›International Conference on Light Science and Applications

Light for a Brighter Namibia

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly 68th Session proclaimed 2015 as the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies (IYL 2015) on 20th December 2013. This International Year has been the initiative of a large consortium of scientific bodies together with UNESCO, and will bring together many different stakeholders including scientific societies and unions, educational institutions, technology platforms, non-profit organizations and private sector partners.

In proclaiming an International Year focusing on the topic of light science and its applications, the United Nations has recognized the importance of raising global awareness about how light-based technologies promote sustainable development and provide solutions to global challenges in energy, education, agriculture and health. Light plays a vital role in our daily lives and is an imperative cross-cutting discipline of science in the 21st century. It has revolutionized medicine, opened up international communication via the internet, and continues to be central to linking cultural, economic and political aspects of the global society.

So far, about 60 countries worldwide, including eleven on the African continent (Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Liberia, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia) will be celebrating the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies.

Against this background, the University of Namibia (UNAM) would like to celebrate this International Year by organizing the International Conference on Light Science and Applications (ICLSA) from 26th - 28th of October, 2015 on its main campus in Windhoek.

The main objectives of this conference will be to

create awareness, share and gain knowledge in light sciences,
educate rural dwellers to use solar applications, and
develop advanced research and technology in Namibia in light sciences.

To achieve these objectives effectively, the Faculties of Science and Engineering at the University of Namibia have taken initiative to organize this conference, covering the following topics:

Solar applications and solar power production
Modern light sources
Optical fibres and applications
Lasers and applications
Astronomy