2021 SPIE Women in Optics Planner

Cather Simpson,
Engender Technologies
and the University of Auckland,
Board Member, SPIE

I find SPIE’s idea of highlighting talented and inspiring women in optics and photonics by making them “excellence eye-candy” in a calendar absolutely brilliant. There’s such a long history of treating women as objects, of assessing us primarily on our looks and our ability to thrill men with our pout, pose, and bra size! It’s refreshing and empowering (and whimsical) to be able to follow up “Dude, have you seen Miss April this year?” with “Dang! Her huge leadership in optics R&D is amazing!” Or “She’s such an impressive mentor and inspiration for so many men and women in engineering!” Or “Wow! I’d love to do some physics with her.”

Since 2005, the SPIE Women in Optics planner has shown us what women can accomplish. As you read through this years’ profiles, you will be impressed by the scope, scale, and diversity of those faces of success, from emerging researchers to “grand dames,” women at the engineering bleeding edge, and those who lead from the boardroom or the sales floor, and from many different countries and cultures. Of course, we don’t need a calendar to tell us that women are central to making the 21st century the Age of Optics and Photonics. It’s great to be reminded each year, though, by another impressive collection of “calendar girls” whose powerful goals, achievements, and stories inspire and encourage us to reach higher ourselves.

~Cather

Women in Optics 2022 Planner

View the 2022 profiles by clicking on names, listed in alphabetical order, below:

The 2022 SPIE Women in Optics planner is sponsored by:

2022 SPIE Women in Optics Planner