A workshop on photonics at IIT-Gn

margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:115% margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:115%A four day long

Indo-UK Workshop

on ‘

Photonics for Health

, Atmosphere, Safety and Education’ (PHASE 2020) was organised at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN). It was sponsored by the Royal Academy of Engineering, UK. Dr Arup Lal Chakraborty (IITGN), Prof Ken Grattan (

City University London

) and Dr Ralf Bauer (

University of Strathclyde

, Glasgow) jointly organised the workshop.margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:115% PHASE 2020 aimed to provide a platform for conversations between early- and mid-career Indian researchers/academics and thereby strengthen the photonic sensors community in India. It also intended to engage with industrial participants and sensitize them about the huge worldwide impact of photonic sensor technologies, the expertise available in Indian academia, and the industrial challenges that can be addressed through photonics.margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:115%The workshop provided the participants with world-class knowledge on laser-based sensing and imaging through expert lectures and demonstrations, along with a unique immersive and hands-on experience of working with a diverse set of photonics-based activities in the Photonic Sensors Lab at IITGN.margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:115%A total of thirteen international experts from the City University of London, UK; University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK; S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata; Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad; and IIT Gandhinagar mentored the participants throughout the workshop to carry out short time-bound projects using state-of-the-art optical technologies.margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:115%They worked on experiments such as tunable diode laser spectroscopy for high-sensitivity gas sensing; measurement of gas concentration, pressure & temperature; synthesis and characterisation of plasmonic nanoparticles; 3D-printed optical imaging; biomedical imaging and image processing approaches.