UM: Research

In his Research Views blog, Stephen Forest – UM’s vice president for research – describes a recent meeting of the Optical Society of America in Karlsruhe, Germany, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the invention of the laser. He talks about how lasers and other inventions have literally changed the world. “We do make a difference, sometimes with very positive impacts, and almost as often, with unintended negative consequences. We can, and do transform the world, from inventing nuclear weapons to creating revolutionary methods for linking people together, from inventing the internal combustion engine to warming the planet. It certainly makes me wonder: what’s next? And when will we recognize that yet another transformation has occurred?” [Source]