William G. Schulz

Washington, D.C.

Freelance Journalist at Freelance

Managing Editor, Photonics Focus at SPIE

Freelance journalist, scuba instructor, traveler, bead collector/jewelry maker, not necessarily in that order.

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Articles

Richard A. Soref: On pioneering silicon photonics

2 months ago | spie.org | William G. Schulz

At this year’s SPIE Photonics West symposium, a three-day conference track was devoted to silicon photonics, the material platform for photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Hundreds of talks—ranging from the design of photonic circuits and devices to quantum dot light sources and everything in between—were testament to the field’s growth and attraction, particularly with the rise of data- and power-hungry applications like artificial intelligence.
Attosecond science: Nobel-worthy nonlinear optics on steroids

Oct 31, 2024 | spie.org | William G. Schulz

We all have moments we wish could last forever: Holding a beloved new baby, a perfect sunset in Mykonos, a professional victory at the top of our game. While it’s not possible to literally stretch time, researchers have succeeded in divvying it up into ever-thinner slices, thanks mainly to lasers. Nanoseconds, picoseconds, femtoseconds—as very short pulses of laser light, these fractions of a fraction of a moment can illuminate otherwise hidden processes in nature as they unfold.
Carver Mead: Microelectronics, neuromorphic computing, and life at the frontiers of science and technology

Aug 31, 2024 | spie.org | William G. Schulz

Carver Mead has just finished writing a new paper. At age 90, the renowned pioneer of semiconductor electronics is tackling, with a small group of optics experts, lingering questions rooted in Einstein’s theory of general relativity that concern the effects of gravity on the speed of light.
ITF World presents the semiconductor industry to mark imec’s 40th birthday

Jul 10, 2024 | optics.org | William G. Schulz

10 Jul 2024With stellar cast of presenters and a showcase of the latest cutting-edge technologies. By William G. Schulz For its ITF World 2024 symposium, host imec, headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, pulled out all the stops for its annual two-day event at the end of May, with a stellar cast of presenters from the heights of the semiconductor industry to an exhibit floor showcasing some of its absolute cutting-edge technology.
Reflecting hope: Concentrating solar power can feed the grid and perhaps even remove carbon from Earth's atmosphere

Jun 30, 2024 | oauth.spie.org | William G. Schulz

In California’s Mojave Desert, about a 30-minute drive from the Las Vegas Strip, sits an electric power plant resembling few others in the US that are currently plugged into the grid. To make electricity, the concentrating solar power (CSP) plant’s circular arrays of tens of thousands of mirrors—aka heliostats—begin by directing sunlight to receivers atop three 459-ft tall towers, inciting them to glow with a jarring, otherworldly light, even against the harsh midday Sun.
Power couple: Aden and Marjorie Meinel's inspiring duet helped shape 20th Century astronomy

Apr 30, 2024 | spie.org | William G. Schulz

When one person in a marriage needs to stay mum about their top-secret scientific work for the government, dinner-table conversation might turn awkward at times. Imagine, though, the life of a couple in which each partner works hush-hush on a different branch of a huge and very classified project: They had better be satisfied with weather and sports.
SPIE Photonics Industry Summit pulls a crowd

Oct 11, 2023 | optics.org | William G. Schulz

11 Oct 2023Around 200 decision makers gathered 27 September 2023 in Washington, DC, for the second annual meeting. By William G. Schulz, Editor in Chief, Photonics Focus (SPIE) For a second consecutive year, the SPIE Photonics Industry Summit, held 27 September in Washington, DC, drew a capacity crowd of attendees, ready for open dialog on US science policy and its impacts on the photonics industry.
SPIE Photonics Industry Summit again draws capacity crowd

Oct 10, 2023 | spie.org | William G. Schulz

For a second consecutive year, the SPIE Photonics Industry Summit, held 27 September in Washington, DC, drew a capacity crowd of attendees, ready for open dialog on US science policy and its impacts on the photonics industry. This year included a special emphasis on growing the US science and technology workforce, a vital issue for the optics and photonics industry.