March 22, 2024 Photonics Summer School: Event fosters integrated photonics gathering and boosts Brazilian expertise in the field
The event promotes Summer School, Open Conference, and Webinar and encourages partnerships in photonics.
Text by Greta Garcia
Last week, between March 4th and 8th, the Integrated Photonics Meeting took place, hosted and promoted by the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES) in partnership with the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI). The event, comprising the Integrated Photonics Summer School, the Open Photonics Conference, and the 6th Sisfóton Webinar, brought together professionals, researchers, and students in Vitória for a week of exchange and learning.
Summer School: Training and International Integration
The first three days of the event were dedicated to the Integrated Photonics Summer School, a course aimed at professionals in the field, undergraduate, and graduate students. With the participation of renowned national and international speakers, such as Lorenzo Pavesi from the University of Trento (Italy) and Michael Geiselmann from Ligentec (Switzerland), participants were able to immerse themselves in crucial topics for integrated photonics.
Contributions from speakers from the Devices Research Laboratory (LPD) and the Sisfóton Integrating Laboratory/CPQD stood out: Newton C. Frateschi gave a lecture on integrated photonics, bridging the gap between telecommunications, microprocessors, and the integration of both with Silicon photonics; Thiago Alegre spoke about integrated photonics and optomechanics and micro and nano fabrication technologies. Professor Hugo Figueroa, also from Unicamp, addressed the topic of Sensors and Simulation, as well as conducting a practical activity with the audience.
Open Conference: Towards the 5th National CTI Conference
On Thursday, the fourth day of the event, an Open Conference on Photonics was held, as part of the preparation for the 5th National Conference on Science, Technology & Innovation. Under the theme “Integrative Projects in Photonics: Reducing vulnerabilities in strategic productive chains,” the event coordinated by the MCTI aimed to gather input for future discussions at the national level.
“I coordinated a panel in the manufacturing chain area of the photonics industry, presented a survey from the European Photonics Industry Consortium (…) about the challenges they have in the photonics industry; what are the main bottlenecks, the dependence on countries outside Europe, supply purchasing programs, and the supply chain… and tried to make a comparison with Brazil. Then we had four speakers, each one talking about this chain in telecommunications, health, Agro, and industry.” says Newton Frateschi.
Sisfóton Webinar: Expanding Partnerships and Future Directions
Closing the meeting on Friday, the 6th Webinar of the National Photonics Laboratories System – Sisfóton, addressed the theme “Integrative Projects and Photonics: Directions.” In a hybrid format, discussions aimed to strengthen the integration of the group, with a focus on creating integrative projects in the areas of telecommunications, health, Agro, and industry. The goal is to expand partnerships within and outside the Sisfóoton network, driving significant advances in the field.
The Integrated Photonics Meeting was supported by the Brazilian Societies of Microwave and Optoelectronics (SBMO), Microelectronics (SBMicro), and Photonics (SBPhoton), and not only promoted a week of intense training and strategic discussions but also strengthened partnerships and directed future advances in the field, consolidating itself as a milestone in the national and international photonics landscape.
For more information about the events, click here and access the official website.