SPIE Remote Sensing, Security and Defence 2016
Preview of collocated meetings, 26-29 September.
Top experts in the commercialization of fiber lasers, quantum optics, and remote sensing for water resource management will be the headline speakers at SPIE meetings in Scotland in September.
SPIE member Sir David Payne of University of Southampton (UK), Sir Peter Knight of Imperial College London, and Wim Bastiaansen from UNESCO’s Institute for Water Education and Delft University of Technology (Netherlands) will be the plenary speakers at the collocated SPIE Remote Sensing and SPIE Security + Defence, 26-29 September.
The two symposia at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre will feature 23 conferences on such topics as environmental remote sensing, cybersecurity, image and signal processing, quantum information science, space-weather forecasting, THz sensors, and high-power laser systems. A new conference will cover remote-sensing technologies and applications in urban environments, and the conference on remote sensing for agriculture, ecosystems, and hydrology will be dedicated to the memory of former conference chair Manfred Owe.
The event will include a virtual track on hyperspectral imaging; an industry program focusing on innovation in defense, security, and remote-sensing technologies; and a two-day exhibition, 27-28 September, with the latest components, devices, and technologies for detection, imaging, and lasers.
Registration at SPIE Remote Sensing gives attendees admission to all events at SPIE Security + Defence and vice versa.
Speakers at the plenary session 26 September are some of the most influential names in the world of optics and photonics, and they will discuss the recent developments and applications in their area of expertise.
Fiber laser pioneer Payne is director of the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) in Southampton where his team invented the erbium-doped fiber amplifier in the 1980s and broke the kilowatt barrier for high-power fiber lasers. Payne’s research activities have led to 11 photonics spinout companies and contributed to the growth of fiber lasers for use in manufacturing and defense.
In 2015, the ORC was chosen as a new photonics technology commercialization hub, with Payne becoming director. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is funding the center, officially known as the National Hub in High Value Photonic Manufacturing.
Knight, emeritus professor of quantum optics and senior research investigator at Imperial College, is also chair of the Quantum Metrology Institute at the National Physical Lab, which aims to accelerate development of new quantum technologies.
As former deputy rector for research at Imperial College, Knight was responsible for the college’s research strategy.
He will discuss applications and implications for quantum technologies in the defense and security sectors.
Bastiaansen is professor of civil engineering and geosciences at Delft and an expert in earth observation technologies for soil, land-surface, and atmospheric processes, with a specialization in river-basin management and agricultural water management. Among his innovations in computational imaging is the development of the surface energy balance algorithm for land (SEBAL), an image-processing model that maps evapotranspiration, biomass growth, water deficits, and soil moisture.
The chair for SPIE Remote Sensing is Klaus Schäfer of the Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany). Cochairs are Christopher Neale of University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Daugherty Water for Food Institute (USA), and Iain Woodhouse from University of Edinburgh’s Geography and the Lived Environment Research Institute.
SPIE Fellow David Titterton of UK Defence Academy is the chair of SPIE Security + Defence. Cochairs are: Stuart S. Duncan of Selex, part of the Finmeccanica group, (UK); SPIE member Karin Stein of Fraunhofer Institute of Optronics (Germany); and SPIE Senior Member Ric Schleijpen from TNO Defence, Security and Safety (Netherlands).
Photonics industry leaders will offer insight on opportunities for new end-use applications resulting from the rapid emergence of innovative dual-use technologies in the defense, security, and sensing markets in Edinburgh, Wednesday 28 September.
The all-day industry session at SPIE Remote Sensing and SPIE Security + Defence will be chaired by Paul Winstanley, executive director for innovation at the UK Defence Solutions Centre.
Speakers include Sir Brian Burridge, senior VP at Leonardo-Finmeccanica; Graeme Malcom, CEO of M Squared Lasers; Nigel Douglas, CEO of Global Surface Intelligence; Ian Reid, CEO of CENSIS; Stephen Marshall from the Hyperspectral Imaging Centre at University of Strathclyde; Jaime Reed of Airbus Defence & Space; and SPIE Director of Industry Development Stephen G. Anderson.
Read more about the industry session on SPIE.org and optics.org.
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