Over 700 People from 40 Countries Gather in Boston to Share the Latest in Raman Spectroscopy
Professor Larry Ziegler (BU Chemistry and the BU Photonics Center) and Professor Paul Champion (Northeastern Physics) co-organized the highly successful 22nd International Conference on Raman Spectroscopy (ICORS 2010 www.icors2010.org).
Held in Boston over five days, (August 8 – 13), the conference was attended by over 700 people from 40 countries. This biennial meeting has not been held in the US since 1996 (Pittsburgh). In the recent past ICORS has been hosted by different conference organizers in:
- London (2008)
- Yokohama (2006)
- Gold Coast Australia (2004)
- Budapest (2002)
- Beijing (2000).
The meeting featured plenary, invited, and contributed lectures, as well as poster presentations dedicated on the light scattering phenomenon know as Raman scattering. To learn about Raman scattering, click here.
The social program included a BBQ dinner at Fenway Park, a dinner cruise of Boston harbor and the Conference Banquet. The Conference Banquet, held in the ornate, Boston Park Plaza Imperial Ballroom, was a particularly exciting event featuring an after-dinner speech by Nobel Laureate Professor Charles Townes (UC Berkeley) entitled “Birth of the Laser and Now.” Professor Townes won the Nobel Prize in 1964 for his role in the “invention” of the laser. His talk was following by laser light show that impressed all, including the Nobel laureate!
Partial sponsorship was provided by the BU Photonics Center, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Departments of Chemistry and Physics. Professors Anna Swan (Electrical and Computer Engineering) and Bennett Goldberg (Physics) were members of the local organizing committee. Additional financial support for this meeting was provided by Northeastern University and several corporations who offer Raman instrumentation.
