2026 Optical Sciences Winter School
The Wyant College of Optical Sciences kicked off the new year by hosting the 11th annual Optical Sciences Winter School & Workshop, held January 6–9, 2026. The program brings together select undergraduates from across the country for an introduction to core topics in optics and their connection to cutting‑edge research. Students learn directly from Wyant College faculty, tour labs, and explore the expanding opportunities in optics and photonics.
Across the four‑day program, attendees participated in lectures covering photonics, quantum optics, image science, optical engineering and more, led by faculty including Euan McLeod, Khanh Kieu, Brandon Chalifoux, Lori Furenlid, Travis Sawyer and many others. Students also visited open labs and toured facilities such as the Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab and the CAVE.
The Workshop portion featured invited talks from leaders in academia, industry and national laboratories, including presentations from Thomas Brown, University of Rochester, Peter Delfyett, University of Central Florida (CREOL), Jie Qiao, Rochester Institute of Technology and others. Career-focused sessions and alumni panels offered students insight into graduate studies and diverse career paths in optics. Evening events included a poster session at Bear Down Gymnasium and keynote talks by Stuart Elby at the Flandrau Planetarium and Tayyab Suratwala of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Find the full 2026 agenda here.
This year’s Winter School & Workshop was made possible through the generous support of the DeMund Foundation, Gretler Foundation, SPIE, Optica, the State of Arizona Technology and Research Initiative Fund, and the James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences.
