On November 23, 2021, Ultra Precision Manufacturing of Aspheres and Freeforms - Imaging and Non-imaging Applications (UPM Workshop 2021) was successfully held at the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP), Chineses Academy of Sciences. 

The conference was co-hosted by CIOMP and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering (Fraunhofer IOF) in Germany. In CIOMP, it was jointly organized by the CAS Key Laboratory of Optical System Advanced Manufacturing Technology and the Department of International Cooperation Office. 

Experts of ultra-precision optical processing from Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom took part in this online workshop. Also attending were well-known scholars from Beijing Institute of Technology, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, and Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Experts shared their latest academic achievements and discussed cutting-edge trends and future development directions in the field of optical precision manufacturing. 

This conference provided a good stage for academic exchange and showcase for experts and scholars engaged in this subject field, as well as a platform for domestic scientists, young scholars and graduate students to communicate and cooperate with their international counterparts. 

The opening ceremony of the conference was chaired by Ms. WANG Hui, deputy director of the International Cooperation Office of CIOMP. CIOMP deputy president Prof. ZHANG Xuejun welcomed the experts and participants and said that both CIOMP and IOF had a long history of optic studies. He also introduced the long-term and friendly exchange and cooperation experience of the two institutes in the past ten years, and wished for long-lasting friendship between the two institutes. 

Opening speech by Prof. ZHANG (Image by GUO)

Professor Tunnermann, Director of IOF, congratulated the conference on its successful online gathering during the epidemic, and looked forward to meeting everyone in person at the UPM conference in 2022 in Jena, Germany. 

Opening speech by Prof.Tunnermann (Image by GUO)

The first half of the meeting was chaired by Dr. Marcus Trost from IOF. Dr. Stephanie Hesse-Ertelt from IOF, Prof. HAN Sen from the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Associate Researcher LIU Hai from CIOMP, and Prof. XU Jianfeng from the University of Science and Technology of China each shared their latest research results. The second half of the meeting was hosted by Associate Researcher ZHANG Site from CIOMP. Prof. HAO Qun from Beijing Institute of Technology, Dr. Marcus Trost from IOF, Dr. TANG Dawei from the University of Huddersfield, Dr. ZHANG Xuejun from CIOMP, and Dr. Jim Burge from the Arizona Optical Metrology LLC shared their reports. The atmosphere at the conference was lively, with participants actively engaged in exchange and discussion.

The conference was conducted simultaneously online and offline, with more than 50 people taking part online and nearly 100 researchers and graduate students participating offline. The International Cooperation Office plan to organize more CIOMP research departments to carry out international academic exchanges, continuously improving the international influence of CIOMP and promoting international development.

UPM 2021 meeting room (Image by GUO)