Photonic and optical materials enable various advanced technologies including production/manufacturing; machine vision; medical and life sciences; systems and information, as well as products like sensors and measurement tools; consumer electronics; office automation; printing; etc. Within the past decades, advances in optical communications, components and systems for flat panel displays, lighting, defense, and photovoltaics have transformed the way energy and optics are manipulated with novel materials. A 2017 market research by Photonics21 determined the global market for photonics products at $507 billion in 2015. During the four-year period, 2011 - 2015, this market grew at a compound annual growth rate of 6.2%. In spite of such strong role of photonic materials in everyday life, few universities in the United States, indeed the whole world, offer educational opportunities for the students to learn the subject at a sufficiently advanced level (blending optics and materials science disciplines) to enable multi-disciplinary breakthroughs that advance the state of art in photonic materials R&D. Even the few institutions that offer a course in photonic materials do not provide hands-on, practical experience for the making and characterization of such materials. This one-week long international summer school (the School) will bridge this disconnect, filling the void in the training of advanced undergraduate and graduate students of materials science and engineering, and postdocs engaged in related research. The American Ceramic Society and its Glass and Optical Materials Division along with the Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation will assist in the recruiting, assessing and selection of the qualified applicants. The Centre d'Optique, Photonique et Laser (COPL) at Laval University, Quebec City, Canada, which is a leading institution in the world in the area of the Optics and Photonics, will host the School, June 15-19, 2019. It has offered to open its laboratories for the participants to carry out hands-on team-based projects. It will also provide logistical support and facilitate interfacing with the strong local Photonic industry base. The School will comprise of lectures by 22 international experts from six countries, who will introduce the participants to five complementary aspects of photonic and optical materials: 1. Scope of optical materials; 2. Properties and characterization of photonic materials; 3. Fibers and fiber-based photonic systems; 4. Advanced materials for system applications, especially planar photonic materials; and 5. Outlook for photonic materials, especially in relation the needs of next generation photonic technology needs. The School will train 40 students and 10 postdocs who will form interdisciplinary, mentor/mentee teams to use lecture based tutorials to solve lab-based experimental and theoretical problems. Approximately half the attendee cohort will be selected from US institutions, and an equal number from the rest of the world. The participation of US students will be managed by Lehigh University. In addition to bringing students together with world-leading lecturers, the School will help establish an international community of young photonic materials scientists who will be prepared to collaborate and build careers while advancing the state of photonic and optical materials. Overall, the first North American Summer School on Photonic Materials promises to provide a most effective mechanism to train best cadre of young materials researchers in the cutting edge photonic and optical materials research. The support from NSF will ensure the participation of young US scientists in this exceptional, international educational experience.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
