Beginning of April, OPeraTIC hosted a virtual panel featuring five incredible women in photonics and manufacturing, who shared how lasers are shaping a greener, smarter future — from cleaning graffiti to filtering water. The speakers, with backgrounds in physics, chemistry, and engineering, showed there’s no single path into photonics. None imagined working with lasers as teens — yet today, they love it.

Thanks to Ana Queirós for moderating, and to Marta Escoto de Tejada and Ina Qian for organizing. Huge thanks also to our inspiring panelists: Annamaria Cucinotta, Marta Gallego Vázquez, Zaira Modroño Berdiñas, Beatriz Masdemont, and Elena Turco.

We hope everyone left inspired and curious about the power of lasers!