Matthias Budden
Organisation: WiredSense GmbH / Max Planck Institute
Role: Co-founder & CEO / Guest scientist
While mid-infrared spectroscopy is a powerful tool for chemical materials analysis, Matthias Budden pointed out that it typically requires expensive instruments, proprietary reference databases and scientists for data analysis. ‘At WiredSense, we aim to simplify
this process through both hardware and software. Based on our highly sensitive and fast infrared detectors, we developed Sweeb, a cost-effective mid-infrared spectrometer for analysis of solids and liquids within seconds. Chemical material analysis is performed via our cloud-based
Berhanu Bulcha
Organisation: NASA Role: Research engineer Based in: Maryland, USA
Laser communications often take the lion’s share of attention when it comes to the use of photonics in space, but lasers will also play a vital role locating resources on the Moon and other objects in the solar system, according to NASA’s Berhanu Bulcha. ‘The next big thing in my area is
developing an integrated photonics device- based THz spectrometer. NASA has a great interest in developing sensitive and small SWaP (size, weight and power) instruments for space missions,’ he said. ‘These devices are essential for lunar missions or missions within our solar
Education: PhD, from the University of Virginia, worked at MIT before joining NASA
system to detect critical resources such as water and organic molecules.’ However, he said that maturing photonics
device-based THz spectrometers for flight missions requires funding resources ‘and I think it will continue to be a source of challenge in the near future. You can find Bulcha online at
linkedin.com/ in/berhanu-bulcha-59a038a8/. He plans to attend the International Symposium on Space Terahertz Technology (ISSTT), International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter and Terahertz Wave (IRMMW-THz) and the American Astronomical Conference.
Mayur Kumar Chhipa
Organisation: Isbat University, Kampala, Uganda
Role: Lecturer, Electronics & Communication
Mayur Kumar Chhipa has organised several photonics workshops and seminars, both physical and virtual, over the past number of years, but is also very active in photonics research. He believes the industry is witnessing a
shift from passive optical network (PON) to active optical network (AON) technology. ‘PON technology utilises optical splitters to separate light signals of different wavelengths as they are transmitted through the network. AON, on the other hand, utilises electrical switching equipment like routers, switch aggregator, amplifiers and
Engineering Coordinator Based in: Kampala, Uganda Education: MTECH in Digital Communication
repeaters. The next technology is going to be photonic integrated circuits for optical networks.’ While he expects these advances to
improve laser performance and to expand potential applications, such as night vision, optics, brain imaging and photonics sensors, he does see the modelling of photonic circuits as a potential challenge. ‘There isn’t a widely accepted simulation tools equivalent for modelling and simulation of complicated optical signals,’ he said. Chippa plans to attend IEEE Silicon Photonics Conference 2023 and Photonics West.
Based in: Hamburg, Germany Education: PhD in Physics
(University of Hamburg)
platform, which combines a database of reference spectra with problem- specific algorithms.’ Budden identified the component
crisis, long delivery times and rising costs hitting many in industry at the moment as obstacles, but said WiredSense also faces technological challenges to further improve its technology. ‘One targeted goal is to make broadband pyroelectric detectors useful for beyond 200 kHz repetition rates,’ he said. Budden plans to attend Optica Sensing Congress 2023, Laser World of Photonics and Expopharm 2023.
18 Photonics100 2023
NASA/Michael Giunto
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