge

technologies...”

-Jason Rama

Courses currently offered within the program deal with geometrical optics, optical instruments, metrology, opti-cal fabrication, wave optics and applications, fiber optics, electro-optics, laser applica-tions and holography and photo/imaging science. The courses in the curricu-lum are designed to meet the needs of both the people who have no previous expe-rience in the field and those already employed who wish to upgrade or improve their skills. Heavy emphasis is placed on laboratory skills, and a minimum of half of the total course time is devoted to implementing experi-mental techniques, and strong emphasis is placed on a team approach for problem solving. Dr. Vogt noted, during the tour, that the faculty are con-tinually hard at work to modi-fy and advance the curricu-lum to continue to include the latest, most cutting edge technologies in the fields of

optics and photonics. They are calling on the greater industrial community to help guide the decisions as to what material and technolo-gies to include. It is clear that the Depart-ment of Optical Systems Technology will continue to thrive and grow, based on support received from indus-try, the strong interest shown by members of the commu-nity and enrolled students,

and perhaps most important, the very strong knowledge, desire to share that knowledge, and passion exhibited by the faculty of the College. As a result, great things are clearly in store for this program in the years to come. Learn more about MCC Opti-cal Technology Program at http://www.monroecc.edu/depts/eomctech/optics.htm

MCC’s Opt ica l Technology program prov ides re l evant t ra in ing on ins t rumentat ion

used in the opt ics indus t ry and produces wel l sought -af ter techn ic ians .

(Photo c red i t : Jason Rama)

Many i ndus t ry exper ts a t tended the MCC open house.

(Photo c red i t : Jason Rama)

http://www.monroecc.edu/depts/eomctech/optics.htm

http://www.monroecc.edu/depts/eomctech/optics.htm

holes have been so neatly verified by direct observa-tion,” Lousto said. Black holes are massive stars that have collapsed into compact objects whose grav-ity is too strong for light to escape. Collisions of black holes produce gravitational waves that ripple through space at the speed of light. The detection of the first gravitational wave follows the centennial celebration in 2015 of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which predicted the existence of these waves. They result from strongly gravitating masses like black hole mer-gers, highly spinning neutron stars and stellar explo-sions—and from the Big Bang. Although these waves carry extreme amounts of energy, they couple weakly to matter, and only highly sensitive detectors like LIGO can ob-serve them. Analysis of the shape of gravitational waves can reveal information about the systems that generated them. LIGO research is carried out by the LIGO Scientific Col-laboration, a group of more than 1,000 scientists from universities around the Unit-ed States and in 14 other countries. More than 90 uni-versities and research insti-tutes in the collaboration develop detector technology and analyze data; approxi-mately 250 students are strong contributing members of the collaboration. The LIGO Scientific Collabo-ration’s detector network includes the LIGO interfer-ometers and the GEO600 detector. LIGO was originally pro-posed as a means of detect-

“The LIGO announcement is both a historical and a very emotional moment in sci-ence, especially for us, since our research contributed to the identification of the first gravitational wave observa-tion as a binary black hole merger,” Campanelli said. Whelan and O’Shaughnessy specialize in analyzing gravi-tational wave data and de-veloping methods for detect-ing and interpreting gravita-tional wave signals. “This discovery kicks off the field of gravitational wave astronomy,” said Whelan, principal investigator of RIT’s group in the collaboration. “For the first time, we’ve ob-served the universe through the new window opened up by Advanced LIGO.” O’Shaughnessy’s research connects the gravitational-wave signatures observed by LIGO to the astrophysical sources that produced them. He estimates both the nature of these sources—in this case, a binary black hole—and how they formed. “LIGO has just made the first direct observation of binary black holes,” O’Shaughnessy said. “The next year or two, as LIGO accumulates more data and makes the first cen-sus of binary black holes in the universe, will really trans-form our understanding of how these systems are made.” O’Shaughnessy works close-ly with Lousto and Healy, who use supercomputers to produce accurate numerical simulations of binary black hole systems like the one detected by LIGO. “It is incredibly exciting to see that our predictions for the merger of two black

ing these gravitational waves in the 1980s by Rainer Weiss, professor of physics, emeritus, from MIT; Kip Thorne, Caltech’s Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theo-retical Physics, emeritus; and Ronald Drever, profes-sor of physics, emeritus, also from Caltech. Virgo research is carried out by the Virgo Collaboration, consisting of more than 250 physicists and engineers belonging to 19 different European research groups. The discovery was made possible by the enhanced capabilities of Advanced LIGO, a major upgrade that increases the sensitivity of the instruments compared to the first generation LIGO detectors, enabling a large increase in the volume of the universe probed—and the discovery of gravitational waves during its first obser-vation run. The U.S. National Science Foundation leads in financial support for Advanced LIGO. Funding organizations in Germany (Max Planck Soci-ety), the U.K. (Science and Technology Facilities Coun-cil, STFC) and Australia (Australian Research Coun-cil) also have made signifi-cant commitments to the project. Several of the key technologies that made Ad-vanced LIGO so much more sensitive have been devel-oped and tested by the Ger-man UK GEO collaboration. For more information:

https://www.rit.edu/news/story.php?id=54601


http://ccrg.rit.edu/

http://www.rit.edu/news/story.php?id=54591

2015-2016, Issue 4

RIT researchers confirm Einstein’s theories,

continued from page 4

“The discovery was

made possible by

the enhanced

capabilities of

Advanced LIGO, a

major upgrade that

increases the

sensitivity of the

instruments ...”





http://ccrg.rit.edu/



The purpose of the Rochester Section of the Optical Society is to promote and disseminate knowledge of optics and closely related sciences in both its local community and throughout the world by (i) bringing together scien-tists, engineers, business leaders, ed-ucators and students, (ii) providing professionals and students with edu-cational resources for the purpose of improving and developing their abili-ties, (iii) encouraging the sharing of knowledge and innovation, and (iv) encouraging students to study optics and other sciences.

About OSA Rochester Section The Optical Society

Rochester section

Founded in 1916

Contact us: By mail:

OSA Rochester Section

Attn: Jim Sydor, Treasurer

31 Jetview Dr.

Rochester, NY 14624

By E-mail:

[email protected]

Find us at

osarochester.org

Thank you to our sponsors!

OSA Rochester Section Newsletter

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