IIT Delhi Finally Inaugurates Optics and Photonics Centre
In order to take teaching, research, development, and innovation in different areas of optics and photonics to a higher level, while keeping a balance between classical and modern areas, IIT Delhi planned to move a step ahead to create a new centre named ‘Optics and Photonics Centre’. The Institute’s Board of Governors had given its approval to the creation of the new centre on May 24th 2021.
After the approval from the Board of Governors, a team of professors and administration started the actual work of creating the centre. The centre is organising an online OSI Symposium of the Optical Society of India named Frontiers in Optics and Photonics (FOP21). The team took this opportunity to inaugurate the Optics and Photonics Centre, IIT Delhi. The conference is open to all: no registration is required. To join the even online you can click here.
Director Ramgopal Rao explained, this is how a department grows and it was a need for the moment to get separate and independent from the Physics department to include more engineering like research and develop the field rapidly. “A good physicist can do anything but that doesn’t apply to engineers”, prof Rao said in a funny way.
Renowned people like Chennupati Jagadish from Australian National University helped the team to set up this centre. The new centre would be hiring new faculty members and also PhD scholars. The centre has already received around 40 faculty applications. The PhD admissions would possibly start this December. “The centre would also help startups to grow”, the director said. The centre formation would be great opportunity for deserving candidates who want to join IIT Delhi as a faculty. Prof Jobey Joseph, who was already a prof in the Physics department of IIT Delhi, would be heading the new centre.
Prof Rao launched the new optics learning center, which would be part of the very centre. This optics learning center would help anyone who want to learn optics by providing various resources. It would contain material from basic to research level for student from school to university level.
Other research groups in India can showcase their achievement on this portal. People could also be abe to have a video chat and interact with the eminent scientists of India through the portal. The insdustries would also be able to showcase their achievements on the website. The website of the centre can be accessed therough this link https://opc.iitd.ac.in.
Prof Joseph also put forward their journey and the mission of the centre. The time line is shown here:
The proposed activities at the Photonics center would include teaching at various levels and research and development including partnership with various institutions around the globe.
Prof Jagdish called it a historical moment for the field in India and IIT Delhi. The optics and photonics industry is $700 Billion and expected to be doubling by 2030. The Industry Connect programmes would be a key step for the development of the country. The action plan of the center is expected to be the following.
Optics and photonics is the study of the fundamental properties of light and harnessing them in practical applications. To list a few, the areas covered under optics and photonics include Optical imaging, Optical metrology, Sources and detectors of light, Lasers, Fiber optics, Optical communication, Optical sensors, Colour of light, Vision optics, Remote sensing, Illumination, Diffractive optics, Adaptive optics, Holography, Fourier optics, Optical image processing, Opto-electronics, Optical data storage, Optical computing, Microscopy, Bio-medical optics, Nonlinear optics, IR optics, Terahertz optics, Photonic circuits, Nano-photonics, Plasmonics, Ultra-fast optics, Photonic quantum technologies etc.
The Optics and Photonics Centre, IIT Delhi will seek collaboration with establishments such as the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and industry to undertake R&D in the areas of importance for them. DRDO is already collaborating in this area through a vertical in Photonics in the Joint Advance Technology Centre (JATC) at IIT Delhi.
“As the spread of photonic technology and its usage is increasing, there would be many opportunities for such collaborations including setting up of start-ups. Apart from this, the Centre will play a pivotal role in the near future development of photonics-based quantum technologies, for next generation computing, secure communications etc. Sustained linkages with industry will also be developed and established,” said Prof Joby Joseph earlier this year.
On the teaching side, the Centre will focus on doctoral and postgraduate programmes including special programs for industry professionals. Innovation and translation of research into products would be very important for the Centre. It will also encourage and help students in entrepreneurial efforts and connect them with suitable investors through due processes at the Institute.
IIT Delhi has been known for its contributions in Optics in India and abroad. Many faculty members in Physics Department, Electrical Engineering, Centre for Sensors, Instrumentation and Cyber Physical System Engineering (SeNSE) and several other academic units are engaged in Optics & Photonics R&D. Over the years, four faculty members of the Physics Department have been recognized with the coveted Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for their work in optics and photonics.
Prof. Anurag Sharma, JC Bose Fellow, Dept. of Physics, IIT Delhi said, “The Centre will synergize and significantly enhance the activities in Optics and Photonics at IIT Delhi. This is particularly important in view of the strong interdisciplinary nature of the subject.”
Optics and photonics have become extremely important today as enabling technologies, and have immense applications in diverse fields such as communication and information processing; quantum information and computing; energy harvesting and green energy; lighting- particularly solid-state lighting; imaging- particularly bio-imaging; and several engineering fields- aerospace, civil and environment, agriculture, micro-nano fabrication, automotive engineering, research and industrial instrumentation, surveillance and offence in the military.
