| National leadership
We have an important responsibility to provide leadership within the photonics manufacturing community and to act as leaders in our field for industry, academia and government. As national leaders, our role is to increase awareness of how photonics manufacturing research tackles Grand Challenges, improves people’s lives and boosts productivity. We provide a ‘go-to’ source of expertise which helps industry innovate, and we advocate strategic investment in photonics manufacturing research to drive social and economic impact.
Centre: Professor Graham Reed, SPIE Photonics West
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Raising awareness Getting out to conferences and trade shows is a powerful way to interact with stakeholders and represent the community on a global stage. Since 2016, we have participated in 97 conferences, trade shows and workshops around the world, giving invited talks, presenting papers and exhibiting technology demonstrators.
In 2019, we took our research to some of the largest and best-known international conferences. Hub Co-Investigator Professor Graham Reed chaired the prestigious OPTO Symposium at SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco, one of the world’s largest photonics conferences with 23,000 attendees. There was a strong presence from the Hub across the conference and we achieved an impressive 11 papers accepted to the programme. We also travelled with our technology demonstrations to SPIE Defence and Commercial Sensing in Baltimore and Laser World of Photonics Munich, where, as part of the UK Pavilion, we showcased the UK photonics manufacturing capability to the exhibition’s 34,000 visitors.
In addition to our physical presence, we have a growing voice online and in the media. Through social channels, newsletters and the press, we are initiating discussions and providing thought leadership on contemporary issues, such as UK investment in R&D and diversity in the technology sector. In June, we released updated figures quantifying the size and economic impact of the UK photonics industry. These have since been widely referenced in the trade press and used by academics and industry alike. In October, we supported the Royal Society’s ‘Transforming our Future: Photonics’ scientific meeting in Cardiff by providing all delegates with copies of our latest market report.
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