SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing

SPIE DSS, with two technical symposia, a 500-company DSS Expo, and a free job fair, will be joined in May by conferences from several collocating events, including the Advanced High Power Laser Conferences organized by the Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS).

Pennsylvania State University’s Electro-Optics Alliance (EOA) will hold its annual meeting during SPIE DSS. The MIRTHE (Mid-InfraRed Technologies for Health and the Environment) Engineering Research Center and the Maryland technology transfer organization TEDCO are also planning activities alongside DSS during the week.

The technical program at SPIE DSS, 5-9 May 2014 in Baltimore, MD (USA), includes Defense + Security, with 32 conferences, and the newly established Sensing Technology + Applications (STA) symposium, with 27 conferences.

STA will include existing conferences on sensors and sensing technologies for health, industry, automotive, and the environment along with new topics such as spectral imaging sensor technologies and sensors for extreme harsh environments.

Robert Lieberman of Intelligent Optical Systems, an STA conference chair and the SPIE 2014 vice president, notes that topics in optical sensing and monitoring are as diverse as advanced focal plane arrays and nanoscale chemical detection.

"The field of optical sensing is burgeoning," Lieberman said. "Fiber-optic sensing is migrating from high-value military applications to large-scale deployment in oil fields. Optical biosensors are moving beyond medical applications into agriculture and food safety, and plasmonic- and metamaterial-based sensors are no longer theoretical possibilities, but are being fabricated."

Some 2200 papers will be presented at SPIE DSS on IR technologies and devices, lasers, and other technologies for displays, imaging, cyber sensing, food safety, energy harvesting, oil and gas exploration, and more.

Troy Meink, deputy under secretary of the US Air Force for space programs will be the speaker at the DSS plenary session, and David Honey, director of the Research Directorate of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering at the US Department of Defense, will receive the DSS Lifetime Achievement Award.

Training opportunities include a full suite of professional development courses from SPIE on topics such as infrared sensors and systems, optical and optomechanical engineering, imaging and sensing, and laser sensors and systems.

Symposium chair is David Whelan, chief scientist for the Boeing Company's Defense, Space and Security (BDS) and vice president of strategic innovation for BDS Phantom Works (USA).

The DEPS conference program is a strong complement to the SPIE DSS program, said Andrew Brown, SPIE senior director for global business development.

The annual SPIE event was relocated to Baltimore a few years ago specifically in response to US government concerns regarding efficiency and to support the needs of the optics and photonics community in the Washington, DC, area.

SPIE is very sensitive to the need for fiscal responsibility, Brown said.

Having the additional optics and photonics organizations at the Baltimore Convention Center at the same time as SPIE DSS “enhances an already cost-effective opportunity for government scientists, engineers, and project managers in the region to access mission-critical information and to meet efficiently with suppliers to develop solutions to their problems,” he said.

“Likewise, we are creating a unique opportunity for industry to showcase their newest products and capabilities to a targeted audience. It’s a win-win situation that is valued by government and industry participants.”

SPIE Fellow Michael Eismann, senior scientist for Electro-Optical and Infrared Sensors at the Sensors Directorate of the US Air Force Research Lab, concurred.

“Given new budget realities, being in Baltimore helps leadership and attendees by greatly reducing travel costs,” Eismann said.

Learn more about the program at SPIE DSS on the DSS website.

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