Panel Sessions

Panellists:
Dr. Anke Lohmann, Anchored In, United Kingdom.
Elisabeth Wintersteller, Tyndall National Institute, Ireland
Dr Oded Raz, PhotonDelta, The Netherlands
Dr. Sajan Saini, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Panel Description
Photonics Integrated Circuits technology presents new challenges and opportunities for educators and trainers in physics and engineering education. Join this panel session to reflect on lessons learned and debate best practices for effective education programs

Moderator
Dr. Matthew Posner applies his technical and business skills to advancing photonics technologies, outreach education, and career development. His professional interests are PICs for space and data communications, education pedagogy, and “getting science out of the lab.” He is a Senior Member of Optica, SPIE, and IEEE, and Director of Technology at Axonal Networks.

Panellists
Elisabeth Wintersteller is Training Programme Manager at IPIC, the Research Ireland funded centre for Photonics Research based at Tyndall National Institute in Cork, Ireland. Passionate about developing talent at PhD and postdoc levels, she champions education, public engagement, and accessibility in photonics research. Coming from a non-scientific background, Elisabeth advocates for promoting diverse pathways into STEM.

Dr. Sajan Saini is the Education Director for the IKIM initiative at MIT and Workforce Co-Lead for the FUTUR-IC alliance, where he oversees production of all education and workforce development content: online courses, VR/digital twin-based training tools, K12 learning and outreach, hands-on bootcamps, and the annual AIM Photonics Summer Academy training program. Dr. Saini has previously taught at Princeton University and Queens College of CUNY and annually teaches at SPIE Photonics West.

Dr. Anke Lohmann is the founder of Anchored In, a consultancy supporting business and research organisations in taking technology to market. In 2022, Anke spearheaded the setup of the UK PIC Bootcamp to enable industry upskilling. Dr. Lohmann has a Ph.D. in photonics from Imperial College, R&D experience as an RSE/STFC enterprise fellow, and set up two STFC spinouts. Dr Lohmann’s interests include quantum technologies; as chair of the IOP’s qBIG committee and an early contributor to the UK’s National Quantum Technologies Programme, she has accelerated engagement amongst industrial quantum physicists, engineers, and innovators.

Dr. Oded Raz is the Scientific program manager of Photon Delta, where he oversees the execution of scientific programs and the development of the R&D projects carried out by Photon Delta partners in the National Growth Fund project. Dr. Raz supports the Human Capital team’s co-development of PIC programs with educational institutions in the Netherlands. Dr. Raz is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Eindhoven University of Technology, where he teaches in the Bachelor’s and Master’s programs. His research interests include optical packaging, programmable photonics, and quantum computers based on photonic solutions.

Panellists:
Dr. Neda Baktash, Coherent Corp, United Kingdom
Dr. Claire Cisowski, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
Dr. George O. Dwapanyin, University of St Andrews, United Kingdom
Dr. Fabian Ruf, Helping Hands Network, Germany

Panel Description:

Maintaining education, training, and outreach activities during the early stages of a career is’nt straightforward. Join Optica Ambassadors to discuss strategies for staying engaged with and contributing to the community.  

Demo Showcase:
The panel will be followed by a showcase featuring kits developed by the panelists. Join this session to discover hands-on experiments on Raman spectroscopy, pepper ghost experiment, reflection, refraction, and polarization.

Moderator:
Dr. Matthew Posner, https://www.optica.org/history/biographies/bios/matthew_posner/

Matthew applies his technical and business skills to advancing photonics technologies, outreach education, and career development. His professional interests are PICs, education pedagogy, and “getting science out of the lab.” He is a Senior Member of Optica, SPIE, and IEEE, and Director of Technology at Axonal Networks.

Panellists:
Dr. Neda Baktash, https://www.optica.org/history/biographies/bios/neda_baktash/

Neda Baktash is the Lead Laser Development Engineer at Coherent Corp in Glasgow, Scotland. She is an Optica Senior Member, SPIE Member, and 2025 Optica Ambassador. Neda serves as an officer for Optica’s Lasers in Manufacturing and Laser Systems Technical Groups and is a member and secretary of AILU’s Early Career Group. She is also a Scotland STEM Ambassador.

Dr. Claire Cisowski, https://www.optica.org/history/biographies/bios/claire_cisowski/

Claire Cisowski is an early career Leverhulme research fellow based in the Optics group of the university of Glasgow. Her research focuses on applying topology to optics. She is one of the founding members of the Optica student chapter of the Universidade do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and has continued to serve the optics community beyond her PhD as chair of the polarization management and propagation technical group. She was nominated Optica Ambassador in 2025. 

Dr. George O.  Dwapanyin, https://www.optica.org/history/biographies/bios/george_dwapanyin/

George Dwapanyin is a Ghanaian research fellow in advanced optical imaging & spectroscopy at the University of St Andrews. Beyond professional life, he is a member of Photonics Ghana. A group established with the vision of promoting research and economic growth through photonic applications in Ghana and Africa. George also serves as a reviewer and mentor for several programs and committees within Optica and beyond including the Amplify scholarship and Immersion committees. He has been an ambassador since 2024.

Dr Fabian Ruf, https://www.optica.org/history/biographies/bios/fabian_ruf/

Fabian Ruf is an Integrated Optics & Photonics Designer at ZEISS, Germany. He is passionate about teaching and promoting optics as a means to improve education in underprivileged communities. He was awarded the 2023 Pivoting Fellowship for his work with the Helping Hands Network in Liberia and is a 2025 Optica Ambassador.