IEM Seminar: Seeing, Making and Computing with Digital control of Light
Abstract:
Optical imaging, Additive manufacturing and Computing using light as the probing/energy source have been transformed in the last decade and continue to be transformed by the “digitization” of light. The term “digitization” is intended to mean that there is more computational power available for computing as well as for driving optical devices such as high resolution spatial light modulators. The latter can dynamically modulate the phase or amplitude of light beams with millions of digitally addressable pixels, a few micrometers in size.
This dynamical control of light beams is at the heart of new schemes of practical relevance for optical imaging, additive manufacturing and computing.
Specifically, I will show our work on imaging for augmented reality and optical fiber endoscopy where digitization allows to produce extremely small imaging footprint systems. In the field of additive manufacturing, the digital control of light has enabled us to pioneer a true 3D volumetric approach to printing that is a radical change to the traditional layered (2D+1) approach. This has led us to demonstrate ultra-fast fabrication time of centimeter scale 3D printed object within seconds. This provides a path towards scalability and near instant fabrication time in Additive manufacturing. Finally, I will show how digital light control and non-linearity in optical fibers can be used to perform end to end machine learning tasks on par with the best deep neural networks at a fraction of the energy.
Bio:
Christophe Moser started his career as an engineer at Hexagon Metrology in Switzerland after graduating from EPFL in physics in 1993. He was awarded a grant from the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences to pursue research at the California Institute of Technology where he earned a doctorate degree in 2000 in optical information processing.
Christophe co-founded and was the CEO of Ondax, Inc. (acquired by Coherent) in Monrovia, California. There, he has developed several commercially successful products based on volume holographic components such as tunable filters, wavelength stabilized high power diode lasers, pulse compressors and stretchers and Terahertz Raman spectroscopy systems.
In 2010, Christophe joined EPFL as an Associate Professor and is currently the Director of the MicroEngineering Section.
His current research topics include light based volumetric additive manufacturing to reach micrometer resolution at the centimeter scale in different materials whose properties ranges from very soft - hydrogels to very hard – ceramics, glass. He is also interested in neuromorphic computing using linear and non-linear propagation in optical fibers as computing elements.
He has continued to be active in entrepreneurship by valorizing research coming out of his laboratory. In 2014, he co-founded Composyt Light Lab – augmented reality (acquired by Intel) as well as EarlySight, Readily3D and Modendo in the last three years.
Optical imaging, Additive manufacturing and Computing using light as the probing/energy source have been transformed in the last decade and continue to be transformed by the “digitization” of light. The term “digitization” is intended to mean that there is more computational power available for computing as well as for driving optical devices such as high resolution spatial light modulators. The latter can dynamically modulate the phase or amplitude of light beams with millions of digitally addressable pixels, a few micrometers in size.
This dynamical control of light beams is at the heart of new schemes of practical relevance for optical imaging, additive manufacturing and computing.
Specifically, I will show our work on imaging for augmented reality and optical fiber endoscopy where digitization allows to produce extremely small imaging footprint systems. In the field of additive manufacturing, the digital control of light has enabled us to pioneer a true 3D volumetric approach to printing that is a radical change to the traditional layered (2D+1) approach. This has led us to demonstrate ultra-fast fabrication time of centimeter scale 3D printed object within seconds. This provides a path towards scalability and near instant fabrication time in Additive manufacturing. Finally, I will show how digital light control and non-linearity in optical fibers can be used to perform end to end machine learning tasks on par with the best deep neural networks at a fraction of the energy.
Bio:
Christophe Moser started his career as an engineer at Hexagon Metrology in Switzerland after graduating from EPFL in physics in 1993. He was awarded a grant from the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences to pursue research at the California Institute of Technology where he earned a doctorate degree in 2000 in optical information processing.
Christophe co-founded and was the CEO of Ondax, Inc. (acquired by Coherent) in Monrovia, California. There, he has developed several commercially successful products based on volume holographic components such as tunable filters, wavelength stabilized high power diode lasers, pulse compressors and stretchers and Terahertz Raman spectroscopy systems.
In 2010, Christophe joined EPFL as an Associate Professor and is currently the Director of the MicroEngineering Section.
His current research topics include light based volumetric additive manufacturing to reach micrometer resolution at the centimeter scale in different materials whose properties ranges from very soft - hydrogels to very hard – ceramics, glass. He is also interested in neuromorphic computing using linear and non-linear propagation in optical fibers as computing elements.
He has continued to be active in entrepreneurship by valorizing research coming out of his laboratory. In 2014, he co-founded Composyt Light Lab – augmented reality (acquired by Intel) as well as EarlySight, Readily3D and Modendo in the last three years.
Practical information
- General public
- Free
- This event is internal
Organizer
- Institute of Electrical and Micro Engineering (IEM)
Contact
- Prof. Jean-Philippe Thiran, IEM Director