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July 2025
SPIE Optics and Photonics
In August, Jonathan Hallam travelled to San Diego to give an invited talk on layer height measurement in laser-additive manufacturing using range resolved interferometry. His work was presented at the Applied Optical Metrology conference, which is a part of SPIE’s Optics and Photonics conference.
The San Diego Convention Centre, venue for Optics and Photonics 2025.
Invited presentation
Range-resolved interferometric layer-height measurement for laser additive manufacturing
J M Hallam, T O H Charrett, T Kissinger, J Qin, W Soder, S Williams and R P Tatam
Proc. SPIE 13603, Applied Optical Metrology VI, 1360309 (2025), San Diego, US;
July 2025
PhD viva success!
Congratulations to Sivaji Pillai, who successfully defended his thesis on interferometric optical angle encoding for robotic applications!
Sivaji presenting his work at SPIE Optical Metrology in Munich, 2023.
Development of an interferometric optical fibre angle encoder for robotic applications
Sivaji Pillai
June 2025
Fibre-optic sensor workshop for wind tunnel applications
In June, Engineering Photonics hosted a one-day workshop demonstrating fibre-optic sensors for wind tunnel applications. The workshop was provided for members of the National Wind Tunnel Facility (NWTF), a network of strategically important wind tunnels distributed across 12 UK Universities. The workshop featured presentations from Ralph Tatam, Steve James, Kieran Wiseman, and James Barrington and provided hands-on demonstrations and case studies, giving attendees a practical insight into the technology.
DWTF workshop attendees and organisers at Cranfield University
June 2025
HTCC Showcase at Imperial College
Jane Hodgkinson and Dan Francis travelled to London to attend the HTCC (Healthcare Technologies Capability Connector) Showcase at Imperial College. The HTCC is supported by Research England to bring together expertise from Imperial, Cranfield University and the University of Hertfordshire to deliver sustainable impact in healthcare technology. The Showcase featured a panel discussion and presentations from spin-out companies from the three Universities and the opportunity to meet the innovators from research and industry.
Jane and Dan with slides and poster at the HTCC Showcase at Imperial.
The HTCC had been funding the SENTRI (Surveillance of Exhaled Nitric oxide for Tracking Risk of Infection) project which aims to use laser spectroscopy to monitor biomarkers of infection in the exhaled breath of ventilator patients. The recent funding had facilitated a healthy volunteer study of 100 participants from Cranfield and Bedford Hospital and a ventilator trial in Bedford’s intensive care unit.
June 2025
Optical Fibre Sensors 29
The 29th International conference on Optical Fibre Sensors was held in May at the Super Bock Arena in the Jardins do Palácio de Cristal in Porto, Portugal. Kieran Wiseman and James Barrington were in attendance to present their recent work on fibre segment interferometry. This technique had been used to make distributed humidity measurements and strain measurements within a superconducting magnet.
As well as attending the conference, they also had the opportunity to explore the beautiful Portuguese city and visit the Sandeman wine cave.
Kieran and James presenting their posters at OFS29.
EP Papers
Distributed humidity measurements using fibre-segment interferometry
K B Wiseman, S W James, and R P Tatam
Proc. SPIE 13639, 29th International Conference on Optical Fiber Sensors, 136392M (2025), Porto, Portugal;
Deployment of fibre segment interferometry in a high temperature superconducting magnet
J H Barrington, B Bryant*, D Warren*, S W James, S E Staines, A Twin*, and R P Tatam
Proc. SPIE 13639, 29th International Conference on Optical Fiber Sensors, 136392P (2025), Porto, Portugal;
*Oxford Instruments Nanoscience, Abingdon, UK