Harnessing light for research in a range
from basic physics to life sciences and for
new information, imaging and processing
technologies represents a current worldwide effort.
The Optical Society has played a key
role in this development by covering
the scientific, technical and educational
aspects of optics. The peer-reviewed OSA
journals are instrumental for disseminating knowledge, and OSA meetings are
major events, bringing together researchers and engineers from all areas of optics
and from all parts of the world. OSA both
serves the optics community and takes
care of the public outreach of optics. It is
a pleasure and honor for me to take part
in this endeavor.
For OSA’s future development, I see the
following opportunities and challenges:
•;OSA’s commitment to excellence has
a long tradition and defines a standard
in scientific publishing. In the ever-
growing stream of manuscripts, OSA
needs to strengthen its publication policy
based on peer-review and the promotion
of new high-quality results. In paral-
lel, the portfolio of topics covered by
OSA publications needs to be extended
into rapidly developing fields such as
biomedical optics, optics-related materi-
als and structure research and energy
technologies. Attracting new authors and
reviewers worldwide and combining peer
review with reasonably short times to
publication and high production quality
will remain key challenges.
•;OSA;membership;combines;academia
and industry in a rather unique way,
covering the full range from basic
research to product marketing. Thus,
OSA is in a strong position to promote
new technologies by disseminating
knowledge establishing personal links
and facilitating informal interactions.
OSA’s large meetings should increasingly serve for intensifying this exchange,
attracting new groups of optics users
and offering tailored training events
to them. This will also help to link the
academic and industry members of OSA
in a better way.
•;OSA;has;become;a;global;player;with
membership and leadership from all
parts of the world. Strengthening OSA’s
international presence and attracting
new members in rapidly growing areas
such as East Asia, Eastern Europe and
others will be a key issue for the intel-
lectual and economic potential of the
society. This requires strategic alliances
with other international and regional
societies and with local partners. An
increasing number of conferences
and other events at non-U.S. locations
around the world are as important as an
adequate representation of all geograph-
ic regions in the committees and boards
of the Society.
•;The;education;of;students;on;all;levels
is essential for optics to prosper in the
future. On a global scale, OSA needs to
further develop resources for students
and teachers and to promote the interaction of optics experts with students and
the public, including those in the public
policy arena. Among other outreach
programs, new OSA student chapters
and enhanced networking opportunities
will be essential.
Donna T. Strickland
University of Waterloo, Canada
OSA looks to lead rather than to adapt
to new paradigms such as open-access
journals, while maintaining excellence
in the traditional core strengths of the
organization. The world’s two leading
optics journals, Optics Letters and Optics
Express, epitomize this strategic vision.
Optics Express was one of the very first
open-access journals. It has now proven to
be a financial asset for the organization.
With its new Interactive Science Publish-
ing (ISP), OSA reaches new audiences
that have not traditionally been part
of the Society, such as the biomedical
community. OSA’s journals are both the
financial backbone of the organization
and its main connection to the interna-
tional optics community.
