Registration Opens for SPIE Photonics West 2020, the Largest Annual International Optics and Photonics Conference

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In February 2020, SPIE Photonics West, the largest annual international conference in optics and photonics, will host researchers, innovators, and business leaders from across the globe at San Francisco’s Moscone Center.

From February 1-6, SPIE Photonics West 2020 will welcome an estimated 23,000 registered attendees, 1,350 exhibitors, and more than 5,000 technical presentations. In addition, 2020 marks the inaugural SPIE AR/VR/MR conference as well as the industry-focused SPIE Venture Summit, part of an expanded entrepreneur program.

Each year, SPIE Photonics West showcases the latest in applications, technologies, and discoveries in optics and photonics, with three major conference tracks: BiOS, highlighting new research in biophotonics, biomedical optics, and applications of medical imaging; LASE, with its focus on the laser industry and applications; and OPTO, showcasing optoelectronics, photonic materials, and related devices.

From the SPIE BiOS Hot Topics speakers during Photonics West’s opening weekend, to the SPIE Prism Awards and 10th annual SPIE Startup Challenge later in the week, Photonics West will showcase innovative technologies and industry developments across the optics spectrum. Nobel Laureate Eric Betzig will give a plenary; additional plenaries will cover next-generation data centers, quantum computing, as well as other trending applications of photonics.

The brand-new, three-day SPIE AR/VR/MR conference incorporates an academic track, including the Student Optical Design Challenge; a two-day Expo + Demos event at which attendees will experience the entire ecosystem of cross-reality (XR) hardware; a selection of courses covering XR technologies and industry expectations; two days of more than 40 industry leaders sharing trends and insights; and end-of-day networking receptions. All attendees with full conference registration for Photonics West have access to the SPIE AR/VR/MR conference.

Featuring hundreds of product launches, live demonstrations, and technologies on display, the BiOS Expo and Photonics West Exhibition are both free and open to the public: the 200-exhibitor-strong BiOS Expo – featuring the latest technology in biomedical optics and healthcare applications – is open 1-2 February; the Photonics West Exhibition, 4-6 February, showcases the latest in optics and photonics innovations from more than 30 countries.

“With last year’s Photonics West we had a banner year, with more than 23,000 registered attendees, 1,350 exhibitors, and 5,200 papers; this year already looks to match or even exceed these numbers,” notes SPIE Senior Director of Technical Programs and Proceedings Marilyn Gorsuch, who is also the event manager for Photonics West. “Each year, Photonics West, as the first global photonics event of the year, sets the tone for academic, industry, and government communities. With a Nobel laureate giving a plenary talk, our BiOS Hot Topics speakers covering a comprehensive range of exciting topics on the latest biomedical innovations, our new, AR/VR/MR co-located conference making its debut, and with the most ambitious and value-driven industry-focused program to date, Photonics West 2020 promises to be the most engaging, thought-provoking, must-attend gathering in our field.”

In addition to the conferences and exhibitions, Photonics West also hosts the SPIE Career Summit, with its various professional-development sessions and multiple networking opportunities; 65 courses covering such topics as Medical Laser-Tissue Interactions and Optical Measurements for Automotive Displays & Lighting; and a comprehensive job fair, 4-5 February.

For more information and to register, please visit: https://spie.org/pw

About SPIE

SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics, an educational not-for-profit organization founded in 1955 to advance light-based science, engineering, and technology. The Society serves 255,000 constituents from 183 countries, offering conferences and their published proceedings, continuing education, books, journals, and the SPIE Digital Library. In 2019, SPIE provided more than $5 million in community support including scholarships and awards, outreach and advocacy programs, travel grants, public policy, and educational resources.