Space Station Astronaut to Address International Optics Conference in San Francisco on August 2-6.

NEWARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 28, 1999--

Over 500 of the world's leading researchers in the field of optical sciences will gather at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco from August 2-6, for the Eighteenth tri-annual congress of the International Commission for Optics (ICO).

The conference, called ICO XVIII, will attract scientists from 45 countries around the world. The program will feature keynote speeches by Stanford physicist, Professor Steven Chu, who won the Nobel Prize in 1998 for developing techniques to isolate and observe single atoms, and Dr. Shuji Nakamura, of Nichia Chemical Industries in Japan, who has pioneered the development of a new generation of solid-state lasers emitting blue and violet light.

San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown will welcome the attendees at a reception on Monday, August 2, and Astronaut Ellen Ochoa, who recently returned from the NASA mission to the International Space Station, will deliver the banquet address on Wednesday, August 4. Dr. Ochoa, who performed her graduate work at Stanford, will describe her recent mission.

This is the first meeting of the ICO in the United States since 1972, when Santa Monica played host to ICO-IX. Recent ICO conferences were held in Taejon, Korea (1996), Budapest, Hungary (1993), and Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany (1990). The last ICO conference in North America took place in Quebec, Canada in 1987. The ICO was founded in 1947, and its mission is "contribute, on an international basis, to the progress and diffusion of knowledge in optics." Professor Toshimitsu Asakura of the University of Hokkaido, in Japan, is the President of the international organization.

The conference is held in high esteem globally, and will be attended by leaders in the field of optical research from all over the world. The attendees will be active researchers in the field of optics, and will represent universities, government laboratories, and industrial research facilities.

The theme of ICO-XVIII is "Optics for the New Millennium." Over 500 scientists are expected to attend, to hear a total of nearly 400 technical presentations during the week. The conference will cover a wide array of subjects, reflecting the broad application of lasers and optics in modern technology. Among the highlights are presentations on: -0-

--   Quantum Cryptography -- the use of the unique properties of
     quantum systems to provide secure transmission of information,

--   Adaptive Optics -- a new technology for astronomical telescopes
     that allows ground-based observers to cancel out the effects of
     the turbulent and fluctuating atmosphere,

--   Optical Lithography -- using ultraviolet light and x-rays to
     create faster and cheaper computer chips, and

--   Archaeological Optics, -- information about the state of optical
     technology in ancient Egypt, gleaned from a study of the eyes of
     4500-year old Egyptian statues.

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The Conference Committee is drawn entirely from Bay Area institutions. Professor Joseph Goodman of Stanford University is the Program Chair, Dr. William Krupke, former Deputy Associate Director of Laser Programs at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is the Local Arrangements Chair, and Dr. Milton Chang, CEO of New Focus, Inc., is the Development Chair. Dr. Alexander J. Glass, Executive Director of the Bay Area Regional Technology Alliance (BARTA) and former Laboratory Associate Director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is General Chair of ICO XVIII.

Four of the leading scientific organizations in the US involved with optics research and applications are co-sponsoring the conference. These are the American Physical Society, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Lasers and Electro-Optics Society, the Optical Society of America, and the SPIE, which is the International Society for Optical Engineering. About 20 optics firms and research organizations have also contributed support to the conference.

"Optical science and technology play an increasingly important role in the California economy," commented Dr. Glass. "We are delighted to welcome the world's leading optical scientists and engineers to the Bay Area at this time. The ICO XVIII conference gives us a unique opportunity to learn about scientific advances in optics on a global basis."

Further information about the ICO XVIII conference can be found on the SPIE Web site, at http://www.spie.org/info/ico/., or by calling Dr. Alexander Glass, Executive Director of the Bay Area Regional Technology Alliance, at 510/354-3902.