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Manufacturing firms must help inspire young engineers as production plants embrace digital technologies, Matthew Dale finds
An innovation hub designed to help SMEs become intelligent digital businesses by taking advantage of photonics-based technologies looks set to create 750 new hi-tech jobs over the next four years, having secured €10 million from the EU’s H2020 programme
Amy Eskilson, president and CEO of Inrad Optics, says that Industry 4.0, in addition to public-private partnerships, could help bridge the workforce gap
Dr Wenko Süptitz, head of photonics at German industry association, Spectaris, discusses how far advanced German and European companies are with applying digital production processes
Dr Wenko Süptitz, Spectaris, reports on November's Medica show, where optical diagnostics, endoscopy, microscopy, medical lasers and Industry 4.0 were highlighted as important areas for photonics
Professor Paul Shore led the team that micromachined the complex mirrors within James Webb’s mid-infrared instrument. He chats about the technical lessons learnt
EMF invested a great deal of time and effort in developing a coating system for producing long-lasting diamond like carbon (DLC) coatings on chalcogenides at scale
The properties of chalcogenide glass optics have opened up a number of use cases in infrared optics applications and beyond. This article assesses how some of the associated manufacturing and handling challenges of this material can be overcome
Image credit: Yury Zap/Shutterstock.com
We detail the commercial offerings from some of the main players in optical mirrors
Image credit: Mia Stendal/Shutterstock.com
Shining a light on the latest products and solutions in the diode laser space
Optical technologies offer researchers a powerful new toolkit to explore the structure and function of the brain. (Image: Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock.com)
Advances in optical fibres and microscale LEDs are furthering neuroscientists’ understanding of the brain
The nulling interferometry devices under development at Caltech’s Exoplanet Technology Laboratory cancel out starlight to help detect and identify foreign worlds. (Credit: Shutterstock/Dotted Yeti)
Nemanja Jovanovic, lead instrument scientist at Caltech’s Optical Observatory and Exoplanet Technology Laboratory, on emerging astrophotonic technologies on his radar
Robert Smith is a professor at the University of Alberta and historian to JWST since 2002
As James Webb Space Telescope beams back images from the edge of space and time, space historian Robert Smith recalls some of the decisions made to bring the $10bn NASA project to fruition. David Stuart reports
