State of Industry Subject of Photonics North Keynote

The market for photonics in North America and the rest of the world, as well as projections for the rest of 2013 and 2014, will be the subject of a keynote address by the Optical Society’s (OSA) Tom Hausken at Photonics North 2013, being held this week in Ottawa.

In his presentation, Hausken, senior engineering and applications advisor, will cover several sectors of the photonics market, including optoelectronics, lasers, LEDs, displays, solar cells, passive optics, imagers and sensors. He will also provide updates on the US National Photonics Initiative (NPI), an inter-society effort launched last month to improve support for photonics in the US, following the recent National Academies’ report on the topic; and the advocacy activities of the Optoelectronics Industry Development Association (OIDA).

“In many ways, the North American photonics industry is in a better position than corresponding industries in Europe and Asia — but this position is not assured,” Hausken said. “Industry endeavors such as the NPI, as well as OIDA’s own advocacy efforts, are aimed at creating an industry roadmap and winning support for specific programs over the longer term.”

Other plenary session speakers include Roel Baets, professor at Ghent University, Belgium, and researcher at IMEC, who will speak on “Photonic Integration: Moving Beyond Telecom and Datacom;” and E. Fred Schubert, professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, who will present “Enabling a Revolution in Lighting: Light-Emitting Diodes.”

Hausken has more than 30 years of experience in the optoelectronics segment, including 13 years leading photonics market research and consulting at Strategies Unlimited, serving as a telecom policy analyst at the US Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and holding R&D and production positions at Alcatel and Texas Instruments in photonics and electronics. He holds a PhD in optoelectronics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

For more information, visit: www.osa.org or www.conferium.com/WPclients/photon13/