Optical and photonics technologies and the people who work with them have brought tangible social, environmental, health, and economic gains to humanity. These technologies include ones that bring inexpensive and efficient alternative energy to rural and developing areas without access to electricity and others that help people to see and hear.
Laser technologies make the world better also, by killing malaria-carrying mosquitoes, allowing surgeons to operate on tissue one cell at a time, and by telling farmers the best time to irrigate their fields.
Other optical and photonics technologies have lead to the growth of the entertainment industry and instant communications at home and in space. Food inspections and personal and community security also rely on photonics technologies.
Learn more from SPIE Professional about Photonics for a Better World.
Also find more news and share your own experiences on the Photonics for a Better World blog.
SPIE Professional / January 2012
SPIE Professional / October 2011
- Light on Human Rights: Jonathan Drake, senior project coordinator for the AAAS Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights Project, writes about how remote-sensing technologies are being used to bring attention to human rights problems across the globe.
- Monitoring Crops from Space: A future space mission maydeliver new methods of monitoring crops from space, delivering essential information to improve agricultural practices, estimate crop acreage, and forecast yeields.
- Satellites Keep Seas Safe: The European Space Agency is looking into how organizations can better share satellite data to improve maritime-surveillance system.
SPIE Professional / July 2011
- Thirst for the Sun: When two business students from Chile, a "Lost Boy" of Sudan, and an optical engineering student got together at the University of Rochester, they developed a business plan for a company that aims to build inexpensive solar water pumps for drought-prone developing regions in South America and Africa.
- AquaBioTox Monitors Water Quality: German scientists develop a one-minute warning system for hazards in public water supplies.
- Radar Detects Concussions: Three Georgia Tech researchers have developed a screening method to determine the effects of concussions.
- Solar Powered Drinking Water: A solar-powered water treatment system could provide clean water to more than one billion people.
- President's Letter: SPIE President Katarina Svanberg discusses the support that SPIE provides for green photonics.
SPIE Professional / April 2011
- Creativity FIRST: American entrepreneur and Segway inventor Dean Kamen advocates for the next generation of science and technology to solve the world's problems.
- Devices for Clogged Arteries Advance: Canadian researchers have proposed a new optical tool for angioplasty balloon manufacturers that could ultimately lead to better treatment of clogged arteries.
- Better Imaging for Disease Detection: Optics and photonics researchers have developed two new biomedical imaging technologies that improve brain scans and mammography in 3D.
- Priming the Biophotonics Pump: Biophotonics researchers get help with technology transfer at Biophotonics Startup Challenge.
SPIE Professional / January 2011
- Lasers in Medicine: Over the past half century, lasers have found their way into ophthalmology, oncology, cosmetic surgery, and many areas of medicine and biomedical research.
- Collaborating for Cures: SPIE President Katarina Svanberg says collaboration among scientists has led to advancements in biomedical optics applied to oncology and other medical specialties.
- Electronic Sensors As Skin: Two groups of researchers in the USA are a step closer to achieving artificial skin.
- Sensors for Bionic Limbs: Researchers at Southern Methodist University are working on improved prosthetic devices.
- News Briefs: Optical and photonics technologies have improved and restored vision to people with degenerative eye conditions and are used in water reclamation projects.
SPIE Professional / October 2010
News briefs cover recent research on implants, neurostimulators, and bionic devices to restore vision to people with significant vision loss; the importance of space imagery for dealing with natural disasters on Earth such as occurred with the 2010 floods in Pakistan; a coating for surgical instruments that kill staphylococcus; and the emergence of light pipes to bring more natural light into homes and offices.
SPIE Professional / July 2010
- Optics researchers in Texas are developing disease-detection tools for the developing world. More
- The world's most advanced remote-sensing technologies and imaging systems help monitor the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. More
- Laser bonding is showing promise as a technique to close wounds and surgical incisions. Open access article
SPIE Professional / April 2010
One way SPIE members and friends are making the world better is through sophisticated imaging systems used to support earthquake relief and reconstruction efforts, most recently in Haiti. Optical instruments are also helping with the response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, flooding in Tennessee, and the volcanic ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano. Our expanded series in the April 2010 issue of SPIE Professional also covers the portable, handheld ultrasound machines that can make healthcare more accessible and a new, artificial flexible "skin" for robots that could enhance feedback to human surgeons. Learn about the first germanium laser, which could lead to cheaper and more efficient optical communication systems, and students at the Winter College on Optics and Energy learning about developments in solar energy conversion and structures for light harvesting. More
SPIE President Ralph James also writes about the important work being done by optics and photonics professionals to meet the many challenges that face our society. He says this can only continue if we increase education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. More
SPIE Professional / January 2010
The Photonics for a Better World series in this issue focuses on technologies used to detect gas leaks, help people hear, protect against skin cancer, and produce amazing artwork. More
Adaptive Optics: Another important article in this issue discusses advancements in ophthalmic medicine using adaptive optics technologies originally devised for military and astronomy applications. David Williams and his group at the University of Rochester (USA) became the first to successfully use adaptive optics technology to correct most of the eye's aberrations so as to image the living human eye at high resolution. Williams' team was the first to image individual photoreceptor cells in the living eye, and in 1997, he obtained the clearest pictures ever of the photoreceptors with adaptive optics. Williams was able to image and identify the red, blue, and green color cones in the eye, and he found the cones had a completely random geometry. His work has shown how important the brain is in processing information and making our eyes effective sensors. More
SPIE Professional / October 2009
Better Health: 
SPIE Professional highlights a number of photonics and optical technologies that improve human health. UV light is used to disinfect water. A group of labs and public health agencies in Europe and Africa is using satellite data to sense where disease and pollution occur. University of Texas at Austin and Stanford University (USA) engineers have patented a laser microscalpel for surgeons to operate on tissue one cell at a time, precisely targeting cancer, epilepsy, and other diseases while leaving healthy surrounding cells alive. Two University of Arizona (USA) researchers have received a $2.4 million grant to design, build, and evaluate two versions of an ovarian cancer medical imaging and screening instrument that uses holographic components in a new type of optical microscope. And Aculight Inc. of Bothell, WA (USA), is developing an optical neural technique for mitigating hearing loss among soldiers. The technique involves laser nerve stimulation. More
Green Entrepreneur: Delta Electronics CEO Bruce Cheng is known as the godfather of energy conservation in Taiwan business circles, having made environmental protection, sustainability, and energy savings cornerstones of his power supply company.Cheng has pioneered lead-free manufacturing and mercury-free LCD components in the industry, and his Taiwan and USA offices and production facilities have won praise for their energy-saving designs. He leads by example. Cheng was the first person in Taiwan to own a Toyota Prius when he imported the hybrid from the United States in 2004. SPIE Professionalasked Cheng to share his business successes and challenges and his rationale for becoming a "green" entrepreneur. More
Dynamic Braille:Research with electroactive polymer (EAP) technology is giving hope to people with visual impairments around the world who someday may be able to read text on an inexpensive, full-page, refreshable Braille display. The development of low-cost, efficient, refreshable displays for Braille text would give Braille readers access to state-of-the-art digital technology and the enormous volume of information on the Internet, opening doors for educational, employment, and recreational opportunities. Although there are numerous challenges to devising low-cost mechanisms, materials, and processing techniques for a refreshable Braille display, advances in EAP technology may make those capabilities feasible in the not-too-distant future. More
SPIE Professional / July 2009
Solar and Sensing Technologies:Laser-based, solar, and infrared sensing technologies are improving auto safety, combating public health threats, and helping empower the women of war-torn Darfur. This series of brief items in SPIE Professional describes the research on using lasers to zap malaria-carrying mosquitoes and the work of agencies like the Light Up the World (LUTW) Foundation which has brought solar-powered LED lighting to numerous developing countries. This article also focuses on the Solar Cooker Project, an alternative to firewood cooking, and optical sensors installed on autos to warn of objects that could pose a hazard to drivers.
Watch a video interview about the LUTW project and listen to the podcast on the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) in the SPIE Newsroom.
Agri-Photonics: Farming strategies and technologies have changed and adapted over the millennia to new environments, new crops, and new needs. Now, optical and photonic technologies are helping to make soil stronger, grapes sweeter, and food safer to eat. Lasers and imaging sensors mounted on planes, fluorescence spectroscopy, lidar, and energy efficient LEDs are just some of the latest farming and food processing tools in the emerging field of optical farming, or agri-photonics. Photonics technologies can help predict protein levels in wheat harvests, determine when to harvest grapes, map water quality to observe the health of fish stocks, and screen for contaminants in spinach, tomatoes, and other foods. More
Do you have a story to tell about how optics and photonics benefit humanity? Have a question or comment about these articles? Write to us at spieprofessional@spie.org.
