Australian Institute of Physics |
 |
South Australian Branch |
Australian Institute of Physics |
|
South Australian Branch |
Notice of a
in conjunction with the
being the South Australian lecture in the
2007 AIP Women-in-Physics Lecture Tour
at
7:30 pm on Wednesday 12th December 2007 inUnion Hall
at the University of Adelaide "New ways of molding the flow of light with optical fibres"Abstract: Optical fibres have revoluntionized the way in which we communicate and do business. New developments in optical fibres now promise to dramatically expand the impact of photonics beyond these areas. This talk will describe how by using novel types of glass and by artificially structuring materials on the microscopic scale it is possible to modify and control the way in which light travels along a fibre. As well as introducing these fundamental concepts, the applications and future directions of this area of science and technology will be reviewed.
Biography: Since 2005, Tanya Monro has been the Chair of Photonics and the Director of the DSTO Centre of Expertise in Photonics within the School of Chemistry & Physics at the University of Adelaide. From 1998 to 2004, Tanya worked at the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton, UK, on silica and soft glass microstructured optical fibres, where she was a Royal Society University Research Fellow. Prior to this she completed a PhD at the University of Sydney, Australia on self-written waveguides in photosensitive glasses, and she received the Bragg Gold Medal for the best physics PhD in Australia in 1998 for this work. Current research within the Centre of Expertise in Photonics focuses on the design, fabrication and device applications of new classes of soft glass microstructured optical fibres. As well as working on fundamental research in photonics, Tanya works closely with DSTO and industry to develop optical fibres of particular relevance for defence applications. Professor Monro has published over 240 papers in the area of photonics and optical fibres. In 2006 she was awarded a Cosmos Magazine inaugural "Bright Sparks" award, and at the recent 2007 South Australian Science Excellence Awards she was a finalist for "South Australian Scientist of the Year", and she is a member of the SA Premier's Science and Research Council. She was named as one of SA's "Rising Stars" by the Sunday Mail in October 2007.
