Comments on: How to make SPIE papers worth listening to (a modest proposal)

By: Chris Sallee

Chris Sallee — Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Overall it sounds correct to me. I hope presenters don’t take the "be able to replicate" idea too far and do inappropriate things like take screen shots of the inputs of a software program and show exactly which buttons to push, in order that others can replicate the work, as that kind of information is considered confidential. It is confidential because it allows the competitors to see exactly how the software operates. It would be no less inappropriate for a presenter to give away a confidential detail about the formulation of a resist, for example.

By: WouldRatherNotSay

WouldRatherNotSay — Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Your observation and complaint are certainly on the mark. But I think SPIE has always been "half tradeshow, half technical conference". In the photolithography literature writing is more common than reading and a quality paper is rare. What we lack in academic rigor though we make up for in "high stakes innovation" – hence the posturing. So SPIE will continue down this road. My guess is that even the major truly academic gatherings (APS, ACS, IEEE, etc) are much more commercial now than 20 yrs. ago.