Electro Optics talks to previous honoree of The Photonics100 Dr Neveen Hosny, Head of Operations and Product Development at M Squared Life, a developer of advanced laser platforms and quantum technology.
What is the next big thing in your area of photonics research?
At M Squared Life, our focus is on developing technology that encompasses light interaction with biology. Our main research area is light sheet microscopy. Light sheet technology has exploded over the last few years, offering a range of different approaches to deal with specific biological problems. However, the next big thing could be label-free imaging and utilising NIR-mid IR lasers in microscopy.
What do you think the biggest challenges in your area will be over the next year?
The advent of light-sheet technology could provide fast three-dimensional imaging on a scale that computational technology is struggling with. With the increased demand for multi-view imaging, large-scale sample and multi-sample imaging, the bottleneck is the speed of processing, visualising, and analysing.
The increase in data output brings the daunting task of analysing that data and users having the correct tools with which to handle their imaging pipeline. It’s very easy to visualise data, but that doesn’t provide statistics that lead to developments in new methods and therapies that can impact societal benefits, that could lead to a breakthrough in cellular mechanisms leading to targeted drugs or therapies. Light sheet imaging is facing the same issue that super-resolution first saw, “look at all this data! But how do we go about analysing it?”. Tools to process data are now the slowest part of light sheet imaging.
What is the biggest personal challenge you have overcome?
I have dyslexia, but it wasn’t picked up until I was doing my PhD. It’s described as a disability, but I believe that it allows you to make connections others don’t see. There are a lot of people that have dyslexia and are either afraid to disclose it due to misconceptions and a lack understanding from others, or think they have it but have never been tested. The advantages of dyslexia are not talked about enough.
I also think COVID has been challenging for everyone, myself included. It has impacted how people work, engage with one another, and go about their work routines. It also reduced physical interaction with products. One of the best things since lockdown ended has been speaking in person with work colleagues and being back in the lab tinkering.
What advice would you give to someone embarking on a career in photonics research?
In any job, it’s important to enjoy the work you do and always look for the positives – even when it seems unfathomable there is always a way around. Every outcome has a reason and it is part of your role to understand why or how something has become what it is to develop the next steps along that development path. Always ask questions; photonics is a fast-paced technology-driven field with many avenues that don’t always overlap, and look for the interfaces where new ideas can grow.
You can make your nomination for The Photonics100 2024 here.
