SPIE CEO Eugene G. Arthurs and several distinguished SPIE Members from Asia were invited speakers at the 2015 Taiwan Photonics Valley International Forum in Taichung last month.
Arthurs served on a panel discussing the optoelectronics and photonics industry in Taiwan and gave a keynote talk on the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies (IYL). SPIE is a founding partner of the IYL, a yearlong initiative adopted by the UN to raise awareness of the optics and photonics technologies that promote sustainable development and provide solutions to global challenges in energy, education, agriculture, and health.
Other optics and photonics leaders on the industry panel were:
- SPIE Fellow Peter TC Shih, founder and executive director of the Photonics Industry and Technology Development Association (PIDA) in Taipei who is known as the father of optoelectronics and photonics in Taiwan
- SPIE Fellow Cheng Chung Lee of National Central University (NCU), honorary president of the Taiwan Photonics Society
- SPIE Fellow Kazuo Kuroda, president of the Optical Society of Japan (OSJ)
- SPIE Fellow Ching-Cherng Sun, vice president of the Taiwan Photonics Society and a professor at NCU
- Albert T. Lin, chairman of the Taiwan Optics/Optronics Manufacturers' Association and CEO of Asia Optical
Taichung Mayor Chia-Lung Lin (at right, below) kicked off the daylong program by formally appointing Kuroda, a professor at Utsunomiya University and professor emeritus at University of Tokyo, and Arthurs as advisors to the Taichung City government during the conference. The Taichung Science Park is one of numerous government-financed science parks in Taiwan that combine research, production, work, and recreational facilities and have helped Taiwan maintain its competitive research advantage, especially with LCD panels, LEDs, and photovoltaic systems.
Albert Lin of Asia Optical, SPIE CEO Eugene Arthurs and Taichung Mayor Chia-Lung Lin
Topics covered at the gathering of optics and photonics luminaries 22 September included advancements in digital cameras, medical equipment, integrated photonics, and smart robots, all enabled by optics and photonics technologies.
Following the conference, Arthurs was invited by SPIE Fellow Din Ping Tsai, a former member of the SPIE Board of Directors and current president of the Taiwan Photonics Society, to give a talk on advancements in optics and photonics at the Research Center for Applied Sciences at Academia Sinica. Tsai (at left below, with Arthurs) is director of the center.
More information on the 2015 Taiwan Photonics Valley International Forum: http://2015tpvif.tw/agenda_english.html
