Giampiero Contestabile, Professor of Telecommunications Egineering at the TeCIP Institute, was appointed as general chair for the International Conference on Photonics in Switching and Computing 2019 (PSC 2019) held jointly with the 24th OptoElectronic and Communications Conference (OECC) in Fukuoka on July 7-11, 2019.

OECC is one of the foremost international conferences held annually in the Asia-Pacific region for the researchers and engineers working in the fields of optoelectronics, optical fiber transmission, and photonic network systems.

Photonic Integrated circuits (PICs) are essential parts of many modern technologies from medical devices to smart watches to spacecraft. They offer numerous advantages over conventional circuits including higher speed, greater bandwidth, and lower energy loss. PICs are still a developing technology. Since optical systems are more power efficient than electrical systems, PICs will likely continue replacing conventional ICs in a wide range of applications (telecommunications, computing, defense, and consumer technology). As the quantity of data stored and shared continues to increase, the demands on communication networks and data centers increase. According to reports, the silicon photonics market is expected to grow from 25 million USD in 2013 to over 700 million USD in 2024.

PSC2019 is the successor of the Photonics in Switching (PS) international conference, which has been running annually since 2001 alternating location between North America, Europe and Asia. PSC is a unique conference that addresses all aspects of optical networks including: i) optical systems and subsystems, ii) optical components and devices, and iii) network control and management for telecom, datacom, high performance computing (HPC), and big data. The focus is on optical switching technologies for networking and computing systems with emphasis on vertical integration from technologies to systems and architectures. Over 650 attendees from around the world gathered in the PSC2019. They had the opportunity to explore the wide spectrum of research topics spanning from device to networking technology and their integration.

Professor Contestabile acted as general chair. Among others, keynote speakers at the conference included Sant’Anna School Faculty members Piero Castoldi, Nicola Andriolli and Nicola Sambo. The conference program allowed researchers to attend workshops, masterclasses, panels, and presentations.