SPIE

New Books from SPIE Press Titles include Simulation Technologies for Optoelectronics, Volume 1: Light Waves, The Ultimate Infrared Radiometry Handbook for R&D Professionals, and more.

An exploration of some of the questions surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on optical design was on tap at SPIE Optics + Photonics 23-27 August in San Diego, California. For example, University of Laval Full Professor Simone Thibault looked at the utility and limitations of using ray tracing for generating synthetic data to train AI models across various applications.

BELLINGHAM, Washington, USA — David Hagan has been elected to serve as the 2027 Vice President of SPIE. He will serve as President-Elect in 2028, and as the Society’s President in 2029. The SPIE Board of Directors is influential in the scientific community, establishing policy and strategy and conducting activities of interest to SPIE Members.

Cancer drugs are often designed to block specific molecular targets, but what happens after they enter a cell is not always well understood. A new study published in Biophotonics Discovery demonstrates how advanced imaging technology can help answer that question. Using super-resolution microscopy, researchers tracked the cancer drug sunitinib inside living cells and observed how it altered several of the cell's most important structures.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), the virus best known for causing cold sores, infects a large portion of the world's population and can remain dormant in nerve cells for decades. In recent years, researchers have found evidence linking HSV-1 to neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, but scientists still do not fully understand how the virus affects the brain.

“This is the closest I get to come to living out my childhood ‘Star Wars’ fantasies,” says Aaron Liberman of becoming a scientist. He was 1 of 74 students around the globe to receive an SPIE Optics & Photonics Scholarship in 2025. Liberman is using his $3,500 award to support his research with a technology upgrade that will enable faster computational simulations that help him bridge the gap between cutting-edge basic science and transformative real-world applications.

Born on 30 October 1931 in Santa Croce, Italy, DeMaria moved to Waterbury, Connecticut, with his parents as a child. He went on to major in physics at the University of Connecticut, where he also earned his PhD. DeMaria worked at United Technologies Corporation Research Center in Connecticut, where much of his research on lasers was conducted. He served as the Assistant Director of Research until his retirement in 1994.

SPIE Fellow William T. Rhodes passed away in June 2026. Rhodes earned his BS in physics, MS in Electrical Engineering, and PhD in Electrical Engineering, each from Stanford University. After graduating in 1971, he joined the Electrical and Computing Engineering Department at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), where he taught until his retirement in 2005.

“Get involved in research as soon as you can so you know if you like it. Don't shy away from topics you think you are not interested in. In the beginning, it's hard to know until you try.” — Yaryna Mamchur, 2025 SPIE Optics and Photonics Scholarship recipient Yaryna Mamchur is a team player. As a matter of fact, she’s won the Team Spirit award from the University of Ottawa Physics Graduate Student Association for her leadership and community involvement.

BELLINGHAM, Washington, USA — SPIE proudly announces that it is now accepting submissions for Advanced Quantum Photonics (AQP), the scholarly publisher’s newest journal. As the first peer-reviewed journal for applied quantum research, AQP fills a critical gap in the quantum research publishing landscape, enabling collaboration and further advancing this critical field.