In this issue you will find content about our recently released Photonics and Quantum Technologies in Australia and New Zealand 2024 Industry Report. There are also event summaries showcasing the great work undertaken by the optics and photonics student chapters to celebrate the International Day of Light, an update from Te Whai Ao — Dodd-Walls Centre, and three other articles from people in our community.

The Australian and New Zealand Optical Society’s publication is back! In this issue several articles report essential developments and events in the Australian and New Zealand Optics and Photonics community, including the passing of Jim Piper, an article from COMBS (one of  Australia’s Centre of Excellence), updates from two student chapters, and two other updates from prominent people in our community.

Welcome to the first issue of the rebranded ANZOS News. With the new name of the society, the magazine title has changed to reflect this and we also have a new logo. We have a great selection of articles for you. Rocio Camacho Morales was the recipient of the 2018 AOS Postgraduate Student Prize and reports on her work on nonlinear optical nanoparticles. We have an obituary of Wes Sandle, pioneer in laser physics and spectroscopy in New Zealand, who died in February. There is also a look at the colour of eyes in our ‘Optics in Everyday Life’ section and an article exploring nonlinear optical metasurfaces.

In this issue we have items from two of the winners of the 2018 AOS Awards. Rob Scholten, 2018 recipient of the John Love award for technical optics gives us an overview of the work in his group using laser-cooled atoms for nanoscale imaging and fabrication. Mohsen Rahmani, winner of the Geoff Opat early career researcher prize in 2018 provides details about tunable metasurfaces. There is also a look at topology in nonlinear photonics, and our ‘Optics in Everyday Life’ section explores tidal disruption.

In this issue we have a selection of articles including details about biosensing with dielectric metasurfaces and an item about the upcoming IONS-KOALA meeting. There is a look at the history of polaroid cameras, and our ‘Optics in Everyday Life’ section explores aperture synthesis.

In the latest issue of AOS News read about active meta-optics with halide perovskites and Sir William Rowan Hamilton and his contributions to optics. There is also information about a new laser system at the Photon Factory in Auckland and a look at the history of women in science writing. Our ‘Optics in Everyday Life’ section explores smartphone photography. We also have the next winner of our photo competition and details on how to enter.

In this issue of AOS News we have a couple of articles relating to AOS prizes - there is the winning entry of the Warsash Science Communication Prize in Optics for 2018 by Sarah Scholten entitled ‘Sniffing out disease’ as well as an article by a group containing two of our 2017 prize winners. Sergey Kruk won the 2017 Geoff Opat Early Career Researcher Prize and Yuri Kivshar won the 2017 WH (Beattie) Steel Medal. There is also an item considering the relationship between optometry and optics and a look at how lighting affects paintings over time. Our ‘Optics in Everyday Life’ section explores the eye as a photon detector.

The second issue of AOS News for 2018 has a report on the International Day of Light inauguration ceremony in Paris, an item about the invention of polymer bank notes and looks back at the first Australian laser conference that took place forty years ago. There are details about how the new NSW physics curriculum no longer contains details of women’s contributions to the field and our ‘Optics in Everyday Life’ section looks at the Zeno paradox in optics.

In the first issue of AOS News for 2018 we have a number of articles ranging from details of conferences that took place at the end of 2017 to an item about the inventor of popular science. There is also a report on smartphone image sensors and an article about how fractals can be used in photonics and energy storage. Our ‘Optics in Everyday Life’ section looks at mirages and Tony Klein has come up with a brief quiz as something new.

In the final issue of AOS News for 2017 read details of outreach work with remote communities and an item about Marie Curie’s place as a role model for modern female scientists. There is also news from SPIE and the general optics community in Australia, and our ‘Optics in Everyday Life’ section looks at the history and evolution of camera lenses. There is also a report on the number of papers on laser physics and photonics published in Australia that investigates how well we’re doing compared to the rest of the world.

AOS News Dec 2017.pdf