Evolution of the Optics Shop, Workforce, and Industry — With Paul Melone (Thorlabs)

The changing nature of the "optics shop" — and, more broadly, its role in the optics and photonics industry today — is an effective gauge for tracking how optics workforce development is aligned to the ever-evolving needs of the industry. Recounting his own 40-plus-year professional journey, Paul Melone, global optics manufacturing director at Thorlabs, discusses his company’s ties to AmeriCOM (American Center for Optics Manufacturing) and how Thorlabs aims to identify and cultivate optics industry talent. Melone also discusses the company’s 2023 acquisition of Rochester, N.Y.-based JML Optical."All Things Photonics"® is produced by Photonics Media and airs biweekly, on Tuesdays.

Om Podcasten

From space exploration and quantum optics, to biomedical imaging and defense, today’s top scientific minds are using lasers, spectroscopy, sensors, and optics to deliver cutting-edge innovation to our society. In intimate conversations with those pushing the boundaries of human knowledge, “All Things Photonics” spotlights photonics industry progress from beyond the lab. Hear how 3D printed microscopes — and those developed for a fraction of the cost — offer our best hope for diagnosing disease in the developing world; why spectroscopy might be the most valuable tool in the crime scene technicians’ arsenal; how light can motorize drug delivery; and how the quantum cascade laser, CMOS image sensor, and robot-assisted surgery became realities. Notable guests include Nobel Prize winner Donna Strickland; Columbia University Eugene Higgins Professor of Electrical Engineering Michal Lipson; inventor of the CMOS image sensor Eric Fossum; serial entrepreneur Jason Eichenholz; co-namesake of the Hockney Falco Thesis Charles Falco; and SPIE President and founder of the Vanderbilt Biophotonics Center Anita Mahadevan-Jansen. “All Things Photonics”® is produced by Photonics Media and airs biweekly, on Tuesdays. The podcast was a shortlisted finalist in two categories — Best Science & Medical Podcast and Best Technology Podcast — for The Publishers Podcast Awards in 2021. It has again earned shortlist honors in the Best Science and Medical Podcast category for 2022. Contact us at [email protected].