Green Photonics
Green Photonics meeting
On 19th October, 2010 over 50 delegates from industry, government and universities met at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff to discuss science and technology challenges in green photonics. The meeting, chaired by Prof. Andrew Evans of Aberystwyth, was jointly organised by the Centre for Advanced Functional Materials and Devices (CAFMaD) and the Welsh Optoelectronics Forum (WOF) and was supported by the UK Electronics, Sensors and Photonics Knowledge Transfer Network (ESP-KTN).
The national context of the meeting was set by Prof. John Harries, the Chief Scientific Advisor for Wales who reiterated the importance of science and technology to the Wales of the future, and the potential for photonics to generate a flow of technologies and applications between the six business sectors identified as key for economic renewal by the Welsh Assembly Government.
The development and application of photonic materials and devices are a crucial part of the energy strategy of developed countries and Wales is well-placed to play a major role in the light of its established industrial and academic base in photonics. The landscape and current activity in Wales was reviewed by Dave Rimmer, the vice-chair of the Welsh Optoelectronics Forum and examples of leading industrial applications in Wales were given by Dr. Andrew Johnson of IQE plc., Steven Burt of G24i Ltd. and Kevin Byegate of Tata Steel. UK activity in Solar Electricity was reviewed by Antony Hurden of Grounded Innovation Ltd., and an international perspective of the future impact of photonics was given by the keynote speaker, Dr. Mike Lebby, General Manager of Translucent Inc., California, who drew on his wide experience of the industry as President of the US Optoelectronics Industry Development Association (OIDA).
The academic presentations reflected the collective expertise in photonic materials and their characterisation within CAFMaD (Prof. Andrew Evans and Dr. Rudi Winter of Aberystwyth and Prof. Martin Taylor and Prof. Igor Perepichka of Bangor) and included speakers from Swansea (Dr. Owen Guy) and Glyndŵr (Dr. Vincent Barrioz and Prof. David Walker) Universities.
The meeting concluded with a workshop session dedicated to the challenge set by Prof. Harries to provide a clear case for the role of photonics in linking excellent science, innovation and enterprise for the economic health of Wales. The Welsh Green Photonics communities’ response to this challenge will be co-ordinated by WOF (susan.sheridan@wof.org.uk), and will provide a focus for CAFMaD activities in this area in the future.
Where the presenters have agreed to publish their presentation, please click on the link which will take you to a PDF version of their presentation.
Dave Rimmer DREM Ventures Limited |
The Welsh Opto-electronics Forum (WOF) – enabling Green Photonics |
Professor Andrew Evans Aberystwyth University |
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Dr Andrew Johnson IQE Plc |
Utility Scale Power Generation using Third Generation Photovoltaics based on III-V Semiconductor Technology |
Professor Martin Taylor Bangor University |
Nanostructures Improve Photovoltaic Cells |
Professor John Harries Welsh Assembly Government |
Photonics in Wales |
Dr Rudi Winter Aberystwyth University |
Dynamic studies of film nanostructure by grazing-incidence x-ray scattering |
Kevin Bygate Corus/Tata Steel |
Sustainable Construction Turning buildings into power stations |
Professor David Walker Glyndŵr University |
Optics for Energy Generation by Laser-Fusion |
Dr Mike Lebby Translucent Inc. |
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| Dr Owen Guy | Solar cells from recycled materials |
Professor Igor Perepichka Bangor University |
Design of π-Functional Organic Materials for Plastic Electronics and Photonics |
Dr Vincent Barrioz Glyndŵr University/OpTIC Technium |
Thin Film PV Research – Activity in Wales |
| Stephen Burt
G24 Innovations |
The role of and opportunities for Photonics in the development of G24i’s DSS |
Antony Hurden Grounded Innovation Ltd. |
Solar Electricity – how can the UK best meet this opportunity? |