U.S. Advisory Committee to the International Commission for Optics (USAC/ICO)

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Agriculture and Natural Resources

Subtopics
1. Agricultural Chemicals
2. Animal Health and Welfare
3. Conservation
4. Crop Management
5. Decarbonization
6. Energy Demand and Use
7. Energy Sources and Renewables
8. Environmental Monitoring
9. Fisheries Management
10. Food Production
11. Food Safety
12. Forest Management
13. Fuel
14. Land Management
15. Minerals
16. Ocean Management
17. Plant Diseases and Pests
18. Soil Management
Data and Statistics

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1. Data Analytics
2. Data Collection
3. Data Infrastructure
4. Data Privacy
5. Demographics
6. National Statistics
7. Statistical Analysis
Economy and Workforce

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1. Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
2. Business Partnerships
3. Commercialization
4. Economic Development
5. Economic Policy
6. Labor Economics
7. Organizational Leadership
8. Professional Development
9. Workforce Development
Education

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1. Academic Standards and Testing
2. Athletics and Physical Activity
3. Educational Administration
4. English Language Learning
5. Higher Education
6. Pre-K to Grade 12 Education
7. School Safety
8. Teacher Development
9. Technical Education
Engineering

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1. Automation
2. Biotechnology
3. Manufacturing Technologies
4. Mining and Energy Extraction
5. Nanotechnology
6. Plastics
7. Safety Critical Systems
Environment and Biology

Subtopics
1. Aquatic Ecosystems
2. Climate Change
3. Environmental DNA
4. Evolution and Geologic History
5. Genetics
6. Glaciers, Ice Sheets, and Sea Levels
7. Hazards, Disasters, and Extreme Events
8. Microorganisms and Microbiomes
9. Pollinators and Insects
10. Pollution
11. Terrestrial Ecosystems
12. Weather
13. Wildlife
Health and Medicine

Subtopics
1. Dietary Guidelines and Nutrition
2. Diseases and Conditions
3. Health Care
4. Medical Technology
5. Pharmaceuticals
6. Public Health
Information Technology

Subtopics
1. Artificial Intelligence
2. Communications Infrastructure
3. Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things
4. Cybersecurity
5. Digital Apps and Services
6. Digital Models
7. Digital Transformation
8. Hardware Development
9. High-Performance Computing
10. Human–Computer Interaction
11. Quantum Computing
12. Software Development
Infrastructure and the Built Environment

Subtopics
1. Accessible Infrastructure
2. Bridges, Roads, and Highways
3. Buildings
4. Design and Construction
5. Energy Generation, Transmission, and Distribution
6. Environmental Health and Safety
7. Infrastructure Asset Maintenance
8. Maritime Infrastructure
9. Pipelines and Tank Farms
10. Property and Real Estate
11. Rural Development
12. Urban Planning
13. Waste Management and Recycling
14. Water and Wastewater Utilities
Law, Society, and Justice

Subtopics
1. Abuse and Harassment
2. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color
3. Children and Youth in Care
4. Community Engagement
5. Community Resilience and Sustainability
6. Crime and Policing
7. Criminal Justice System
8. Displaced Persons
9. Elections and Voting
10. Ethics
11. Food Security
12. Gender and Identity
13. Globalization
14. Housing and Homelessness
15. Human and Civil Rights
16. Humanitarian Aid
17. Immigration
18. Law and Justice
19. Military and Veterans
20. Misinformation
21. Poverty and Economic Mobility
22. Racism and Discrimination
23. Rural Communities
Legislation and Policy

Subtopics
1. Executive Order Analysis
2. Legal Research
3. Legislation Analysis
4. Policy Analysis
5. Provision Analysis
Research and Standards

Subtopics
1. Community-Based Research
2. Emerging Technologies
3. Innovation
4. Intellectual Property
5. Open Science
6. Research
7. Science Communication
8. Science Funding
9. Scientific Integrity
Space, Security, and Conflicts

Subtopics
1. Military and Defense
2. Security
3. Space
Transportation

Subtopics
1. Air Transportation
2. Freight and Supply Chain
3. Maritime Transportation
4. Public Transportation
5. Rail Transport
6. Road Transportation
7. Sustainable Transportation
8. Traffic Management and Road Safety
9. Transportation Planning
10. Vehicles
11. Vulnerable Road Users
12. Winter Maintenance

26th General Meeting of the ICO 2024

The 26th General Meeting of the 2024 International Commission on Optics (ICO) met in Cape Town, South Africa on Monday Oct. 21 through Thursday Oct. 24, 2024. Around 200 scientists from around the world with backgrounds in optics and photonics gathered for a variety of lectures from technical discussions to global policy issues. Assembly members spoke of better connecting ICO projects to Sustainable Development goals (SDGs) following a session discussing the connections to optics and photonics. There was also discussion on leveraging the committees to perform outreach to listen to priorities and needs from different regions for optics and photonics. The conclusion of the general assembly resulted in unanimous election of the new leadership board which includes Dr. Kent Choquette (U.S.) as Treasurer of ICO. The general assembly also accepted Chinas bid to host the next General Meeting of ICO in 2027.

The Future of ICO*

The ICO is currently a small Affiliated Commission within the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). Two topics of great concern to the USAC/ICO have been the ICO Strategic Plan and a provision included in the Plan to elevate the ICO to union status within the International Science Council (ISC). The USAC/ICO believes that a union for optics and photonics could be useful, but opposes elevation until the necessary internal planning and essential coordination with external organizations has taken place. Since 2017, the USAC-ICO has regularly provided suggestions on this issue to the ICO. In early 2018, the USAC organized an international conference call for the leadership of the three organizations most affected by the plan: ICO, IUPAP, and the International Commission on Illumination (CIE). Learn More About ICO Strategic Plan (http://e-ico.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/ICOStrategicPlan_April4_2017.pdf) Learn More About the ICO Elevation Effort: https://www.e-ico.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/brochure_v1.pdf

Light Our Future: The National Photonics Initiative*

The U.S. Advisory Committee for Optics, through its participating societies, continues to support the National Photonics Initiative, which grew out of the NRC report, Harnessing Light II, Optics and Photonics: Essential Technologies for our Nation (2013). The committee was instrumental in the early stages of the report, writing a white paper that outlined the need to update the original Harnessing Light report (1998). Its white paper eventually served as the basis for the study. Harnessing Light II provides an assessment of optics, photonics, and optical engineering in the United States, prioritizes research grand-challenge questions to fill technological gaps, and recommends actions to support global leadership in photonics-driven industry. The report, conducted by the NRC Board on Manufacturing and Engineering Design, recommended that the federal government develop a "National Photonics Initiative" to bring together academia, industry, and government to steer federal research and development funding and activities. Following one of the report's key recommendations, SPIE and four other photonics and optics societies launched the National Photonics Initiative (NPI), a collaborative alliance among industry, academia and government. The NPI effort is being led by founding sponsors SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and The Optical Society (OSA), and sponsored by three additional societies -- the American Physical Society (APS), the IEEE Photonics Society, and the Laser Institute of America (LIA). As noted on the NPI website, the goals of the Initiative are to: raise awareness of photonics and the impact of photonics in our everyday lives; increase cooperation and coordination among U.S. industry, government and academia to advance photonics-driven fields; and drive US funding and investment in areas of photonics critical to maintaining US economic competitiveness and national security. National Photonics Initiative (http://lightourfuture.org/) Optics and Photonics: Essential Technologies for our Nation (National Academies Press, 2013) Harnessing Light Report (National Academies Press, 1998) The Optical Society (OSA) (http://www.osa.org/en-us/home) SPIE: international society for optics and photonics (https://spie.org/) American Physical Society (APS) (http://www.aps.org/) IEEE Photonics Society (http://photonicssociety.org/) Laser Institute of America (LIA) (http://www.lia.org/)

Event - ICO Triennial Congresses*

The ICO Congress is a triennial meeting where officers are elected, strategic plans discussed, and the agenda set for the next three years. The next ICO Congress, ICO-25, will take place in conjunction with the 16th International Conference on Optics Within Life Sciences (OWLS) in Dresden, Germany on August 31--September 4, 2020. The abstract deadline is March 12, and early bird registration ends July 31. The USAC-ICO and its sponsoring societies—SPIE, Optical Society, and IEEE Photonics—continue to be concerned about is the overall effectiveness of the ICO and its future direction. These will be major topics at ICO-25, and the USAC-ICO is currently formulating its positions. The last ICO Congress (ICO-24) was held in Tokyo, Japan on August 21-25, 2017. Learn More About ICO-25 (https://www.ico25.org/) Learn More About ICO-24 (http://ico24.org/)

Event - ICTP Winter College on Optics*

The Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and the International Commission for Optics organize the annual Winter College on Optics in Trieste, Italy. The theme varies from year to year, but the format always features lectures by international experts, internal seminars and group discussions, and laboratory demonstrations. The 2020 Winter College was held February 10-21, and the theme was “Quantum Photonics and Information.” The Winter College is sponsored by the ICO, SPIE, the Optical Society (OSA), the European Optical Society (EOS), Società Italiana di Ottica e Fotonica (SIOF), and the International Society on Optics Within Life Sciences (OWLS). Each year, the USAC-ICO supports a U.S. PhD student, postdoc, or a U.S.-based speaker at the Winter College. This year, the USAC-ICO sponsored Mikhail Y. Shalaginov from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.U.S. graduate students and postdocs, including nonresidents attending U.S. universities, who are interested in attending a future ICTP Winter College should contact a member of the USAC-ICO or BISO staff before October 15. Learn More (https://www.ictp.it/)

International Day of Light Builds on Legacy of International Year of Light*

In recognizing 2015 as the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies (IYL 2015), the United Nations recognized the importance of raising global awareness about how light-based technologies promote sustainable development and provide solutions to global challenges in energy, education, agriculture, and health. In the United States, SPIE and the Optical Society of America (OSA), two of the sponsoring societies of the USAC-ICO, played a major role in organizing and coordinating U.S. participation in IYL. The final report on IYL 2015 highlighted the many successes of the year, including 13,168 events in 147 countries. A companion UNESCO report, Inspired by the Light: Reflections from the International Year of Light 2015, was published by SPIE. An International Day of Light, held annually on May 16, continues to build on the legacy of IYL. A DC Art and Science Evening Rendezvous (DASER) event on the topic of light was held at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in October 2015. Surgical goggles that see invisible light, the use of light as an artistic medium, the deployment of powerful new space telescopes, and soil powering LED lights were all topics explored. Samuel Achilefu (Washington University), Aviva Presser Aiden (Baylor College of Medicine), Evelyn Hankins (Smithsonian), and Michelle Thaller (NASA) gave presentations. These are available on the Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences' YouTube channel, organized in a DASER playlist and individually listed below: International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies (http://www.ictp.it/about-ictp/media-centre/news/2014/2/year-of-light.aspx) Inspired by the Light: Reflections from the International Year of Light 2015 (http://spie.org/documents/AboutSPIE/IYL2015/IYL_2015_Inspired_by_light.pdf) NASEM YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/CPNAS/featured) DASER playlist (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLfdQrZVuMNW68gbVsy4QyQfNXbFW99Ty) Aviva Presser Aiden: Dirt Power: Soil Microbes to Power LED Lights, Cell Phones, and Other Devices (10:31) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ-IprlvL4E&index=2&list=PLLfdQrZVuMNW68gbVsy4QyQfNXbFW99Ty) Samuel Achilefu: Making the Invisible Visible with NIR Surgical Goggles (13:57) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omEUMW_VfQI&index=3&list=PLLfdQrZVuMNW68gbVsy4QyQfNXbFW99Ty) Evelyn Hankins: When Light Becomes Material in Contemporary Art (13:26) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmHRHmOb9Bw&index=4&list=PLLfdQrZVuMNW68gbVsy4QyQfNXbFW99Ty) Michelle Thaller: First Light: Opening New Eyes on the Universe (13:35) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdx2EVGoR7k&list=PLLfdQrZVuMNW68gbVsy4QyQfNXbFW99Ty&index=5)

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