Here is a great episode featuring Dr. Mario Paniccia, CEO and co-founder of silicon photonics startup ANELLO Photonics. He founded ANELLO with more than 20 years of experience under his belt at companies including Intel, where he started a silicon photonics program.

And for this work, and his many other contributions to the field of silicon photonics, Dr. Paniccia was inducted into the National Academy of Engineers in 2021.

This first episode of 2026 features Craig Bandes, president and CEO of next-generation nanomaterial developer/manufacturer Pixelligent Technologies. He has more than 25 years of experience as a CEO, entrepreneur, and investor covering industries including technology and defense.

As 2025 draws to a close, we're revisiting the year's interesting and intriguing interviews. Here are excerpts from the top 5 most popular Following the Photons episodes of 2025.

Thank you all for your continued support! Cheers to a happy and prosperous 2026!

Here's another edition of Light News! Join host Justine Murphy as she follows the photons into some of the coolest, most exciting news impacting the photonics industry.

Host Justine Murphy talked recently with Michele Nichols, president of Launch Team Inc., a strategic marketing firm that helps photonics-focused companies to navigate change and ultimately boost their competitive advantage.

In this episode, Michele shares her perspectives on the state of the industry and where it’s headed, as well as some thoughts and hopes for the future.

This episode features Dirk Hauschild, a Senior Strategic Marketing Expert with Focuslight Technologies.

He talks with host Justine Murphy about his more than 30 years of experience in the design, development, and integration of micro-optical components and systems, his work with Focuslight, and his thoughts on the future.

In this second installment of a two-part episode, Dr. Aydogan Ozcan—a chancellor’s professor in the Samueli Electrical & Computer Engineering school at UCLA, where he also leads the Bio- and Nanophotonics Lab—reflects on some important lessons learned throughout his career that he’s passing on to the next generation of researchers, and we delve into what’s needed to keep the U.S. competitive globally in the research and development realm.

This week features another edition of Light News, a quick roundup of some of the coolest, most exciting news impacting the photonics industry. Let's go follow those photons!