As a result of the pandemic’s ongoing disruption to international travel, SPIE will be hosting Photonics West as an interactive, virtual conference this year from 6 to 11 March.
The event – North America's largest optics and photonics technology conference – usually takes place in San Francisco, California. Registration for the virtual format will open on 5 January.
Each year Photonics West showcases the latest in applications, technologies, and discoveries in optics and photonics.
The virtual format will include two digital exhibitions in addition to the conferences Lase, Bios, Opto and Quantum West.
In addition to the plenary sessions and conference presentations, the virtual format will include networking opportunities and other special events. All conference presentations and manuscripts will be accessible after the conference via SPIE’s digital library.
'The SPIE Digital Forum platform was developed to help people share results and make connections during the pandemic, and we continued to fine-tune our virtual platform and digital offerings throughout 2020,' said SPIE CEO Kent Rochford. 'We'll be implementing the latest improvements during Photonics West and are excited to release them to our attendees, presenters, and exhibitors. These forums, as always, ensure the professional discussion, innovation sharing, and networking opportunities that the Spie community values and relies on to advance its research, product development, and engineering collaborations.'
'It's been a challenging year for our entire community, and I know that I am not alone in my desire to meet in person to exchange ideas, research, technological advances, and new products,' added 2020 SPIE President John Greivenkamp. 'We are hopeful of being able to gather in person later in 2021. In the meantime, I invite you to join us online at one or more of these dynamic conferences and look forward to seeing you there.'
In addition to Photonics West, the following SPIE 2021 conferences will also be held via the organisation's Digital Forum platform: AR/VR/MR; Advanced Lithography; Medical Imaging; and Smart Structures + Nondestructive Evaluation.
