Optics & Photonics News - July/August 2012

Chuck Williams, CREOL (left); Matthew Weed, CREOL; Joy Garnett, Vanderbilt. Alison Jordan

iPad winner Austin Griffith, Cornell University.

OSA Members Meet
with Legislators

In April 2012, OSA members from around the United States came to Washington, D.C., to speak with lawmakers in more than 20 Capitol Hill o;ces. ;ey discussed science policy issues, federal investments in R&D and proposed funding levels in the FY 2013 appropriations bills. OSA’s participants asked legislators to continue to make sustained federal investments in science and technology programs. ;e members shared stories about their research and the jobs created by it, and highlighted the importance of federal R&D funding to their work. ;e meetings were held as part of the annual Congressional Visits Day, sponsored by the Science-Engineering-Technology Working Group.

Student Lounge at CLEO:2012

Students attending CLEO:2012 were invited to visit the Newport/OSA student lounge located in the exhibit hall, where they had the opportunity to network with their colleagues and take a photo with Albert Einstein. Congratulations to OSA student member Austin Gri;th on winning the iPad ra;e sponsored by the Newport Corporation.

Congressional Visits Day participants Doug Cooper (left) and Jian Liu (right) with Senator Ben Cardin (center) of Maryland.

Congrats Kavli Winners

Seven pioneering scientists have been
named 2012 recipients of the Kavli
Prizes, which recognize scientists for
seminal advances in astrophysics, nano-
science and neuroscience, and include
a cash award of $1,000,000. ;is year’s
laureates were selected for contributing
to our understanding of the outer solar
system, material properties at nano-
and larger scales, and how the brain
receives and responds to sensations
such as sight, sound and touch. ;e
awardees are: (for astrophysics) David
C. Jewitt, University of California,
U.S.A.; Jane X. Luu, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Lincoln Labo-
ratory, U.S.A.; and Michael E. Brown,
California Institute of Technology,
U.S.A.; (for nanoscience) Mildred S.
Dresselhaus, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, U.S.A.; and (for neurosci-
ence) Cornelia Isabella Bargmann,
Rockefeller University, U.S.A.; Win-
fried Denk, Max Planck Institute for
Medical Research, Germany; and Ann
M. Graybiel, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, U.S.A.

OSA CEO Testifies on
Capitol Hill

In late March, OSA CEO Elizabeth Rogan called for sustained federal investments in R&D funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Standards in Technology (NIST) FY 2013 budgets. Rogan spoke before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, which has jurisdiction over NSF and NIST budgets. Her testimony focused on three fundamental reasons for supporting the President’s NSF and NIST budget request: ensuring the nation’s long-term economic prosperity and competitiveness, strengthening advanced manufacturing, and securing funding for long-term research projects. She also gave specific examples of research funded by NSF and NIST that impacts everyday life. ;e full text of her testimony is available on OSA’s website, www.osa.org.

Correction: In the June 2012 OPN, we incorrectly described Alain Aspect’s work on p. 40. The second sentence about Aspect should read: “Among his noteworthy accomplishments is his work with Bell test experiments ...” We regret the error.