Lenox Laser is and always has been part of so many monumental achievements. On October 4, 2010 Lenox Laser hosted their first annual light seminar commemorating the 50th anniversary of the creation of the laser to share in their wealth of knowledge. The gathering would not only serve as a testament to what Joe d’Entremont and the fantastic team that Lenox laser started, but as an educational history as well.
Guests included NASA astronomer Dr. John Wood who was a lead engineer on the Hubble telescope helping with optics in the 1990s. Dr. Wood was in attendance to discuss and demonstrate important principles of astrophysics. Some of Dr. Woods accolades include a NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 1992 and a NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal in 1994. Lenox Laser is honored to have hosted such a renowned scientist.
Other speakers included Lenox Laser’s own director of engineering, Gregory Solyar. Gregory joined Lenox Laser in 2006 as an optical scientist. There was also Stephen D Fanton, the founder and CEO of Optikos Corporation which specializes in manufacturing optical meteorology systems and designs optics-based products. Last but certainly not least, there was Dr. Dennis Zembala who is an advisor for many cultural museums, organizations and projects.
Perhaps the biggest moment of the night was honorary guest and keynote speaker, the late Dr. Charles Townes. Dr. Townes was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1964, the National Medal of Science in 1982 and the Templeton Prize in 2005. He was the inventor of the Maser, which is the predecessor to the laser. Dr. Townes spoke eloquently about how things began and how he stumbled upon creating the maser. His speech was titled “How New Things Happen.” Dr. Townes got his start working with radar around the time of World War II. An excerpt from Dr. Townes speech. “Well now, as for the Maser, and the laser, they came about not by accident, the buyer hard effort on my part. I was using microwave amplifiers to study molecules. How did that happen? Well again, by accident. I went to Bell Labs to do physics, but at that time war was coming along, World War II, and they sent me to do radar.” The evening was a smashing success and Lenox would go on to host two more light seminars in 2011 and 2012. Look forward to more information on those exciting events in the coming weeks.
To read more about the First Annual Light Seminar or to watch a video of some of the speakers visit the International Institute of Optics website.