The Philippines joins hands with the rest of the world in observing the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015 (IYL 2015). In UP Diliman, the National Institute of Physics (NIP) is at the forefront of the celebration with the multi-disciplinary symposium called IlumiNASYON.
To be held on 9 and 16 March 2015, IlumiNASYON aims to illustrate how light has benefitted society and how it continues to capture our imagination. Speakers will give popularized versions of the basic principles of optical effects used in their studies, and the evolution and current level of their research as it relates to the present state of the art.
Over the two days, a total of 21 oral presentations and 5 poster presentations will be given. Some of the topics deal with the use of light in fields outside of physics: visual and performance art, architecture, marine conservation, dermatology and film. (Download the copy of the program here.)
IlumiNASYON is a venue then to showcase how the study of light cuts across disciplines. It brings UP, through the NIP, closer to its objective of building an inter-disciplinary optics and photonics community in the region that engages and involves all stakeholders in the process. This is in line with goal of IYL 2015 “to promote public and political understanding of the central role of light in the modern world.”
Professor Dr. Caesar Saloma, ICO Galileo Galilei Awardee for 2004, is the convenor of IlumiNASYON.
Aside from the symposium, the NIP has also organized smaller activities that would, in more creative ways, capture the interest of the public in the discourse on light.
In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2015 as the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies, “in recognition of the importance of raising global awareness about how light-based technologies promote sustainable development and provide challenges in energy, education, agriculture and health.”
(Updated: 11 March 2015)
