Seminars

Photonic Devices and Systems Seminar
Organizer: Michelle Povinelli

The purposes of the seminar are to 1) expose our Ph.D. students to cutting-edge research from outside USC, 2) encourage interaction between USC faculty, staff, and students working in photonics, and 3) boost the visibility of the USC photonics effort on the national level, as visiting speakers have the chance to meet our faculty and tour our labs. In accordance with the goals of the Ming Hsieh Institute, the speakers are selected to encourage dialogue between researchers interested in devices and systems issues in photonics research. A fourth goal is to expose Ph.D. students to photonics-related career options in academia and industry.

For spring 2011, two local, university-based speakers were hosted. The target is to host approximately 4 university and 2 industry speakers per year. Due to the large number of faculty candidate talks in the spring semester, the majority of the seminars will be scheduled for the fall semester. This fall’s speakers will be chosen according to their ability to place their research within a broader perspective and discuss future directions in the field. Ming Hsieh funding will be used to bring in high-profile speakers from outside the local area.

Seminar Schedule:
2/10/2011
Title: Photothermal Excitation for Ultrafast Micro and Nanofluid Systems and Biomedical Applications
Speaker: Professor Eric P. Y. Chiou, UCLA

2/24/2011
Title: Integrated optical sensors for portable biomedical sensing and imaging
Speaker: Professor Ofer Levi, University of Toronto