IEEE Photonics Society Boston Chapter

Dr. Samuel Serna Bridgewater State University in MassachusettsThe exponential growth of global data traffic and the energy demands of data centers have accelerated the need for high-density, low-loss optical interconnects. Recent advances in co-packaged optics have demonstrated vertical silicon-to-silicon nitride chip-to-chip evanescent couplers with sub-dB loss and passive alignment tolerances suitable for scalable assembly using standard CMOS-compatible processes. These developments address one of the key bottlenecks in photonic integration—reducing cost and complexity in packaging while enabling terabit-to-petabit per second bandwidth scaling. This presentation will highlight recent results on waveguide-to-waveguide couplers, including broadband vertical coupling strategies, graded-index concepts for efficient fan-out, and the potential impact of such technologies on co-packaged optics and heterogeneous integration. Beyond research, this talk will also discuss workforce development and educational pathways in photonics. Bridgewater State University has established the first undergraduate program in Photonics and Optical Engineering in New England, designed to train the next generation of engineers in integrated photonics, optical communications, and packaging. Furthermore, the Laboratory for Education and Application Prototyping (LEAP) at BSU provides unique opportunities for undergraduate students and industry partners to prototype, and test photonic devices in collaboration with MIT and many other players in the region. By bridging cutting-edge photonic packaging research with innovative education and accessible prototyping facilities, this work outlines both the technical advances and the ecosystem required to sustain U.S. leadership in integrated photonics and address the pressing challenges of data-driven innovation.Samuel Serna is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Photonics and Optical Engineering at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts, USA. He earned his Ph.D. in 2016 from the University of Paris-Sud / Paris-Saclay, where he focused on the design and characterization of passive silicon photonic devices and developed techniques to probe their third-order nonlinear optical properties. Following his doctoral work, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (C2N) and later a postdoctoral associate at MIT, where he continues to collaborate as a visiting scientist to develop hybrid photonic devices for telecommunications and mid-infrared applications. Dr. Serna leads initiatives to expand access to integrated photonics education and sustainable microchip manufacturing. He is an OPTICA Ambassador (2019) and a Senior Member (2022) and has served on the SPIE Editorial Board. His research interests include integrated photonics, nonlinear optics, photonic packaging, and scalable photonic systems.Register for this event.

Prof. Sameer Sonkusale Tufts UniversityThe speaker will introduce a new paradigm of "Human in the loop" precision medicine, made possible by advances in flexible sensors, optics, microfluidics, drug delivery, and electronics. The closed loop approach is expected to be more effective in improving the health outcomes of individuals across broad demographics, as opposed to the current open-loop one-size-fits-all approach to medicine. The presentation will draw on examples from the speaker's own interdisciplinary research projects. For instance, the speaker will showcase a novel toolkit of sensors, microfluidics, electronics, and drug delivery, all integrated onto a surgical suture, which realizes the vision of tissue-embedded diagnostics. Even electronic transistors and integrated circuits can be created on a single thread, giving rise to "free-form three dimensional integrated circuits." The use of textile threads offers unique advantages such as wide availability, affordability, versatility of materials, and easy textile-based processing. The talk will also feature a project that employs additive manufacturing and laser micromachining to develop smart lab-on-a-pill devices that can spatially sample the gut microbiome in vivo. These ingestible pills have the potential to capture the spatial microbial biogeography of the gut, providing valuable insights into host-microbiome interactions and opening up a new realm of ingestible diagnostics compared to traditional fecal analysis. The talk will conclude with a forward-looking perspective on the field of bioelectronics and the exciting possibilities it holds. More importantly, it will showcase knowledge gaps and how the biomedical circuits and systems community can help address those in near term and long term.Sameer Sonkusale is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Tufts University, where he holds joint appointments in the departments of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical and Biological Engineering. He also served as a visiting professor at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital of the Harvard Medical School during 2011-2012 and 2018-2019, respectively. In 2012-2013, Dr. Sonkusale also served as the Associate Dean of Graduate Education in the School of Engineering at Tufts University. He currently directs an interdisciplinary research group, the Nano Lab, which focuses on developing new devices and systems for healthcare, biology, life sciences, and the environment. Dr. Sonkusale is a prolific inventor of several biomedical devices, including "smart bandages," "smart sutures," and "lab-on-a-pill." His innovation on "lab-on-a-pill" was listed as one of the top eight biomedical innovations in the world for the year 2020 in the STAT Madness challenge. The technologies developed in his lab have been licensed to several companies and have resulted in the creation of venture backed startup companies. Dr. Sonkusale earned his MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and has received several awards, including the National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2010. He was also honored with a Distinguished Alumni award from his alma mater, BITS Pilani. He is Radha K Maheshwari Distinguished Lecturers at USU in 2023, and IEEE CAS Distinguished Lecturer in 2024-2025. Dr. Sonkusale is also an alumnus of the National Academy of Engineering US Frontiers of Engineering meeting in 2015, and the National Academy of Sciences Arab-America Frontiers meeting in 2014 and 2016. Dr. Sonkusale serves on the editorial boards of several prominent journals, including Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group), IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems, PLoS One, and Electronic Letters. He is a senior member of the IEEE and a member of OSA, MRS, BMES, and AAAS. He is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/482236

Anish K. Goyal Block EngineeringThe detection and identification of trace chemicals on surfaces is of great interest for a variety of civilian and security applications. Sensitive techniques for trace surface detection already exist, but these usually require the physical transfer of chemicals from the surface of interest into the instrument. In some cases, however, it is desirable that detection occur in a standoff configuration and be non-destructive. Furthermore, it is often desirable to rapidly scan the surface and to map the chemical contamination with high spatial resolution. Laser-based, long-wave infrared (LWIR) hyperspectral imaging has been shown to be capable of addressing many of the requirements that are important to end users. These include the ability to engineer hand-portable systems that are eye-safe (class 1), provide high sensitivity detection (micrograms/cm 2 ), operate at modest standoff distances (<1m to >10m), and achieve high areal coverage rates (potentially >100 cm 2 /s). Wavelength-tunable quantum-cascade lasers (operating wavelength about = 7.5 – 12 um) are used to illuminate the surface of interest and a camera captures the diffusely reflected light. The laser wavelength is tuned synchronously with the camera such that reflectance of the surface in the form of a hyperspectral image cube (hypercube) in which each pixel represents the reflection spectrum of a single point on the surface. The unique spectral signature of chemicals can be detected with high sensitivity because of the very large absorption cross-sections for most chemicals in the LWIR. Over the past 15 years, this technology has matured from initial feasibility demonstration (at MIT/LL) and then through the development of a series of prototypes under funding from IARPA, DoD, and DHS. It is currently on the cusp of being commercialized. In this talk, we will discuss the underlying technology, performance limits, and present examples of various applications.Anish Goyal is the Vice President of Technology at Block Engineering. Responsibilities include the advancing of Block’s chemical detection products and the external-cavity quantum cascade lasers on which these products are based. Prior to joining Block, he was a member of the Technical Staff at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in the Laser Technology and Applications Group. His academic background is in Electrical Engineering, receiving a B.S. degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara.Register for this event.