Time flies and we are almost into the Fall of 2022. It is the time to return to school for many students and professors, with the return of in-person classes for most. 

Two Society conferences are approaching. The first is IEEE Research and Applications of Photonics in Defense (RAPID, www.ieee-rapid.org), a forum that aims to address security and defense challenges using photonics. It will be held in Miramar Beach, Florida from September 12-14, 2022. The second is the Society’s flagship conference, the IEEE Photonics Conference (IPC, www.ieee-ipc.org). It is the Society’s annual meeting where all the Society’s areas of activities are represented. It is a fantastic opportunity for all members to meet and exchange ideas. It will be held in Vancouver, Canada on November 13-17, 2022. It is also interesting to note that the IEEE Group IV Photonics Conference has recently changed its name to the IEEE Silicon Photonics Conference (IEEE SiPhotonics) to help reflect current and future innovations in photonic devices, materials, and applications in addition to various types of integration, monolithic or hybrid. Under its new name, this conference will continue to deliver close, personal interactions between academia and the industry.  

On the publications side, the Society is happy to welcome our new Publications Portfolio Manager, Jess Fricchione. Jess comes to us with an extensive background in the editorial management of technical and scientific publications and will be responsible for enhancing our publications portfolio by working with our publications editors and the Society’s Publications Council. The publishing landscape is evolving quickly, from the rapid adoption of open-access publishing to the dissemination of technical content across numerous platforms. While being receptive to all the opportunities offered by new ways of distributing our content, it is important to preserve one of the most important roles of the Society: to offer the highest possible quality technical publications to its members and the wider photonics community. One particularly important area for the Society is to give the Society and its members the means to present the most advanced technical and scientific achievements in forms digestible by a wide audience, from academia to industry.  

One of the lessons learned from the recent COVID pandemic is that there are major risks associated with the lack of diversity in manufacturing. An example related to our industry is the shortage of semiconductor devices in recent years. As a result, various actions have been considered around the world to combat this shortage. In the United States, the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act that was signed in early August. It is expected to encourage growth in semiconductor manufacturing capabilities in the United States, which is surely needed.  

Finally, IEEE Day is also coming up on October 4th where members are encouraged to hold educational, technical, and social programs in their community in celebration of IEEE’s “birthday.” 

I wish all the students a great return to classes and look forward to what the Fall brings.

 

Sincerely,

René-Jean Essiambre

President (2022-2023)

IEEE Photonics Society