Category: News

Lessons learnt in innovation

The EPSRC summer school was an applied approach to understanding the many different facets of innovation and entrepreneurship in photonics. The week featured Technologists who shared case studies and valuable insights into how a technology or a scientific principle could be developed into a business. To echo thoughts that I heard throughout the week, it’s not the tech that makes money, it’s the business model wrapped around it. There is not a recipe to for all and for this reason it was extremely insightful to get many perspectives from experts from in their early steps of entrepreneurship right through to the seasoned innovators.

Right to left: Prof. T. Baer, Prof. M. Dawson and Prof. C. Boudoux in conversation with moderator Prof. D. Reid during the panel discussion on innovation and entrepreneurship experiences.
Perspectives on innovation and entrepreneurship panel discussion with (right to left) Prof. T. Baer, Prof. M. Dawson and Prof. C. Boudoux in conversation with moderator Prof. D. Reid.

The school also consisted of courses in management and strategic planning techniques that can enable development and innovation in companies. Methods such as SCRUM , SWOT analysis and PESTEL, as well as technology screening techniques were introduced. These were put into practice throughout the week in an effort from the organisers to make the concepts as tangible as possible, which was very engaging and effective. A couple of lessons have stuck with me. First, complex information unrelated to the technology can be strategically selected to make greater impact in the workings of an organisation. Second, which resonated with me very well, values inform both the vision and the mission of a business organisation.

In conversation with Mike Reilly during SCRUM workshop session for the development of a business plan for our social enterprise.
In conversation with Mike Reilly during SCRUM workshop session for the development of a business plan for our social enterprise.

The main deliverable of the week was a group project to develop a pitch for a start up for a product or service for the photonics industry. My team, Haggis Photonics (affectionately named after one of Scotland’s national delicacies), developed a pitch based on building automated components for the photonics industry using 3D printed technology. The business would place itself between the expensive equipment and the Makers market. We also identified a potential to use this product for the training of technician in vocational career paths, a subject close to my heart! We had the opportunity to pitch the idea to 3 serial entrepreneurs and business development experts. The exercise and feedback was very insightful into what is needed in the process of developing a business.

Final poster presentation of my research in integrated optics and Bragg gratings from the University of Southampton!
My final poster presentation on my research in integrated optics and Bragg gratings from the University of Southampton!

The week was very enjoyable, busy and packed full of educational and social activities. The social highlights for me were the traditional Scottish Ceidh, a very active evening of dancing, and the banquet dinner in the luxurious university Lower College Hall (see cover picture!). I also had the opportunity to present one of my last projects that I have conducted in Southampton as a result of research done during my PhD, which was a great opportunity to reflect on the work I had conducted in the past 4.5 years.  Thanks to the school I have gained a lot of insight into how innovation takes place in the tech sector. It has given me lots of pointers to look out for as I embark on the next stage of my career (announcement on job situation to follow!).

To sign off, I wish to extend a thank you to Prof. Derryck Reid and Kasia Sulima for the organisation of the summer school, Munadi Ahmad for the cover picture, and the local student organising team for a week packed of social activities. Thanks for tuning in. Bye for now.

Passion driven Innovation

The first days of the summer school have brought me some rich insight into the world of technological entrepreneurship. I am struck by the diversity of the scenarios that can be tackled by using photonics, from making intricate glass parts for watches with lasers, or using smart LCD tags in supermarkets and right to using 20-year of fibre optics and medical imaging research to enable the next generation of medical screening devices for point-of-care diagnostics. Photonics is not just enabling technology, it is causing whole business ecosystems to collide and is generating solutions that will transform the landscape where we live in ways only limited by our imagination.

“Venturing” is tough; indeed, etymologically speaking, a venture is the risk of loss. Resilience is a trait that transpires from the stories of the technologists that have been shared this week. Yet the positivity in enterprising is palpable, as is the excitement linked to rationally stepping out of one’s personal comfort zone. Raw passion and naive enthusiasm, balanced with a good dose of planning, rigorous accounting and systematic evaluation of methods and processes have provided case studies of vigorous business models moulded around technology.

In the past months, I have been reflecting on my own values, the things that get me out of bed in the morning. Working in collaboration beats the alarm clock, every time. Enjoyment to me is the key to the process. Passion is without a doubt the fuel of progress, and I am glad to have felt this first hand during this week through the talks and the conversations I have had the privilege of having.

More to follow this week on progress in building a technological and social enterprise as well as reflections on the research conversations from the week.

 

Building communities

SPIE Photonics West 2018 felt incredibly busy, and other attendees I have spoken to share the sentiment. I look back on the conference with the feeling that the professional optics and photonics community is vibrant and keen to engage on many levels.

My week started with a presentation for the SPIE Students Meeting. I presented my experiences as a committee member, president and mentor of the University of Southampton’s Optics and Photonics Society. It was really precious to reflect on my journey amongst a growing and dynamic local student network, through which I have thrived personally and professionally. I am grateful to have been able to share my experiences with a global student community and have the opportunity to meet with peers.

Team building at the hardest Escape Room in the USA with SEaCarP committee and guests
Team building at the hardest Escape Room in the USA, with SPIE 2018 SEaCarP committee and guests.

I have joined two SPIE committees in 2018, namely the SPIE Education Committee and Student and Early Career Professional ad hoc Committee. I feel privileged to be part of active discussions and have the opportunity to contribute to guiding the SPIE’s mission. I am excited to be taking part in projects that will be looking to enhance the society’s education endeavours and the participation of student and early career professionals (SEaCarP). As part of my Education “duties” I am working with a smaller sub-committee towards better understanding the impact that the society’s members have through their dedication to outreach and public engagement programs. SEaCarP discussions have focused on enhancing the member experience of early career professionals. If you would like to get in touch to discuss these projects, drop by my LinkedIn profile to talk some more.

This international meeting was a fantastic forum to contextualise my professional and personal development experiences. It has given me the space to ask questions and actively listen to colleagues and friends engaging with the community. It is also great to see familiar faces again and catch up on people’s progress in their work and careers.

You’ll hear more from me at least by August, where I will be in San Diego for the 2018 SPIE Optics + Photonics congress. Bye for now.

Thanks to Vahan Malkhasyan for the picture that was used as the featured image in this post.

A week at Photonics West

🎵 If you’re going to San Francisco 🎵

I’ve been humming Scott McKenzie’s lyrics for a couple of months now, as I have been planning and preparing my trip to the SPIE Photonics West congress that will be held in San Francisco from Jan. 26th to Feb. 1st. This is the first time that I will attend this conference and needless to say that I am incredibly excited to be travelling back to North America to “the world’s largest photonics technologies event”.

For all SPIE students out there, I will be giving a talk at the Student Chapter Meeting on Sun. 28th Jan called “Building your mentorship toolkit through your student chapter”. Beware, you need to register by Friday, 19 January to attend! See the schedule below for more information.

SPIE Student and Early Career Professional Committee 2018SPIE Student and Early Career Professional Committee 2018.

I have joined 2 committees of the SPIE, A.K.A the international society for optics and photonics. I will be part of their Education committee and help guide the society in its mission in developing and delivering Education activities worldwide. I am also delighted to join the SEaCarP ad hoc committee (this maritime acronym stands for “Student and Early Career Professional”) with officers whose reputation precedes them. I’m excited to meet or see them again again in San Francisco. I want to take the opportunity to thank SPIE for the Student and Early Career Professional ad hoc Committee member travel grant offered to me to attend Photonics West 2018, as well as their help in the organisation of this trip.

I will be around at technical talks and the trade show throughout the week. I’ve posted my abridged non-technical schedule below, which has lots of times when it might be convenient to meet! If you want to catch up then drop me a message on LinkedIn, Facebook or Whatsapp.

“Where is Matt?”

Abridged non-technical schedule

Sunday 28th Jan

  • Student Chapter Meeting, Sun. 28th Jan, 18:00-21:00, with my talk “Building your mentorship toolkit through your student chapter”. Registration required at students@spie.org by Friday 19 January!

Monday 29th Jan

  • Essential Skills for a Career in Industry by David Giltner of Turning Science, 13:30-17:30, Intercontinental Hotel. No registration required, but get there early to avoid disappointment!
  • Women in Optics and Diversity Inclusion Program and Reception, 17:00-19:00,  Intercontinental Hotel. Details here.
  • SPIE Careers Lab Meet-up, 21:00, The Chieftain, 198 5th St.
Join me, moderators and members of the SPIE Career Lab on Monday night!
Join me, moderators and members of the SPIE Career Lab on Monday night!

Tuesday 30th Jan

  • “How Global Investment is Bringing Quantum Technologies to the Marketplace”, 8:30-9:45, Moscone Centre, Room 21 (North Exhibit Level).
  • SPIE After-dinner Member Reception, 20:00-21:30, Hilton Union Square, Cityscape Lounge (SPIE Members only).

Wednesday 31st Jan

  • Early Career Networking breakfast, Moscone Centre, Room 2000. Registration at earlycareer@spie.org

Worldwide Universities Networks

During my recent trip to China I had the opportunity to meet with researchers in my field of integrated photonics. Through Chaotan Sima, an alumni of my research group in the Optoelectronics Research Centre, I was introduced to Professor Huilian Ma, of Zhejiang University’s Laboratory of Micro-Optic Gyroscopes in the school of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The research centre has approximately 40 research students and 10 professors. I had the pleasure of meeting Prof. Ma’s group, including my PhD student-counterpart Jianjie Zhang. I am extremely grateful for the kind and generous reception of my hosts, who made me discover Hangzhou food and helped me settle in after an eventful travel. Credit goes to them too for all the pictures in the post!

A warm reception to Hangzhou, with Prof. H Ma's research group and Chaotan Sima, to my right.
A warm reception to Hangzhou, with (left to right) Lu Ying, Lin Yi, Ma Huilian, Sima Chaotan, Posner 马修 (me!), Zhang Jianjie, Ye Sen and Li Hanzhao. In Chinese, it’s first surname, then given name!

The visit was a great opportunity to learn about how photonics integrated circuits can be used as optical gyroscopes. Gyroscopes are used to stabilise position of navigation systems or automatic pilots independent of their movement of rotation. It is important for space applications, such as in satellites orbiting around the earth, where the ability to accurately determine position is of the utmost importance. Normally gyroscopes have moving (mechanical) parts, so can be delicate to package and send safely up to the space! The integration of these devices leads to more stable, smaller and scalable technologies.

Prof. Ma’s group at Zhejiang University is developing integrated optical gyroscopes on chips the size of a large stamp. They design and test prototypes on a silica-(glass)-on-silicon platform. These devices must maintain a very high signal-to-noise ratio to be efficient sensors. A well-known problem for optical gyroscopes is that the signal can be degraded by imperfect polarisations of the laser source used with these systems. In Southampton I had been researching ways to create on-chip polarisation filters compatible with silica technology, which could improve the performance of these devices. In the months leading up to this trip I had received some prototypes to test the suitability of the Southampton Direct UV Writing laser system to make polarizing filters using tilted gratings in waveguides, using the fabrication techniques I’ve discussed previously. The visit gave me the opportunity to present the work I’ve conducted to date and understand the testing methods. It’s been extremely worthwhile discussing the project directly with the people involved, and I’m looking forward to further experimental work that will arise from these discussions.

Professor Huilian Ma, I, and ORC alumni Chaotan Sima discussing preliminary test results of the integrated optical gyroscopes.
Professor Ma Huilian, Sima Chaotan and I discussing preliminary test results of the integrated optical gyroscopes, with some refreshing seasonal fruits.

Shanghai and Suzhou

I spent a long weekend re-exploring Shanghai (8 years since my last visit) and discovering the quaint town of Suzhou. Enjoy the pictures!

Shanghai

Shanghai Bund, 2017. 8 years later, with more facial hair!
Shanghai Bund, 2017. 8 years later, with more facial hair!
The Shanghai response to New York
The Shanghai response to New York.
Shanghai landmarks: the Oriental Pearl TV Tower
Shanghai landmarks: the Oriental Pearl TV Tower.
The Shanghai Big Three: World Financial Tower, Jinmao Tower, Gensler Tower (left to right)
The Shanghai Big Three: World Financial Tower, Jinmao Tower, Gensler Tower (left to right).
Coffee with a view at Park Hyatt, on floor 87!
Coffee with a view at Park Hyatt, on floor 87!
The Shanghai Museum, on People's Square
The Shanghai Museum, on People’s Square.

Suzhou

Lion Grove Gardens, UNESCO world heritage site.
Lion Grove Gardens, UNESCO world heritage site.
Rock sculptures are important features in Suzhou Gardens.
Rock sculptures are important features in Suzhou Gardens.
The rock exhibition at Lion Grove Gardens.
The rock exhibition at Lion Grove Gardens.
North Pagoda Temple and gardens, Suzhou
North Pagoda Temple and gardens, Suzhou.
Buddha in the Pagoda, North Temple Pagoda, Suzhou
Buddha in the Pagoda, North Temple Pagoda, Suzhou.
Suzhou Xi Dong Xie pedestrian street
Suzhou Xi Dong Xie pedestrian street.
Suzhou canals, off Pingjiang Road.
Suzhou canals, off Pingjiang Road.

Every day is a school day

The 14th International Conference on Education and Training in Optics and Photonics has offered me a unique perspective into how local community and institutional education work ties into the bigger picture. The conference featured 1 plenary, 16 keynotes and 16 invited talks, in addition to 8 parallel sessions. I have developed my understanding of classroom teaching methods and been inspired by case studies at regional, national and international level. I have found out about useful tools and evaluation techniques that I wish to integrate into my future activities. I am struck by the overwhelming desire to better the global education system and prepare the skilled workforce needed for the next photonics technology revolution.

Coming into this conference I was hoping to get some insight on the role of industry in the education sector. This came, often in unexpected places! I attended a workshop given by Judith Donnelly (Judy) in Problem-Based Learning, a pedagogy that was adapted to the photonics technology sector as a result of an industry demand for students to be better prepared for the workplace. Some educators related their experiences of delivering successful projects working alongside industry, where students trained in technical photonics skills were being scooped up by companies in the private sector. It was encouraging to see a small number of members of industry participating in this conference with stands and talks. Tsutomu Hara from Hamamatsu offered some perspective on outreach programs offered in the private sector to develop the public’s appreciation of Optics and Photonics technologies, as well as educational and training activities implemented to train students.

Creating a world "wherein the intriguing nature and limitless potential of light are communicated and educated to the younger generation.
Creating a world “wherein the intriguing nature and limitless potential of light are communicated and educated to the younger generation.”

I was also going to attend a second workshop organised by Judy, which is called Dumpster Optics. It aims to teach graduate students how to use simple experiments to explain optics phenomena to children. I’d developed a workshop with similar aims in the past (see TS Squared) so I was looking forward to getting some new perspectives. To facilitate the communication exercise Judy, had invited conference attendees to bring their children; as a unforeseen consequence, the children outnumbered the adults considerably. Doff the student cap, don the teacher hat, and here I am, bemused, standing with Mei, local student turned translator, Judy and her assistant-son Matt, in front of 40 very excited Chinese children. It was unsuspectingly amusing to be faced with exactly what got me there: a classroom full of very excited primary school students with bags of experiments at their disposal! I learnt that “Wow” does not get lost in translation, and I it was a pleasure to give these children the opportunity of practising hands-on experiments and experiencing various optics phenomena.

"How did this happen?", I must be thinking. Teaching under the guidance of Judy, and saved by our excellent student translator Mei.
“How did this happen?”, I must be thinking. Teaching under the guidance of Judy, and saved by our excellent student translator Mei. Picture courtesy of Judy Donnelly.