“Our Future is Light” Campaign Kicks off 2022 International Day of Light
16.5.2022 18:03:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
An action-packed video styled as a blockbuster-movie trailer provides the linchpin for this year’s International Day of Light (IDL) campaign, “Our future is light. Play your part.” Released today, Day of Light features diverse characters successfully solving global-level problems using photonics-enabled technologies.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220516005150/en/
Sponsored by SPIE, Optica, and IEEE Photonics Society, this year’s International Day of Light celebration showcases exciting, critical career opportunities in optics and photonics. (Graphic: Business Wire)
Three professional societies – SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, IEEE Photonics Society, and Optica, Advancing Optics & Photonics Worldwide – partnered to create the video and the accompanying 2022 IDL campaign. “Our future is light. Play your part” promotes the importance of light-based technologies and interesting careers in optics and photonics, while raising awareness of the annual IDL celebration on 16 May. From technologies that improve vision and power smartphones to those that provide tools to study Earth and Space, from healthcare to communications at the speed of light, photonics is the key enabling technology of a brighter future.
The video, its look and feel inspired by the 2010 science-fiction thriller Inception, features Dawn, an optical-engineer action hero, who is busy saving the world with light-based technologies such as prisms, solar panels, spectral imaging, lasers, and lidar. The video also issues a lively invitation to real-life future scientists, technicians, engineers, and industry leaders: consider a career in photonics.
In conjunction with the video’s release, the related website includes an overview of the technologies mentioned in the film; depictions of professionals working in the field of optics and photonics, from optical engineers and laser technicians to academic researchers; and a selection of downloadable resources for education and careers.
“Many of the devices we use every day are comprised of light-based technologies made possible by the optics and photonics community,” said Optica CEO Elizabeth Rogan. “On the International Day of Light, we celebrate these contributions from our community and hope this celebration inspires others – particularly students – to study and work in light science and technology.”
“The International Day of Light is the perfect time to highlight the many varied and exciting career opportunities in optics and photonics,” noted SPIE CEO Kent Rochford. “Light-based technologies are providing much-needed solutions to some of our biggest global challenges and will continue to do so. This is a terrific time to be considering a career in the industry and we hope this year’s IDL campaign will reach and inspire future scientists, engineers, and technicians.”
"Each International Day of Light, we celebrate the long and rich history of optics and photonics that has brought so much to our everyday lives," said IEEE Photonics Society Executive Director Doug Razzano. "By continuing to advance light science and make known to the world the importance of the technologies derived from it, we will help to grow and support this vibrant technical community."
About the International Day of Light
The International Day of Light (IDL), celebrated annually on 16 May, is a global initiative highlighting the central role that light and light-based technologies play across science, culture, education, and sustainable development, in areas as diverse as medicine, communications, and energy. The 16 May date honors the anniversary of the first successful demonstration of a laser by physicist and engineer Theodore Maiman in 1960; the broad theme of light allows many different sectors of society worldwide to participate in activities that demonstrate how science, technology, and art, can help achieve the goals of UNESCO – education, equality, and peace. lightday.org.
About IEEE Photonics Society
The IEEE Photonics Society is the professional home for a global network of scientists, engineers and allied professionals who represent the laser, optoelectronics, and photonics community. As a Technical Society of the IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity, the IEEE Photonics Society inspires community through highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities. www.photonicssociety.org.
About Optica
Optica (formerly OSA), Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, is the society dedicated to promoting the generation, application, archiving and dissemination of knowledge in the field. Founded in 1916, it is the leading organization for scientists, engineers, business professionals, students and others interested in the science of light. Optica’s renowned publications, meetings, online resources and in-person activities fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate scientific, technical and educational achievement. Learn more at optica.org.
About SPIE
SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, brings engineers, scientists, students, and business professionals together to advance light-based science and technology. The Society, founded in 1955, connects and engages with our global constituency through industry-leading conferences and exhibitions; publications of conference proceedings, books, and journals in the SPIE Digital Library; and career-building opportunities. Over the past five years, SPIE has contributed more than $22 million to the international optics community through our advocacy and support, including scholarships, educational resources, travel grants, endowed gifts, and public-policy development. www.spie.org.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220516005150/en/
Contact information
Daneet Steffens
Public Relations Manager
daneets@spie.org
+1 360 685 5478
@SPIEtweets
Ashley Collier
Corporate Communications Manager
ACollier@optica.org
+1 202 416 1419
@OpticaWorldwide
Kristen Mahan
Marketing Manager
k.mahan@ieee.org
+1 732 562 6694
@IEEEPhotonics
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Strategic Partnership Between Record Asset Management and Admicasa2.7.2026 20:00:00 EEST | Press release
RAM Swiss Holding AG is a subsidiary of LSE-listed Record Financial Group (Record) and part of the Record Asset Management (RAM) group of companies. The partnership is a milestone in the growth of Admicasa and marks an important step in the continued expansion of Record’s private markets platform. Subject to regulatory approval, the agreement, signed on 1st July 2026, provides RAM Swiss Holding AG with a 50% participation in the Admicasa Fondsleitung AG, part of Admicasa, and establishes a long-term partnership to develop investment opportunities in the Swiss and Global real estate market with a plan to expand into other asset classes in the medium term. RAM is the European asset management arm of Record, the LSE-listed specialist investment group managing USD 115 billion of assets on behalf of institutional clients worldwide. Record's client base comprises pension funds, foundations, sovereign institutions and other asset managers, with whom it has built long-standing relationships th
IQM Quantum Computers Becomes First European Quantum Computing Company Listed on a Major U.S. Exchange2.7.2026 17:47:00 EEST | Press release
IQM Quantum Computers (Nasdaq: IQMX) (“IQM”, “IQM Quantum Computers” or the “Company”), a global leader in full-stack superconducting quantum computers, today became a publicly traded company following the completion of its business combination with Real Asset Acquisition Corp. (“RAAQ”). This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260702960460/en/ IQM Quantum Computers Becomes First European Quantum Computing Company Listed on a Major U.S. Exchange The company’s American Depositary Shares begin trading today on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “IQMX”. The listing marks a major milestone for IQM establishing the company as the first European quantum computing company listed on a major U.S. stock exchange. Due to the proceeds of the transaction, IQM maintains a strong pro forma cash position of EUR 337 million. IQM enters the public markets with strong commercial momentum and a rapidly expanding globa
GigaDevice Launches First GD24CL Series I²C EEPROM, Further Expanding Its Non-Volatile Memory Portfolio2.7.2026 17:00:00 EEST | Press release
GigaDevice, a leading semiconductor company specializing in Flash memory, 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs), sensors, and analog products, announced today the launch of its new GD24CL series I²C EEPROM. The series delivers outstanding performance, comprehensive security protection mechanisms, and excellent reliability that addresses the stringent requirements for stable and long-term storage of critical configuration data. These offered features will benefit applications in industrial, energy, Internet-of-Things (IoT), data centers, and networking. As GigaDevice’s first EEPROM product series, the launch further enhances the company’s non-volatile memory portfolio and provides customers with more dynamic storage solutions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260702394554/en/ GigaDevice Launches First GD24CL Series I²C EEPROM, Further Expanding Its Non-Volatile Memory Portfolio. The GD24CL series is designed with high
Medical University of Graz Enrolls First Patient in DEEPER CHALLENGE Trial Evaluating Spur ® Peripheral Retrievable Scaffold System in a Select CLTI Cohort2.7.2026 14:00:00 EEST | Press release
Reflow Medical, Inc. announces that the Medical University of Graz has enrolled the first patient in the DEEPER CHALLENGE clinical trial. This investigator-initiated, single-center, single-arm, prospective study, supported by a grant, investigates early vessel recoil following below-the-knee treatment using the Spur® Peripheral Retrievable Scaffold System in combination with a commercially available drug-coated balloon. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260701995624/en/ The study investigates early vessel recoil following below-the-knee treatment using the Spur® Peripheral Retrievable Scaffold System in combination with a commercially available drug-coated balloon. The study plans to enroll up to 40 patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) across two distinct cohorts: patients with diabetes and patients with end-stage renal disease receiving hemodialysis for at least six months, with women comprisi
Compass Pathways Announces New Employee Inducement Grants Under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4)2.7.2026 13:30:00 EEST | Press release
Compass Pathways plc (Nasdaq: CMPS), a biotechnology company dedicated to accelerating patient access to evidence-based innovation in mental health, announced today that Compass granted equity awards under the Compass Pathways plc 2026 Inducement Plan to eight newly hired non-executive employees. The equity awards were granted on July 1, 2026 and consisted of options to purchase an aggregate of 63,685 shares and restricted share units or, in the case of employees in the United Kingdom nominal cost options, covering an aggregate of 30,300 shares. The options have an exercise price per share equal to $13.29, the closing price of the Company’s American Depositary Shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on the grant date, and will vest over a four-year period with 25% vesting on the first anniversary of the date of the grant and the remaining 75% vesting in equal monthly installments over the three-year period thereafter, subject to each employee’s continued employment. The restricted sh
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom