The Canadian Photonics Consortium will host a week of photonics-related events with the Photonics North Conference and Exhibitor Product Showcase, to be held June 3-7 at the Ottawa Congress Center in Ottawa, Ontario. The International Conference on Education and Training in Optics and Photonics (ETOP), the Executive Symposium on Photonics Commercialization and a photonics sensors workshop sponsored by OIDA/PTAP (Optoelectronics Industry Development Association/Photonic Technology Access Program) will be part of the event.

All events will be held at the Ottawa Congress Centre, located downtown and close to Canada’s Parliament buildings, numerous cultural attractions and many hotels and restaurants. Ottawa is one of the world’s leading centers for photonics research, teaching and commercialization and is home to more than 100 photonics companies. It is also a thriving multicultural city that consistently ranks as one of the top cities to live in and visit.

"This is a great opportunity to visit a beautiful capital city, to participate in a series of outstanding international events and to meet with many innovative photonics companies," the consortium said.

The OIDA/PTAP forum, June 7-8, will consist of a workshop and opportunities to visit selected companies and the Canadian Photonics Fabrication Center (CPFC). The workshop for industry, government and academia will explore needs and market opportunities for photonic sensors, including distributed fiber optic sensing systems, point sensors, biophotonic sensors, system architectures and research opportunities. Technical and market barriers to a more rapid deployment of photonic sensors will be explored for homeland security, military,  biomedical, energy, and oil and gas applications.

The workshop will address application-specific sensor needs for the government and the private sector, with an emphasis on the oil and gas market, sensing function integration, cost-reduction opportunities, barriers and competing technologies.

One objective of the workshop is to identify devices PTAP can provide to academic researchers. It will also continue the work by the Photonic (Fiber Optic) Sensor Consortium relating to preliminary fiber-optic sensor specifications, metrology, standards and the potential for working cooperatively with other organizations that address sensor standards.

The workshop will include presentations by academics performing leading-edge research and by industry experts representing sensing system designers, manufacturers and end-users of sensor technology. A poster session will supplement formal presentations. The workshop will also identify applications for point and distributed sensors. Discussions will focus on sensor integration and multifunctional potential as well as wired (fibered) and wireless architectures.

For more information, visit: www.photonicsnorth.com