My Visit to China

My Visit to China
Travel Fellowships from DST, Government of India and from Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter(ICAM),USA given me a chance to participate in the Inter-Continental Advanced Materials for Photonics (I-CAMP) Summer School 2009 held in four cities of China (Shanghai/Hangzhou, Qingdao and Beijing). This I-CAMP is sponsored by a number institutions such as National Science Foundation (USA), International Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter, Zhejiang University (ZJU), Joint Research Center of Photonics of the Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden) and ZJU, Peking University, Fudan University, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS),The Institute of Physics (IoP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, Beijing Institute of Technology, Ocean University of China, University of Colorado at Boulder, Hisense Optoelectronics, and Hangzhou Chapters of IEEE LEOS and SPIE.

Researchers working at the forefronts of materials science & photonics gathered for three weeks from June 28 to July 19 of 2009 to discuss the emerging uses of light for control and fundamental study of matter and advances in the use of materials to control light. There are 28 students from many parts of the world (India-3, USA-11, Russia-1, Israel-1, Ukrain-3, Turkey-1, UK-1, Belarus-1, Czech Republic-1, South Korea-2, Slovania-2, Malaysia-1) including me, Bhaskar Kanseri and Asar Ahmad from India and 35 students from China. My room mate was Bhaskar Kanseri and he is very smart and a cool guy.

The First Week of the I-CAMP was concentrated on Materials for Bio-photonics and Renewable Energy and it was held in the Zhejiang University, Hangzhou and in Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP), Shanghai. During this week Dr. Ivan Smalyukh, from University of Colorado at Boulder, United States lectured on Confocal Microscopy, Imaging 3D Molecular Orientation Patterns, and Optical Generation Of Photonic Structures, Dr. Sandeep Kumar from Raman Research Institute, India given a lecture on Organic Materials For Solar Cells, Dr. Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop from The University of Queensland, Australia delivered a lecture on Laser Tweezers, Dr. Sang-Hyun Lim from The University of Texas at Austin, United States lectured on Cars Microscopy, Dr. Chunhai Fan from Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics(SINAP), Chinese Academy of Science(CAS), China lectured on Biological Applications Of Quantum Dots & Nanoparticles and Dr. Wladek Walukiewicz from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, United States lectured on Solar Energy Conversion. During the Hangzhou session we had a lab tour at Zhejiang University, Yuquan Campus and COER and during the SPIE Student Meeting we have been taught self defending techniques of Chinese Kung-fu and Chinese scripts.

We have flied to another province of china called Qindao in the second week. This week was concentrated on Materials for Electro-Optics, Nonlinear Optics, and Displays and it was held in Ocean University of China, Qingdao. During this session Dr. Ivan Smalyukh, from University of Colorado at Boulder, United States lectured on Fundamentals And Emerging Applications Of Liquid Crystals, Dr. Liang-Chy Chien from Kent State University, United States lectured on Cholesterics For Electro- Optic Applications, Dr. Yury Gogotsi from Drexel University, United States lectured on Transparent Thin Films Of Carbon Nanotubes and Spectroscopy Of Carbon Nanotubes, Dr. Chuangtian Chen from Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of CAS, China lectured on Molecular Engineering Approach To Search For Deep-UV NLO Crystals, and Deep-UV Harmonic Generation And Applications, Dr. Yu Chen from Hisense Optoelectronics, China lectured on Nonlinear Frequency Conversion For Display Applications, Dr. Mohan Srinivasarao from Georgia Institute of technology, United States lectured on Photonic Crystals in Biology, and Biologically-Inspired Design Of Photonic Materials, Dr. Hee-Tae Jung from Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, Korea lectured on Molecular Self-Assembly, Self-Assembly For Photonic And Electrooptic Applications,and Dr. Chang-Qing Xu from McMaster University, Canada lectured on Introduction to Nonlinear Optics. During this week we had a tour to the Hisense Optoelectronics Company to teach us how the lab research becomes materialized and how it reaches to the market place.

The third week session was arranged in The Institute of Physics(IoP), Chinese Academy of Science(CAS), Beijing, so we moved to Beijing from Qingdao by train. This week was concentrated on Metamaterials and Photonic Crystals. During the session Dr. Lei Zhou from Fudan University, China lectured on Electromagnetic Metamaterials: Fundamentals, Applications And Perspectives, Electromagnetic Metamaterials: Fundamentals, Applications And Perspectives, Dr. Che Ting Chan from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, China lectured on Using Metamaterials To Create Illusion Effects and The Physical Properties Of Plasmonic Lattices, Dr. Harry Coles from University of Cambridge, United Kingdom delivered a lecture on Self-Assembled Tunable Photonic Crystals And Mirror-Free Lasers, Dr. Tomasz Wolinski from Warsaw University of Technology, Poland lectured on Liquid Crystal Photonic Crystal Fibers And Liquid Crystal Photonic Crystal Fibers, Dr. Sailing He from Zhejiang University, China; Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden lectured on Nano-Micro Structures For Slow Light And Nano-Micro Structures For Enhancement of Transmission, Collection And Absorption, Dr. Philippe Poulin , from Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, France lectured on Carbon-Nanotube-Based Nanostructured Composite Materials, And Carbon-Nanotube-Based Nanostructured Composite Materials, Dr. Philip Russell from Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Germany lectured on Photonic Crystal Fibers, Dr. Sasha Grigorenko from The University of Manchester, United Kingdom lectured on Optical Metamaterials / Plasmonics And Optical Metamaterials / Plasmonics and Dr. Douglas K. Duncan from University of Colorado at Boulder, United States lectured on Career in research field and how to teach physics for school and graduate students.

The Conference and me

It was a summer school and I have participated as a student. Scientists from all over the world including from India (Dr. Sandeep Kumar from Raman Research Institute, Bangalore) taught us various techniques of research, how to excel in research and how to teach physics in school level and in colleges. This school was held in four cities of China as three sessions in three weeks, each week was devoted to a specific topic such as Materials for Bio-photonics and Renewable Energy(first week), Materials for Electro-Optics, Nonlinear Optics, and Displays (Second week), Metamaterials and Photonic Crystals (Third week).

In each session they had arranged a poster session and I had presented my work as a poster in each sessions. I was an active participant in this summer school and asked many questions and discussed with the scientists. The poster session was a platform to discuss and share my work experience to the scientists and to the other school participants.

This school taught me many lessons and opened many doors in the research career. I had actively participated in all the sessions of this school, in all the lab tours, in company tours and in cultural tours. I had got many chances to share the scientific and cultural diversity of the India to the school participants including the professors from all over the world and many of them wondered about the language and cultural diversity of India, and I expect them to India in near future as researchers and as tourists.

I am very much grateful to DST, Govt. of India for bestowing me the travel fellowship to participate in the I-CAMP Summer School 2009 held in China. I know this fellowship is from tax payers of India and I should share the benefit I rendered from this money and society should have benefit from my visit.

During this Summer School I had taken an initiation to make my institute (Kongunadu Arts and Science College, GN Mills PO, Coimbatore) as a member institute of International Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter, USA. This is a research network of 84 Universities and institutes spread all over the world funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) of USA. This network institutes exchanges their students and providing many fellowships for their member institute students and staffs. My idea was to make my institute as a part of an international body or to form a Consortium of South Indian Research Institutes (CSIRI) to join this network as a result of an informal discussion during this Summer School. All the south Indian graduate and research students can benefit from this Consortium of South Indian Research Institutes (CSIRI).

I had arranged two lectures in this month for research scholars and graduate students in our college to motivate and to share my experience from this I-CAMP Summer School 2009. To attract more youngsters to research career I have published the tour report in my personal blog, http://www.abdulkareemdiary.blogspot.com/.