PLENARY SESSION

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Date: Tuesday, September 15, 2026
Time: 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Location: Windsong 9-12

Optical Clocks: From Quantum Science to Applications  

Dr. Jun Ye, JILA Fellow, NIST Fellow, and Professor of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder

Quantum science and laser technology have fueled revolutionary developments in atomic physics and precision metrology. Quantum-state engineering and system scaling have drastically enhanced the performance of atomic clocks and are opening new opportunities for fundamental discoveries and novel applications. Minute-long optical atomic coherence has been demonstrated for tens of thousands of atoms. Recently emerged nuclear clocks provide another powerful platform for performance scaling.    

Dr. Jun Ye is a Fellow of JILA, a Fellow of NIST, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on developing new tools for light-matter interactions and their applications in precision measurement, quantum science, and frequency metrology. He has co-authored 450 scientific papers and delivered 750 invited talks. Among his awards and honors are five Gold Medals from the US Commerce Department, the N.F. Ramsey Prize (APS), the I.I. Rabi Award (IEEE), the I.I. Rabi Prize (APS), and the W.F. Meggers Award (OSA).  His recent honors include the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, the Berthold Leibinger Future Prize, the Niels Bohr Institute Medal of Honour, the Herbert Walther Award, and the Vannevar Bush Fellowship. The web page for the research group, including highlights for many highly talented and enthusiastic young researchers, is https://jila.colorado.edu/YeLabs/.  

Navigation in the Age of Generative AI

Dr. Nicholas Roy, Hunsaker Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT 

Generative AI models can process sensor data and extract rich semantic signals to an unprecedented degree. UAVs, self-driving cars, and underwater robots can now use pre-trained models to detect a wide range of objects with minimal additional training, make accurate predictions in highly dynamic environments, and even predict the best trajectory to follow to accomplish increasingly complex missions. I will talk about some of the successes and challenges of using generative AI, and the open questions as generative AI becomes a key technology for navigation. 

Dr. Nicholas Roy is the Jermone C. Hunsaker Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, specializing in robotics, machine learning, autonomous systems, planning and reasoning, human-computer interaction, and micro air vehicles. In 2012, with two of his students, he co-founded Project Wing, the drone delivery project at [X]. He is currently the lead of the Autonomy Architecture team at Zoox. 

 

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