Sensing Technology + Applications 2014

SPIE is launching a major symposium to enable greater exposure for and exploration of dual-use optical sensing technologies.

The new SPIE Sensing Technology + Applications (STA) will be held in Baltimore 5-9 May 2014 with SPIE Defense + Security, long-established as the largest unclassified event on the US East Coast for the defense community.

Abstracts for both symposia are being accepted through 21 October.

The two events at the Baltimore Convention Center also include a 500-company exhibition 6-8 May connecting researchers and developers involved with precision optics, lasers, sensors, optical materials, thermal imaging, optoelectronics, instrumentation, data analysis, and related applications, systems, and devices.

STA 2014 will highlight existing conferences on sensors and sensing technologies for health, industry, automotive, and the environment along with new topics including spectral imaging sensor technologies; sensors for extreme harsh environments; and dimensional optical metrology and inspection.

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). Co-chair is Wolfgang Schade, professor at Clausthal University of Technology and head of Fiber Optical Sensor Systems at Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Insititute (Germany).

Steering committee member and Advanced Environmental, Chemical and Biological Sensing Technologies conference chair Robert Lieberman of Intelligent Optical Systems notes that topics in optical sensing and monitoring will be as diverse as advanced focal plane arrays and nanoscale chemical detection.

“Most exciting will be the opportunity to see talks and exhibits covering the entire scope of the sensor product-development cycle, from academic research to industrial deployment,”  says Lieberman, the SPIE 2014 vice president.

“The field of optical sensing is burgeoning,” Lieberman adds. “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; plasmonic- and metamaterial-based sensors are no longer theoretical possibilities, but are being fabricated."

The event in Baltimore's Inner Harbor (above) includes the East Coast's largest exhibition for precision optics, lasers, sensors, optical materials, thermal imaging, optoelectronics, instrumentation, data analysis and related applications, and it will connect government, academic, and industry researchers and developers with companies who supply the field with the latest systems, applications, and devices.

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.

"Since the beginning of civilization, defense and security needs have been primarily responsible for spurring new technology development which has subsequently found non-military and commercial applications," said Tom George of Zyomed Corp., chair of the conference on Micro- and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems and Applications.

"In our time, initially defense-funded advances in integrated circuit design and the internet have been singularly responsible for the highest quality of life compared to any preceding time in the human saga."

George said STA aims to capitalize on the natural evolution of technology into sectors including automotive and transportation, consumer products, healthcare, construction, energy, agriculture and the environment.

Accepted papers will be published in the SPIE Digital Library as soon as approved after the event, and in print volumes and digital collections.

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