0419ctt may bulletin lo res

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The May 2018 issue of the ACerS Bulletin is now available online.

The new issue features an illuminating cover story all about how novel materials are shaping the future of advanced optical fiber and laser systems. Optical fibers—hair-thin strands of ultra-pure glass—carry the light that enables all global voice and data communications today, in addition to many other uses. But although glass optical fibers are critical to global communications and beyond, current materials are nearing their limits. Authors John Ballato, Maxime Cavillon, and Peter Dragic discuss a new approach to manage performance-limiting effects in modern optical fibers, using new glass compositions to attack the problem at its source: the light–matter interaction. These strategies hold promise to not only overcome existing limitations, but also open up entirely new light-based defense, security, medical, and manufacturing opportunities.

The new issue also features a cheers-worthy article about the current state and future trends in the glass container industry. Did you know that breweries, wineries, and distilleries purchased more than three-quarters of the $31 billion of glass containers sold in 2016? The alcohol industry is a huge consumer of glass containers, so it pays to know what’s going on in this liquid market. In the article, ACerS director of communications and marketing Eileen De Guire talks with glass container industry consultant Joe Cattaneo to get his insight into how beverage consumption is driving the bottle industry. And don’t miss the beautiful and informative infographic from the Glass Packaging Institute.

Plus, the new issue also features extended abstracts from the ACerS Glass and Optical Materials Division Norbert J. Kreidl Award winners, Tobias Bechgaard and Maxime Cavillon. Both will present their award-winning research at GOMD 2018, May 20–­24 in San Antonio, Texas. But since that’s still a month away, you can get a sneak peak into their innovative glass research on pages 31 and 34 of the new Bulletin issue. Bechgaard’s work discusses how recent advances in high-temperature experiments could enable temperature-modulated differential scanning calorimetry as a method to investigate industrially relevant silicate glasses. And Cavillon’s article explores how oxyfluoride glass optical fibers offer one potential materials solution to the limitations of optical nonlinearities to increase power scaling in high-energy lasers.

There’s lots more good stuff inside this—and every issue—of the ACerS Bulletin. The current issue is free to all for a short time, but remember that all the valuable content in over ninety years of past issues of the ACerS Bulletin is free only to members—so considering joining us today!

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