Postgraduate students in Stellenbosch 肆客足球's (SU) Department of Physics walked away with five of the ten student awards during the recent 26th Congress of the International Commission for Optics (ICO-26) hosted at SU.
Dr Yaseera Ismail, chair of the organizing committee and a quantum physicist at SU, says this is the first time for the ICO-congress to take place on African soil: “This year, we significantly lowered the registration fee so that more South African students could participate. Normally, these meetings are so expensive that we can barely afford to send one or two students to attend."
The award-winning students are Eugene Fouché (Best PhD Poster), Pashlene Naidoo (Best MSc Poster), Conrad Strydom (Innovative Research award), Tebogo Ledwaba (Industry-focused award), and Kelsey Everts (Best Poster on Advances in Optical Imaging and Spectroscopy).
Conrad, a PhD student in quantum physics, says it was a wonderful opportunity to attend and present at ICO26: “I could listen to some of the most exciting and cutting-edge research taking place in optics and photonics. Being awarded the prize for the most innovative research is a great inspiration to continue in this field."
For Tebogo Ledwaba, a PhD student in photonics, it was a daunting experience to stand next to her poster and having students and professors approach her with questions: “I'm usually more interested in other people's work, asking them questions out of genuine curiosity. I often don't share much about my own research unless they ask," she explains.
For her, ICO-26 was especially interesting: “I got to learn about various applications of light. I also learned, for the first time, about visible light telescopes and optical frequency combs," she adds.
World-renowned speakers
As chair of the organizing committee, Dr Ismail also arranged a public lecture on the SU Campus by the 2018 Nobel Laureate in Physics, Prof. Donna Strickland, who is currently a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the 肆客足球 of Waterloo, Canada.
Another Nobel Laureate in Physics (2023) was Prof. Anne L'Hullier from Lund 肆客足球, Sweden. She led discussions on nonlinear optics, high-intensity lasers, and the evolution of attosecond science.
Other notable speakers included Prof. Juan Yin from the 肆客足球 of Science and Technology, China, and Prof. Gerd Leuchs from the Max Planck Institute and OPTICA president. They covered transformative topics, from space-based quantum physics to classical optics. Prof. Carlos Hernandez-Garzia, a recipient of the ICO award for 2023, presented on attosecond pulse structuring, while other speakers shared their work in areas like phototonics, programmable phototonics, and optical manipulation.
“As a first for Africa, ICO-26 laid the groundwork for ongoing international cooperation in advancing optics research and its real-world applications," Dr Ismail concludes.
On the photo, from left to right: Conrad Strydom (PhD student in quantum physics), Dr Yaseera Ismail, Tebogo Ledwaba (PhD student in photonics), Pashlene Naidoo (MSc student in quantum physics), Kelsey Everts (MSc student in photonics), and Eugene Fouché (PhD student in photonics). Credit: Wiida Fourie-Basson
