Activity

Here are some events we have participated in or organized in our 2026 fiscal year.

The 99th May Festival (May 16 – 17, UTokyo Hongo Campus)

We hosted a hands-on booth featuring a variety of light-themed demonstrations, including a He-Ne laser, fluorescentdye solutions, and a spectrometer for observing different light sources. Visitors of all ages stopped by to interact with the experiments, ask questions, and explore the demonstrations together with our members. It was wonderful to see so much curiosity and excitement shared throughout the event.

Here are some events we have participated in or organized in our 2025 fiscal year.

Asia-Pacific SPIE Student Chapter Symposium 2025 co-hosted with the Auunal Meeting of the Optical Society of Japan (Dec 11, Awagin Hall, Tokushima)

We held the Asia-Pacific SPIE Student Chapter Symposium 2025, a student-led international event that brought together SPIE Student Chapter members from across the Asia-Pacific region. The symposium provided a platform for students and researchers to exchange ideas, share research, and strengthen international connections within the optics and photonics community. The program featured three invited speakers, including 2025 SPIE President Peter J. de Groot, who spoke about his activities and vision for SPIE during his term in 2025. Moreover, all participating students joined the poster session, creating an active environment for discussion and interaction across different chapters and research fields.

The 4th Annual MGH Wellman/UTokyo Graduate Students Symposium 2025 (Nov 10-13, Boston) 

We organized a student-led symposium in collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), bringing together students and researchers from Japan and the Boston area to promote international research exchange. The program included invited talks by researchers from multiple universities, student oral presentations, and lab tours, creating an active and engaging environment for discussion. The symposium was planned and organized by students, highlighting the role of the SPIE UTokyo Student Chapter in fostering cross-border collaboration and academic exchange. We gratefully acknowledge the support of our sponsors and partners.

Further details, including the full program and event highlights, are available on our website and LinkedIn page.

UTokyo SPIE Student Chapter Seminar (Sep 9, UTokyo Hongo Campus)

We welcomed Prof. Juergen Czarske (TU Dresden) for a seminar on Quantitative Phase Imaging exploiting Microfluidics and Deep Holography towards Biomedicine. He introduced a range of the latest imaging techniques, illustrating them clearly—even for beginners—through striking images and videos. His talk highlighted how advanced optical methods, combined with AI-driven image reconstruction, can be applied to biological and medical samples. The Q&A session was lively and thought-provoking, as we explored how the combination of optics and AI has the potential to transform both science and society.

UTokyo & NJUST SPIE Student Chapters Joint Academic Exchange (Aug 2, Online)

We held a virtual exchange meeting with the SPIE Student Chapter of Nanjing University of Science and Technology. The event featured a research-sharing session and an open Q&A, where members from both chapters discussed not only their research but also their daily student life. Topics ranged from computational imaging to imaging flow cytometry, leading to lively discussions and new perspectives across disciplines and borders.

The 98th May Festival (May 18 – 19, UTokyo Hongo Campus)

We hosted a hands-on booth where visitors could explore the fascinating principles of light through our original demonstrations, including a He-Ne laser, optical probes, a laser microphone, and a set of lightbulbs. Even though our booth was a bit tucked away, we were delighted to welcome guests of all ages. It was inspiring to see so many people engage directly with the experiments and share their excitement with us.

Here are some events we have participated in or organized in our 2024 fiscal year.

Meeting with Dr. Andrew Brown (November 27)

Dr. Andrew Brown, SPIE Senior Director for Global Business Development, visited our chapter. Following a lab tour, we had a fruitful discussion with him and shared ideas about our future activities and collaborations.

SPIE UTokyo annual meeting (November 21)

We held a whole-group meeting to review our activities in the past 1 year and select new board members. We can’t wait for our exciting activities next year!

The 37th Serendipity Seminar (October 21)

Our chapter and Serendipity Lab co-hosted the 37th Serendipity Seminar. The speaker was Prof. Daewook Kim, an associate professor in University of Arizona working on a number of optical engineering projects for better understanding of our universe. Although many of our chapter members are working primarily on biophotonics, it was a great opportunity to broaden our perspectives and learn about optics applied to the observation of celestial bodies that are many orders of magnitude larger than cells.

OPTICA seminar event (August 21, UTokyo Hongo Campus)

We co-hosted a seminar talk with OPTICA UTokyo Chapter and IEEE Tokyo Chapter. The lecture was by Prof. Jungwon Kim (KAIST, Korea). His inspiring lecture featured “timing” – specifically, ultralow-noise frequency comb technology and its various applications, such as ultrafast electron diffraction and 3D dynamic imaging, where temporal precision is critical.

The 97th May Festival (May 18 – 19, UTokyo Hongo Campus)

We set up a booth for our chapter to demonstrate some interesting principles related to light with our unique setups (He-Ne laser, a set of lightbulbs and optical probes, laser microphone, etc.) Although our booth was a little bit hard to find, we fortunately had visitors of various age groups. We could not be happier if we stimulated their interest in light!

Serendipity Symposium (March 10-13, Ishigaki, Okinawa)

This year’s Serendipity Symposium was held on Ishigaki Island in Okinawa! The participants came from different countries and had diverse specialties ranging from optics and microfluidics to cancer biology and microbiology –  enabling in-depth discussion to bridge technological and applicational aspects of our research.

Of course we enjoyed the poster session in a relaxing atmosphere, which we co-hosted, but the most fun part of the symposium was the excursions! Blessed with great weather, we explored rich, beautiful nature and exotic Yaeyama food and culture, while we got to know many participants better with some potential collaborators of our research projects!

Wellman/UTokyo Graduate Students Symposium 2024 (February 20 – 22, UTokyo)

We co-hosted a student-led symposium with WINGS-LST at UTokyo, UTokyo OPTICA Student Chapter, and Wellman OPTICA Student Chapter at Wellman Center for Photomedicine. Not only did we learn about cutting-edge research in optics and biomedicine and its future direction from keynote speakers, but we also had fun discussing in-depth our progress in research in the poster session and lab tour, career pathways in panel talk, and effective ways of presentation to people with different backgrounds in the workshop. We sincerely appreciate generous support from Thorlabs, OPTICA, SPIE, C2CIMM, and WINGS-LST. In addition, we thank members of host laboratories in UTokyo for welcoming us on our lab tour. We hope to continue collaboration with different chapters as optics enthusiasts!

Below are some of the events we participated in or organized in our 2023 fiscal year.

Lab tour with Junior High School at Otsuka, University of Tsukuba (March 1st)

We had an outreach event on 1 March. Around thirty students from junior high school at Otsuka, University of Tsukuba (筑波大学附属中学)came to tour our lab. Dr. Ding led the tour and introduced our work. Some of our members taught the visitors about Raman and fluorescent imaging.

Community Outreach: Booth at Todai Hongo May Festival on May 13th, 14th

This was one of our biggest events of the year. We set up a booth for our SPIE student chapter, where we introduced 4 demonstrations of light (sunlight UV/Vis spectroscopy,  laser microphone, solvatochromism, and a homemade He-Ne laser) to members of the public. This year, the May festival was open to all people to join with no limitations for the first time in these 4 years. We had many people of all ages attend our booth, and we had a great time promoting photonics, light, and our research on them. At the event, we passed out pens and cards with our chapter logo to university students to promote our chapter and try to recruit members. Thank you for visiting our booth!

Though COVID-19 certainly took its toll, we still came together to participate in what we could!

Here are some events we have hosted/participated in in 2021-2022 (this is a list in progress!):

SPIE Booth at Todai Komaba Festival 2022 (November 18th)

For the first time in a while, we were able to take our SPIE demo booth to the University of Tokyo's annual Komaba Festival! Along with our usual demos introducing the basics of light and lasers, we were also able to debut an additional demo introducing solvatochromism. Although pre-registration was still required for entry, we were very pleased to have received many in-person visitors. We look forwards to seeing you at festivals to come!

Co-chaired the Awards Ceremony at Serendipity Workshop 2022

This year's Serendipity Workshop 2022 was hosted at Chuo University! As members of the organizational commitee, we helped co-chair the ceremony for awarding the most popular posters as voted on by all attendees. We hope that our continued participation of these workshops will help promote the development of serendipity-enabling optical methods and applications centered
around image activated cell sorting (IACS) technology.

SPIE Booth at Todai May Festival 2022 (May 15th)

With the reopening of the University of Tokyo's annual May Festival, we of course had to take the chance to participate with our SPIE booth. As it was a hybrid event, we had a chance to present our demonstrations to not only participants who came in person, but also to internet-goers through our very own Youtube live stream! 

Below are some of the events we participated in or organized in our 2019 fiscal year.

Company/Laboratory Visit: Hamamatsu Photonics and Hamamatsu Medical University on April 12

We took a bus from Tokyo to Hamamatsu, Shizuoka for an all-day trip to Hamamatsu Photonics and Hamamatsu Medical University. At Hamamatsu Photonics (a well-known photonics device producer), we met and discussed with several employees, attended a lecture about the company, and saw some ongoing research projects. After visiting Hamamatsu Photonics, we visited some labs at Hamamatsu Medical University, where bioimaging and photonics-enabled medical research is conducted. We had some good time to discuss with some students and a professor there.

Company Visit:  KISTEC in Yokohama on May 21

We traveled to Yokohama, Kanagawa to visit KISTEC (Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Science and Technology). There, we were able to see some really interesting demonstrations of their research, including surgery robots with advanced sensing technology and other advanced imaging technologies.

Community Outreach: Booth at Todai Hongo May Festival on May 18, 19

This was one of our major events of the year. We set up a booth for our SPIE student chapter, where we introduced 2 demonstrations of light (sunlight UV/Vis spectroscopy and a homemade He-Ne laser) to members of the public. We had many people of all ages attend our booth, and we had a great time promoting photonics and light to them. This event coincided with the International Day of Light, so we promoted that as well. At the event, we passed out pens and notebooks with our chapter logo to university students to promote our chapter and try to recruit members.

Community Outreach: Lecture and Lab Tour on August 6

We hosted some students from the Kiyomizu High School (Shizuoka) in one of the labs at UTokyo. First, our chapter advisor (Keisuke Goda) gave a lecture and introduced some research at UTokyo. Then, we gave the students a lab tour and taught them about some photonics concepts. Finally, we enjoyed a reception, where the HS students were able to speak casually with our members.

Community Outreach: Booth at Todai Komaba Festival on November 23, 24

Another major event for us. After the success of our first festival appearance, we upped the ante by adding another photonics demo (laser microphone) and heavily promoting the event with a home-made video. Over the course of 2 days, we had hundreds of visitors from the public, including elementary school students and the elderly. The booth was a huge hit, and we received a lot of really great feedback. We also promoted our Rachel Won talk and our chapter, and we hadsome additional attendance at the talk as a result.

Visiting Lecture and Reception: Rachel Won (w/ OSA Chapter) on November 28

This was probably our biggest event of the year. We hosted Rachel Won to give two lectures at our school. She came around noon, so we first had lunch with the presidents, VPs, and faculty advisors of both the UTokyo SPIE and OSA student chapters. Next, we went on tours of 4 labs at the university, so Rachel could meet some faculty and learn about some ongoing photonics research here. After that, Rachel gave 2 excellent lectures to an audience of >120 attendees, from all different nationalities and photonics-related backgrounds. The talks were followed by a lively reception, where students could speak with Rachel and enjoy her company. I think this was important for making many new connections between students from OSA & SPIE chapters from other universities.

Community Outreach: Lecture and Lab Tour on December 6

We hosted some students from the Kumon High School in one of the labs at UTokyo. First, our chapter advisor (Keisuke Goda) gave a lecture and introduced some research at UTokyo. Then, we gave the students a lab tour and taught them about some photonics concepts. Finally, we enjoyed a reception, where the HS students were able to speak casually with our members.

Company Visit: KDDI Research in Saitama (w/ OSA Chapter) on December 6

In collaboration with the UTokyo OSA student chapter, we traveled from the University of Tokyo to Saitama to visit KDDI Research, a company with some really interesting photonics research, dealing with areas such as optical fibers, oceanic mapping, virtual reality, and imaging. Our members had a great time seeing their research labs and speaking with their company employees.

Our 2018 fiscal year was full of interesting events for our student chapter. Below are some of the events we organized or participated in.

Dinner party with UTokyo OSA student chapter on July 30

We invited the UTokyo OSA student chapter and had a dinner party. We talked about our daily life in our lab, our research topics, ideas of collaboration work, etc.. It was our first activity, and we hope that this kind of interaction with other chapters will enhance our research productivity.

Attendance to Guest talk held by University of Tokyo OSA student chapter on 7 August

We enjoyed the guest talk and dinner. The speaker shared some methods to keep motivation for research. We exchanged research ideas and plans throughout the dinner.

Japan Student Chapter Meeting 2018 (4, 5 October)

Six members attended Japan Student Chapter Meeting 2018 held on September 4th and 5th. This is a joint meeting of the student chapters of SPIE, OSA, and JSAP in Japan, mainly consisting of photonics-related graduate students. We really enjoyed workshops and invited talks as well as their poster presentations and getting along with other students. Although a big typhoon hit Osaka during the meeting period, the meeting finished successfully.

Held a guest talk on 21 September

 We hosted a talk on Friday, September 21 by Christina Willis, a current sitting board member of SPIE. Her talk really helped us to deepen our knowledge about the importance of network between researchers and how to build and keep the network effectively. After her great talk, we enjoyed interaction with Christina and students of OSA student chapter at dinner party.

Visit lecture hosted by OSA Chapter at Tokyo Electrocommunication University (Dec 7)

We visited an interesting lecture on nanophotonics given by Yoshitomo Okawachi, a visiting researcher from Columbia University in NYC. Afterwards, we enjoyed a dinner and networking with other photonics-related researchers and the lecturer.

Lab tour with Kumon international junior high school

We had an outreach event on 11 December. Twenty-eight students from Kumon International Junior High School came to tour our lab. Dr. Isozaki led the tour and introduced our work. Following that the students gave speeches about their school life. Then Kinegawa (president) and Matsumura taught the visitors about Raman and fluorescent imaging.

Application to May festival (17 February)

We applied to the May festival. We will show optical experiments, such as UV-Vis absorption and an optical microphone as an outreach event at the school festival (18, 19 May in 2019).

Lab tour from Morioka Daiichi High School (3 March)

Twenty students from Morioka Daiichi High School came to tour our lab. Prof. Goda showed and explained “Serendipiter” (Nitta, Nao, et al. "Intelligent image-activated cell sorting." Cell175.1 (2018): 266-276.) to the students. We answered questions about the mechanism and theory of the setup, the entrance exam of our university (Actually, our university is most difficult to join in Japan. Hence, many students were interested in how they should prepare for the exam). We could enjoy talks with them and tell them “the significance of research”. We hope this outreach will help their future study.


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