The Coming Light Years
As I start my year as SPIE President, it is hard not to look back and reflect on the past three decades I have spent in optics and photonics through academia, entrepreneurship, and more recently, multinational companies. If life has taught me one solid lesson throughout my career, it is that history always tends to repeat itself, somehow.
The phrase, “The Coming Light Years” was printed in large letters on the August 2000 cover of Forbes magazine during the peak of the dot.com bubble and the associated optical telecom boom. Forbes touted the promises of the optical computer and optical telecom as technologies that would soon revolutionize daily life.
Shortly thereafter, the telecom bubble burst, and many optical engineers were caught in the resulting turmoil, but that was not the end of the story. Although the optical computer remains a challenge, optical telecom has effectively built the internet backbone and associated technologies we often take for granted.
Today, many of us worry about a potential recession. However, no matter how many tech bubbles might be looming on the horizon, optical engineers and the technologies they develop as basic building blocks for most consumer electronic goods, high-tech fab equipment, biomedical, telecom, and computing devices will continuously and successfully fuel the coming technology market needs. On the scientific side, optics and photonics have proven key to our understanding of the universe and fundamental physics, from LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) a few years ago, to the James Webb Space Telescope, and last year’s Nobel Prize recognition of quantum optical entanglement.
The optics and photonics community, and more specifically SPIE, is resilient and innovative. During the pandemic, the Society showed initiative and provided novel services to Members adapting to a new world. Today, in-person meetings prove again to be the best way for industry, academia, and individuals to come together, share, learn, grow, and, as a result, advance optics and photonics.
Personally, the strength and resiliency of SPIE helped me steer my career through the past tech booms and downturns. A steady and active involvement in the Society through continuous Membership proved to be an effective way to engage with the community, find mentors, and stand on the shoulders of giants. My career in industry took shape with SPIE as a strong backbone and a trustworthy, loyal ally.
SPIE outreach activities are also dear to my heart, aimed at nurturing a more diverse and gender-balanced optics and photonics community. I am always moved by SPIE student chapter initiatives in outreach activities from elementary school to high school, when I see how younger kids can be engaged with developing electro-optic devices and running fun optics experiments. Those students will be the true builders of the coming light years.
I am confident, optimistic, and excited about such prospects, with SPIE as a vital and valued partner, as we continue to build a future powered by optics and photonics.
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Bernard Kress 2023 SPIE President |
