Pradeep’s Techpoints is media partner for Asia Photonics Expo 2024!

Friends, with great pride, I would like to inform you that Pradeep’s Techpoints has been selected as a media partner with the upcoming Asia Photonics Expo 2024!

APE 2024 will be held at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore, March 6-8 March 2024. Organized by Informa Markets, the event will provide the many photonics professionals insights to the latest emerging trends that are shaping the future. It will offer the industry a valuable platform to explore, connect, and collaborate with new markets in the region. Look forward to participating at the event!

In a 15,000-sqm space, there are expected to be over 400 exhibitors. They will be spread across areas such as optical communication, optics, laser, sensing, display, and infrared. Visitor profiles will be from optical communication, defense & security, medical, advanced manufacturing, semiconductor processing & manufacturing, sensing & measurement, consumer electronics & entertainment, lighting & displays, energy, etc.

Matri Mandir, Auroville, Pondicherry behind me! 😉

This, dear friends, is a dream come true! I was earlier attached to some events, primarily as a contributor, but, never as a media partner. Those events were centered around semiconductors. Of late, I have been attending and covering some events conducted by European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC).

I humbly recall my days with Photonics Spectra magazine, where I was a contributing editor. Back then, all the rage was about LED TVs adding more color to the Indian consumer market. Given the strong focus on optics and optoelectronics in India, Optical Society of India (OSI) organized an international conference-cum-symposium on the contemporary trends in optics and photonics, in Kerala, which I attended. Held on Jan. 17-19, 2011, at Thiruvananthapuram, India, the event was jointly organized by Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) and the OSI, and was held at the IIST.

Later, International School of Photonics (ISP), Kochi (or Cochin), India-based institute, part of the internationally acclaimed Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), came up with a sleek looking website! Electronica India had a laser pavilion sometime in 2010-11.

At the event, C.P. Girijavallabhan, Prof. Emeritus, ISP, Cochin, and founder director, was kind enough to share an interesting story of the long history optical technology has had in Kerala. He concluded with great pride, “Our first batch of M.Sc. Photonics students have ended up to be among the best researchers in the world.”

White pond at Shravanbelagola, near Hassan. Nice pic, no? 😉

I met up with Prof. P. Radhakrishnan, President, ISP, CUSAT and Prof. VPN Nampoori, General Secretary, ISP, CUSAT. It was good to renew ties with Dr. Reji Philip, Associate Professor, Optics Group, Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bangalore.

I also visited Shravanabelagola, powered by solar. Shravanabelagola is a small city located in Hassan district, Karnataka, about 158 km from Bangalore. Here, the famous statue of Lord Bahubali or Gomateshwara is located on top of the Vindhyagiri Hill.

The climb up to Gomateshwara statue is something you can and must experience, at least once in this lifetime! You must climb 650-odd steps – all cut out of hard rock and granite of the mountain! Be warned – you will have to climb up and down – bare feet.

Start of climb up! My elder sister can be seen way down. 😉

I actually managed to cut the sole of my leg! I was exhausted with the climb up to count the steps. The view around from the top of the hill is simply breathtaking! You can look down and view the pond in the middle of city, after which it is named, Bela-kola or the White Pond.

Auroville in Pondicherry, also has a solar farm and runs entirely on solar. Visitors Centre, Matrimandir Viewing point, and Inner Chamber are now open to visitors.

What great memories!