Tuesday 10th November 2026, 6.30pm, Chipperfield Lecture Theatre
Dr Chao Wang (University of Kent)
Modern cameras contain millions of pixels. But do we really need millions of detectors to form an image? Surprisingly, it is possible to take pictures using just a single light detector, by combining carefully controlled patterns of light with computational reconstruction.
In this talk, I will explore the physics behind single-pixel imaging and show how ideas from optics and photonics can push imaging to extraordinarily high speeds. We will look at how light can be manipulated to encode spatial information, how photonic time-stretch techniques can capture events far too fast for conventional cameras, and what ultimately limits how fast we can see.
However, solving the speed problem creates another challenge: data. Ultrafast imaging systems can generate enormous quantities of information faster than conventional electronics can transfer, process or store. This raises a new question: can we use light not only to capture information, but also to process and compress it before it reaches a computer?
The talk will show how modern photonics is increasingly bringing together imaging, sensing, information processing and computing, and why overcoming the data bottleneck may be just as important as making the next generation of cameras even faster.
About the speaker
Dr Chao Wang is Reader in Electronic Systems at the University of Kent and Head of the Instrumentation, Photonics and Control Research Group. His research covers microwave photonics, ultrafast optical imaging and optical sensing, with applications in communications, biomedicine and industry.
The talk is free and open to all. Doors open about half an hour before the talk begins.
For directions to the lecture theatre, see here.