This edition features Host Justine Murphy's chat with Dr. Brian Monacelli, a professor and director of Laser Technology at Pasadena City College in California. He’s also a Principal Optical Engineer and supervisor of the Optical Implementation group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

They recently discussed things like the importance of training technicians in hands-on laboratory skills, and he also offered some perspectives on the future of optics and the crucial role technicians will play.

This episode of Following the Photons is a technical conversation about co-packaged optics, the rapid rise of interest in this technology, and why active alignment is a major manufacturing bottleneck in photonics. The discussion, sponsored by Aerotech, focuses on the company’s new PICAlign approach, developed in collaboration with SENKO and Santec, which aims to improve throughput, quality, and efficiency in optical device assembly.

Host Justine Murphy, Group Multimedia Director for Laser Focus World, guides the discussion with Justin Bressi, Business Development Manager for Aerotech. Bressi explains how monitoring multiple optical channels at once and searching in all six degrees of freedom can improve alignment outcomes and reduce scrap.

The conversation also touches on the broader data center and semiconductor ecosystem, where demand for faster, more efficient photonic systems is driving new investment and partnerships.

Here's a roundup of some of the most interesting and exciting things happening in the photonics industry!