Report on the 18th Optics of Liquid Crystals Conference, 8th-13th September 2019, Quebec City

Abstract

In Quebec City, facing north, from the Pierre-Dugua-De-Mons Terrace (a small hill close to the city centre), there is a particularly spectacular view overlooking the city (see Figure 1). The view here encompasses many of Quebec's famous sites: On the left, there is the eminent Chateau Frontenac, a luxury hotel built to attract visitors from around the world; in the centre, there is the historic Quebec old town, a UNESCO world heritage site; and on the right is the St Lawrence river, dominating the landscape and dotted with the occasional cruise ship to bring people from far-flung lands into the city. All of these sights show Quebec to be a city that celebrates the coming together of international travellers: even the name 'Quebec' is taken from the Algonquin word 'kébec' meaning 'where the river banks come together'. As the sun sets, the view from the Pierre-Dugua-De-Mons Terrace is bathed with a pinky-orange light, emphasising the view's beauty. Together these two key elements, the coming together of people and the presence of beautiful light, seemed to make Quebec a fitting place for an international optics conference.The 18th Optics of Liquid Crystals (OLC) conference took place in Quebec City from the 8th until the 13th of September 2019 and was hosted by the Laval University, with Professor Tigran Galstian heading the organising committee, together with Dr David Hélie and Diane Déziel of the Centre for Optics, Photonics and Lasers and Cora Roy of Conferium. As the first OLC to be hosted in Canada, and given Quebec's international appeal, it was appropriate to find that the conference was a truly international event, attracting representatives from 20 countries, with delegates from as far as Portugal,