23 - 26 June 2025
Munich, Germany
Plenary Event
Digital Optical Technologies Plenary Session
26 June 2023 • 09:05 - 09:55 CEST | ICM Room 21 
Co-located Event with Optical Metrology

9:05 to 9:10
Welcome Address and Plenary Speaker Introduction
Bernard C. Kress, Google, United States
Jürgen Czarske, TU Dresden, Germany
2023 Symposium Chairs

9:10 to 9:55
End-to-end simulation in propelling the new wave of optics and photonics innovation

Sanjay Gangadhara, Ansys Inc., United States



Significant advances continue to be made in the design and development of next generation optical and optically enabled products across many industries and applications, from automotive to consumer electronics, healthcare to aerospace and defense, data communications to quantum computing…and much more. These advances are being fueled by innovations in underlying technologies, including scalable manufacturing of complex aspheric and freeform geometries, fabrication of high efficiency micro-optic and diffractive optic components, and the development of photonic devices with directly integrated light engines and sensors. While challenges remain in component-level design, the next set of advancements in optical product development are being driven from a wholistic, integrated approach that incorporates all elements into a system engineering view. Simulation plays a critical role in enabling this system-level view, from the micro- (or nano-) scopic to the macroscopic level. In this talk, I will highlight the role of Multiphysics simulation in the design and development of advanced optical systems, such as optical interconnects, digital lighting, LIDAR sensors, and AR headsets.

Biography: Sanjay Gangadhara is the Senior Program Director for Optics at Ansys. In this role, he drives the long-term strategy for the technologies at Ansys that support the design and manufacture of innovative optical products. Sanjay has a B.S. in Chemical and Nuclear Engineering from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Science and Engineering from MIT. While he has been working at Ansys since 2021, Sanjay joined Ansys through their acquisition of Zemax, a company for which he previously worked 14 years.