 International Year of Light logo | |
| Date | 1 January – 31 December 2015 |
|---|---|
| Type | Exhibitions |
| Website | light2015 |
The International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015 or International Year of Light 2015 (IYL 2015) was a United Nations observance that aimed to raise awareness of the achievements of light science and its applications, and its importance to humankind. IYL 2015 opening ceremonies was held on 19–20 January 2015 in Paris.
The International Year of Light is "a global initiative adopted by the United Nations to raise awareness of how optical technologies promote sustainable development and provide solutions to worldwide challenges in energy, education, agriculture, communications and health." [1]
UNESCO delegates from Ghana and Mexico introduced the proposal to the Executive Board, explaining the motivation and mission underlying the International Year of Light. The resolution was adopted by the Executive Board joined by co-signatories from a further 28 Board Members. [2] The resolution proposing an IYL 2015 was placed before the 190th Session of the UNESCO executive board held in Paris from 13–18 October 2012 by Ghana, Mexico, and the Russian Federation (Board Members) and New Zealand (UNESCO Member State). [3]
The resolution A/RES/68/221 proclaiming the IYL 2015 was adopted on 20 December 2013 during a plenary meeting of the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly, with the General Assembly acting on the recommendation of its Second Committee (Economic and Financial) during consideration of an Agenda item on Science and Technology for Development. [4]
Prince Andrew, Duke of York is a patron of IYL 2015. [5]
The IYL 2015 has been endorsed by a number of international Scientific Unions and the International Council for Science. The IYL 2015 will be administered by an International steering committee convened by John M. Dudley in collaboration with the UNESCO International Basic Sciences Programme and a Secretariat at The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics which is a UNESCO Category 1 Institute.
The Founding Scientific Sponsors of IYL2015 are:
The 2015 International Year brings together many different stakeholders including UNESCO, scientific societies and unions, educational and research institutions, technology platforms, non-profit organizations and private sector partners to promote and celebrate the significance of light and its applications during 2015.
The International Year of Light was officially launched on 19 January 2015 with a two-day Opening Ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. The Opening Ceremony introduced the key themes of the year, acting as inspiration for events worldwide during 2015. Over a thousand participants attended the event. Speakers and attendees included international diplomats and decision-makers, Nobel laureates, CEOs, and science and industry leaders from across the globe. The event also featured works from light artists around the world including Finnish light artist Kari Kola and US design team Light At Play. [9] [10]
The steering committee organized two flagship events in the United States: Wonders of Light: Family Science Fun held at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian and Light for a Better World – A Celebration of U.S. Innovation held at the National Academy of Sciences. [11]
The Wonders of Light event was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and was attended by hundreds of children and their parents. Exhibits included a variety of hands-on-optics and photonics displays. [12]
The Light for a Better World symposium was sponsored by numerous organizations including the National Science Foundation, National Academy of Sciences, The Optical Society, American Institute of Physics, American Physical Society, IEEE Photonics Society and SPIE. Speakers at the event included: 2014 Nobel laureate Shuji Nakamura, National Science Foundation director France Córdova, Michael Liehr (SUNY Polytechnic), Gerald Duffy (General Electric) and 2014 Nobel laureate Eric Betzig. [13]
The IYL 2015 launched [14] at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on 19 January 2015, with the unveiling of 1001 Inventions and the World of Ibn Al-Haytham which is a global campaign that includes a series of interactive exhibits, workshops and live shows about Ibn al-Haytham's achievements in optics, mathematics and astronomy, and his importance in laying the foundations of the present day scientific experimental method. The campaign was created by the 1001 Inventions organisation, which is a founding partner of the International Year of Light. [15]
As part of the international campaign, UNESCO will also host an exhibition and a conference, to take place on 14 September 2015, titled The Islamic Golden Age of Science for the Knowledge-Based Society. [16] In line with the event three organizations from Hyderabad viz MS Academy, Mesco and ILM Foundation launched i Quiz 2015 – a National level quiz competition on ‘Golden Age of Science’. The competition will be held across 64 cities in India and the grand finale will be held in Hyderabad [17]
The major scientific anniversaries that will be celebrated during IYL 2015 are:
The International conference Colombia in the International Year of Light 2015 will be hosted by three universities of Colombia in 16–19 June 2015. The conference will allow for discussions about the state-of-the-art in this field, in the company of world-renowned scientists (See the scientific programme and the conference announcements). Organizers of this conference include: The Universidad de los Andes (University of the Andes), Bogotá, the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (National University of Colombia), Bogotá and Medellín, the Universidad de Antioquia (University of Antioquia), Medellín, the Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales (Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences), Colombian research groups working on topics related to optical sciences, and academic programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels.[ citation needed ]
Ḥasan Ibn al-Haytham was a medieval mathematician, astronomer, and physicist of the Islamic Golden Age from present-day Iraq. Referred to as "the father of modern optics", he made significant contributions to the principles of optics and visual perception in particular. His most influential work is titled Kitāb al-Manāẓir, written during 1011–1021, which survived in a Latin edition. The works of Alhazen were frequently cited during the scientific revolution by Isaac Newton, Johannes Kepler, Christiaan Huygens, and Galileo Galilei.
SPIE is an international not-for-profit professional society for optics and photonics technology, founded in 1955. It organizes technical conferences, trade exhibitions, and continuing education programs for researchers and developers in the light-based fields of physics, including: optics, photonics, and imaging engineering. The society publishes peer-reviewed scientific journals, conference proceedings, monographs, tutorial texts, field guides, and reference volumes in print and online. SPIE is especially well-known for Photonics West, one of the laser and photonics industry's largest combined conferences and tradeshows which is held annually in San Francisco. SPIE also participates as partners in leading educational initiatives, and in 2020, for example, provided more than $5.8 million in support of optics education and outreach programs around the world.
Ibn Sahl was a Persian mathematician and physicist of the Islamic Golden Age, associated with the Buyid court of Baghdad. Nothing in his name allows us to glimpse his country of origin.
The European Optical Society (EOS), founded in 1991, is a European organisation for the development of the science of optics. Membership is open to national optical societies, individuals, companies, organisations, educational institutions, and learned and professional societies. EOS runs international conferences; lobbies for optical science at European level; offers a focus for collecting and disseminating knowledge in the field, and publishes the online journal JEOS:RP.
Nader Engheta is an Iranian-American scientist. He has made pioneering contributions to the fields of metamaterials, transformation optics, plasmonic optics, nanophotonics, graphene photonics, nano-materials, nanoscale optics, nano-antennas and miniaturized antennas, physics and reverse-engineering of polarization vision in nature, bio-inspired optical imaging, fractional paradigm in electrodynamics, and electromagnetics and microwaves.
Vladimir (Vlad) M. Shalaev is a Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Scientific Director for Nanophotonics at Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University.
Min Gu is a Chinese-Australian physicist who currently serves as the Executive Chancellor and Professor at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology. Previously he was Distinguished Professor and Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research Innovation & Entrepreneurship at RMIT University.
Anthony Michael Johnson is an American experimental physicist, a professor of physics, and a professor of computer science and electrical engineering at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). He is the director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Photonics Research (CASPR), also situated on campus at UMBC. Since his election to the 2002 term as president of the Optical Society, formerly the Optical Society of America, Johnson has the distinction of being the first and only African-American president to date. Johnson's research interests include the ultrafast photophysics and nonlinear optical properties of bulk, nanostructured, and quantum well semiconductor structures, ultrashort pulse propagation in fibers and high-speed lightwave systems. His research has helped to better understand processes that occur in ultrafast time frames of 1 quadrillionth of a second. Ultrashort pulses of light have been used to address technical and logistical challenges in medicine, telecommunications, homeland security, and have many other applications that enhance contemporary life.
James Clair Wyant is professor at the College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona where he was Director (1999–2005) and Dean (2005–2012). He received a B.S. in physics from Case Western Reserve University and M.S. and Ph.D. in optics from the University of Rochester.
Andrea Alù is an Italian American scientist and engineer, currently Einstein Professor of Physics at The City University of New York Graduate Center. He is known for his contributions to the fields of optics, photonics, plasmonics, and acoustics, most notably in the context of metamaterials and metasurfaces. He has co-authored over 650 journal papers and 35 book chapters, and he holds 11 U.S. patents.
John Michael Dudley is a physicist and currently Professor of Physics at the University Bourgogne Franche-Comté working at the joint University-CNRS research Institute FEMTO-ST in Besançon, France. Originally from New Zealand, he is known for his research in nonlinear and ultrafast optical physics, for service to international scientific societies, and for initiatives in promoting international scientific outreach and the public communication of science.
Andreas Mandelis is a professor and researcher at the department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto and director of the Center for Advanced Diffusion-Wave and Photoacoustic Technologies (CADIPT). He is an internationally recognized expert in thermophotonics. His research encompasses the non-destructive evaluation of materials with industrial and biomedical applications. He is considered a pioneer in the fields of diffusion-wave, photothermal and photoacoustic sciences and related technologies. He is the inventor of a photothermal imaging radar which can detect tooth decay at an early stage.
Paul F. McManamon is an American scientist who is best known for his work in optics and photonics, as well as sensors, countermeasures, and directed energy.
Anurag Sharma is an Indian physicist and a professor at the department of physics of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. He is known for his pioneering researches on optoelectronics and optical communications and is an elected fellow of all the three major Indian science academies viz. Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and National Academy of Sciences, India as well as Indian National Academy of Engineering. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Engineering Sciences in 1998.
Din Ping Tsai is a physicist known for his work in the fields of photonics. He is currently a Distinguished Professor at the National Taiwan University and Director of the Research Center for Applied Sciences, Academia Sinica. He has been President of Taiwan Information Storage Association (TISA) since 2015.
Anatoly V. Zayats is a British experimental physicist of Ukrainian origin known for his work in nanophotonics, plasmonics, metamaterials and applied nanotechnology. He is currently a Chair in Experimental Physics and the head of the Photonics & Nanotechnology Group at King's College London. He is a co-director of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and the London Institute for Advanced Light Technologies
María Josefa Yzuel Giménez is a professor of physics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She has worked in medical optics, diffraction image theory, image quality evaluation and liquid crystals. She served as president of SPIE in 2009.
Peter J. Delfyett Jr is an American engineer and Pegasus Professor and Trustee Chair Professor of Optics, ECE & Physics at the University of Central Florida College of Optics and Photonics.
Igor Meglinski is a scientist studying the imaging of cells and biological tissues utilising polarised light, dynamic light scattering and computational imitation of light propagation within complex tissue-like scattering medium. He is the Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Biophotonics at Aston University and holds the Professor of Opto-Electronics and Biophotonics at Oulu University.
John Ballato is an American materials scientist, entrepreneur, and academic. He holds the J. E. Sirrine Endowed Chair of Optical Fiber and is a professor of materials science and engineering, electrical and computer engineering, as well as physics and astronomy at Clemson University. He has received many international recognitions for his research on optical and optoelectronic materials, particularly as relates to optical fiber.
