INESC TEC co-organises international conference on optics and photonics

The RIAO/OPTILAS is considered one of the most important meetings in optics and photonics, and gathered almost 500 researchers, professors, students and experts, combining three initiatives in the same event: the 2013 RIAO, the 2013 OPTILAS and the Education and Training in Optics and Photonics Conference (ETOP’2013).

Optical fibres, entrepreneurship, industrial optics, lasers and LEDs or nanofotonics were just some of the themes addressed at the event. During the event, the 2012 IUPAP (International Union of Pure and Applied Physics) award was given to some early stage scientists and engineers.

The conference was attended by the presidents of all International Scientific Societies, which is also proof of the importance of the RIAO/OPTILAS 2013 and recognition of the Iberian-American contribution to the areas of optics and photonics.

Promoting a more educational component, the ETOP'2013 took place simultaneously and combined academia and industry from around the world to share experience and knowledge about the teaching of optics and photonics. More than 140 abstracts were submitted to the ETOP, which also included 40 invited speaker presentations, 50 posters and close to 70 oral presentations.

The week of the RIAO-OPTILAS also included two other small events: the 11^th SEONS (Symposium on Enabling Optical Networks and Sensors), supported by INESC TEC/Telecommunications Institute of Aveiro, and the 2^nd International Summer School on Advances in Ophthalmic Optics and Optometry, promoted by the APLO - Association of Optometry Licensed Professionals.

Because optics and photonics are expanding areas, other than promoting knowledge sharing, the RIAO/OPTILAS conference was also important to boost cooperation between Iberian-American research institutions.

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"For the first time the city of Porto brought two of the most important conferences in the field of optics to Portugal. I want to emphasize that UOSE received two 'Best Student Papers' at these events. The 'OSA Best Student Paper Prize' was given to Anderson Silva and the 'SEONS Best Student Paper' was given to Raquel Queirós. The organising committee would also like to thank the SPIE Chapter of the University of Porto consisting of all PhD students of Physics at U. Porto. These students, whose host institution is INESC TEC, also organised several events including the 'Entrepreneurship in Optics and Photonics' moderated by an INESC TEC researcher, Alexandra Xavier. "

"The theories and technologies related to optics are expanding. I believe that the 21^st century will be considered the century of optics and photonics. Therefore, this event is a good opportunity to meet researchers from Iberian-Latin countries."

"This conference is important because optics is becoming a major research area and I think it is essential for technology in general. Photonics is present everywhere and I believe all countries should collaborate to make the 21^st century unforgettable in this area.

"We had 605 papers submitted, more than 450 people registered, of which 350 were from Latin America. I think it was a success. The Presidents of all the International Scientific Societies in Optics also participated in this event, which we consider to be a win and recognition of the quality of our work."

"For us it is very important to honour young people and to encourage them to do more. It is difficult for scientists and engineers to start their careers and this kind of award plays a very important role in their professional paths. For all these reasons, it was very positive for us to be able to give the 2012 IUPAP (International Union of Pure and Applied Physics) award at this event."

"The ETOP (Education and Training in Optics and Photonics) Conference was dedicated to the theme of education in optics. The 12^th edition of this conference was held in parallel with the RIAO Conference, welcoming participants from around the world, particularly from Latin America. In addition, the RIAO participants could submit papers in the area of Optics and Photonics and for that, having these two events occurring simultaneously was very important."