Congratulations to Dr. Pragati Aashna, research fellow under Associate Prof Aaron Danner, who has been awarded the IEEE Women in Photonics travel grant at the 2023 IEEE Photonics Conference (IPC). She will be awarded in the IPC conference which is scheduled from 12 to 16 Nov 2023 in Orlando, Florida, USA.
The IEEE Women in Photonics initiative, with the support of the IEEE Photonics Society, established this travel grants program to encourage early career participation at the IPC annually. The IEEE Photonics Society honoured a selected number of researchers with $2,500 USD grants each. The grant funds are intended to be used for travel, lodging expenses and registration to the conference.
Speaking on her thoughts on being awarded the travel grant, Dr. Pragati commented that her journey as a photonics researcher has been driven by her passion for exploring the frontiers of knowledge in nonlinear and quantum optics within guided wave systems, entailing bulk and thin film waveguides. With a strong foundation as a theoretician during her Ph.D., she embraced experimental work and fabrication techniques in her current role as a postdoc particularly on the thin film lithium niobate and BTO platforms. In her current role, she has been actively involved in designing and constructing multiple experimental setups to investigate nonlinear optical processes and fabricating thin film lithium niobate and BTO devices for integrated photonic circuits. Her photonics research interests and accomplishments encompass a diverse range of contributions, and beyond traditional photonics, she is also deeply fascinated by the fusion of deep learning, AI, and machine learning in the photonics domain which she feels has the potential to revolutionize the field.
As a woman in a traditionally male-dominated field, she feels that it is imperative to go the extra mile to promote women in this field. Hailing from a small place in India where girls face societal constraints, she overcame various challenges to pursue her dream of being a researcher. She strongly believes that empowered women can be torchbearers for empowering other aspiring women.
Diversity plays a pivotal role in fostering innovation as it brings together individuals with unique perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds. Photonics itself being such a diverse field ranging from meta materials to nano particles entailing quantum phenomenon to AI and deep learning, requires a wide array of perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds thrive. The major foundation for innovation lies in solving problems faced by humanity, and a single breakthrough innovation can be used to solve multiple problems faced by different sections of society. which is possible only if people from diverse backgrounds can act as agents of innovation. Inclusion of women is particularly crucial in driving innovation as they bring a diverse set of viewpoints and life experiences. To better support equity and inclusion in the photonics community, several steps could be taken:
- Targeted Programs- mentorship, scholarships, and networking opportunities- for underprivileged groups; IEEE women in Photonics is one such great example.
- Diversity in Leadership: to encourage and motivate women to take up unprecedented roles
- Inclusive Outreach: outreach programs for a bottom-up approach, that target schools and communities with limited access to scientific resources can ignite a passion for photonics among young minds.
- One for one: Each Photonics researcher should take a pledge to educate, motivate and encourage at least one interested female candidate to take up research in photonics every year. A social media page, could perhaps be created to gather the community of photonics researchers, where they can interact with the aspirants.
In conclusion, diversity is not just a moral imperative; it is a strategic advantage for the photonics community. Embracing individuals from diverse backgrounds enriches our collective knowledge, accelerates innovation, and enables us to address complex challenges with a wider perspective. By taking concrete steps to support equity and inclusion, the photonics field would be able to thrive as an inclusive, vibrant, and dynamic community, ready to shape the future of science and technology.