Dist. Prof. Dr. Robert R. Alfano, Distinguished Professor of Science and Engineering, Departments of Physics and Electrical Engineering, Director and founder , CUNY Institute for Ultrafast Spectroscopy and Lasers (IUSL), The City College of New York, 160 Convent Ave, Room MR 201, New York, NY 10031 Robert Alfano is an Italian-American experimental physicist. He is a Distinguished Professor of Science and Engineering at the City College and Graduate School of New York of the City University of New York, where he is also the founding Director of the Institute for Ultrafast Spectroscopy and Lasers (1982). He is a pioneer in the fields of Biomedical Imaging and Spectroscopy, Ultrafast lasers and optics, tunable lasers, semiconductor materials and devices, optical materials, biophysics, nonlinear optics and photonics; he has also worked extensively in nanotechnology and coherent backscattering. His discovery of the white-light supercontinuum laser is at the root of optical coherence tomography, which is breaking barriers in ophthalmology, cardiology, and oral cancer detection (see "Better resolution with multibeam OCT," page 28) among other applications. He initiated the field known now as Optical Biopsy He recently calculated he has brought in $62 million worth of funding to CUNY during his career, averaging $1.7 million per year. He states that he has accomplished this feat by "hitting the pavement"; he developed a habit of aggressively reaching out to funding partners and getting them interested in his work. Alfano has made discoveries that have furthered biomedical optics, in addition to fields such as optical communications, solid-state physics, and metrology. Alfano has an outstanding track record for achievements regarding the development of biomedical instruments. His contributions to photonics are documented in more than 700 research articles, 102 patents, several edited volumes and conference proceedings, and well over 10,000 citations. He holds 45 patents and published over 230 articles in the biomedical optics area alone. His discovery of the white-light supercontinuum laser is at the root of optical coherence tomography, which is breaking barriers in ophthalmology, cardiology, and oral cancer detection (see "Better resolution with multibeam OCT," page 28) among other applications. Alfano has trained and mentored over 52 PhD candidates and 50 post-doctoral students. For the past ten years, he has trained innumerable high school students in hands on photonics.

Dr. Alex Kazemi a world recognized Micro Technologist, and materials scientist is focusing on development of fiber optics, miniaturized fiber components, fiber optic sensors, and micro/nano technology of laser components for aviation, aerospace and space applications. He is developer of the lightest fiber optic cable in aviation history, World 1st fiber optic sensor for rocket engine, U.S. 1st fiber optic delivery system for micro welding of laser chips, and leading-edge technologies. He is The Boeing Company Fiber Optic Architect, Associate Technical Fellow, and worked for 25 years for Boeing as well as 10 years for telecom, lasers, sensors and MEMS industries. He also taught physics and materials science for several years at University of Southern California. Currently he is the Principal Consultant for development of new generation of fiber optics and sensors to the Boeing Company. He has authored/edited 8 books and one book chapter in the area of photonics, lasers, sensors, fiber optics, micro and nano technologies, plus published over 48 papers in International Journals and hundreds of presentations throughout of conferences and technical community’s world-wide. In recent survey by “Research Gate” organization over 1000 of his peers reviewed his published papers. In 2018, 2019 and 2021 three separate International Awards were presented to him for the phenomenal presentation for his research on fiber optic sensor and lasers. He has been Chairman of SPIE International Conferences in Photonics Applications for Fiber Optic Sensors and Lasers for 8 years and Chairman, Chief Scientific Committee and Chief Editor of Excel Global International Conference on Lasers, Optics, Photonics, and Sensors in 2021. He has bestowed hundreds of recognitions, awards and patents

Brock Koren is an executive with over 25 years of experience in high technology companies and has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the California State University of Long Beach. Mr. Koren is currently the Director of Sales/Business Development for DRS Daylight Solutions, the world’s leading provider of best-in-class mid-infrared, quantum cascade laser sources for the life sciences, research, industrial, and defense industries. Mr. Koren was most recently the Vice President of Sales and Marketing/Product Management for Gamma Scientific, a manufacturer of light measurement instruments for display testing, LED testing, light meters, light sources, and spectrometers. He is a native Californian and has spent his entire life in Southern California. He currently resides in San Diego, where he enjoys physical and outdoor activities and restoring vintage Tektronix Oscilloscopes.

Dr. Ilirjana Anna Sino Toptani Mariani is an innovator with leadership skills and experience managing research professionals in collaborative projects resulting in discoveries and funds. She is an Albanian-Italian-Canadian Scientist with a academic background; obtained her Ph.D. degree in Physics/ Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy from the University of Florence, Department of Physics and Astronomy and LENS jointly with the University Complutense of Madrid, supported also by the Institute of Applied Physics and The University of Tirana and Vlora. She has also a MSc and BSc in Physics/Biophysics, Physics/Education from the University of Tirana. Her experience and expertise in teaching and research include Physics, Nonlinear Spectroscopy, Biophysics, Medical Physics, Imaging, Photonics, Optics, Physical Chemistry, and Quantum Biology with applications in the environmental and biomedical field, development of instruments, diagnostic and analytical Bio-Physical-Chemical methods of analysis. She has also been trained from Harvard University, and the University of British Columbia on legal topics for scientists, entrepreneurs and start-ups, Education Redesign for the 21st Century, Advanced methods in Molecular Biology. She is an activist of the Academy of Leadership sciences, Switzerland in Canada and an activist of Scientists of Albanian Diaspora. Her academic experience includes among others lecturing at the university of Tirana and Vlora, Faculty of Technical Sciences and Engineering and Faculty of Nursing and Public Health; Despite her fields of expertise she is interested in Energetic Psychology, Holistic healing, and Politics and is fluent in three languages and has professional proficiency in more then two.