Ognjen Jovanovic, PhD student at DTU Fotonik, presented his research at the ECOC 21 conference - the largest conference on optical communications in Europe.
He spoke as one of only ten finalists selected for the ADVA Best Student Paper Award - and he became runner-up.
In this article, he answers four questions about the experience.
How was it, presenting your research at Europe’s largest conference on optical communications?
- This was my first live presentation at a major conference and it was an amazing experience. I had an extended presentation because my paper was highly scored, so I had to give a good talk to honour the opportunity that I was given. I was very nervous during the presentation, but once I was done it seemed like the audience liked it and understood the topic, which was a big relief.
What does it mean to you, becoming runner-up in the ADVA Best Student Paper competition?
- I was speechless. I don't even remember what I said when they gave me the microphone. It is a huge honour and a big reward for all the effort I have been putting. I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. And first of all, it is a huge honour for me to be even nominated. It does not happen very often that you get picked out from the crowd (of PhD students), especially at an important conference such as ECOC. Second, it means that my research is going in the right direction and that all the effort I am making is 100 per cent worth it.
"I like to dream that one day the methods I am exploring could be used to shape the future of optical communication."
Ognjen Jovanovic, PhD student at DTU Fotonik
What is your paper about?
- In practice, many parameters in the optical communication system are unknown or challenging to measure (estimate), which can negatively affect the performance of the communication system. Therefore, in this paper, we try to overcome some uncertainties that might occur. To be more specific, the paper is about utilizing a relatively novel concept known as end-to-end learning to optimize a constellation such that it would be robust to uncertainties in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and laser linewidth.
Read the paper
How does your research benefit society?
- I like to joke around and say that my research makes the internet go faster. All jokes aside, the general goal of my research is to explore different ways of optimizing transceivers for optical communication. I like to dream that one day the methods I am exploring could be used to shape the future of optical communication.
ECOC is the largest conference on optical communications in Europe, and one of the most prestigious and long-standing events in this field worldwide.
In the conference as well as in the associated exhibition, companies and institutions from all over the world will share the latest news and scientific breakthroughs from materials and devices, to systems and networks.
Read more about the ECOC 21
Source: ECOC