Solid science, past and future

The Essilor Symposium is an annual event that serves as an opportunity for Essilor to review the support they offer to students of optometry and dispensing optics and to encourage academics to consider the relevance of the training they offer to students to today’s market. It is also a useful opportunity for attendees to learn more about the big issues of the day.

It had been 15 years since my last visit to Essilor’s Universities and Colleges Symposium. Some things have not changed much. The location was similar – a country hotel in Cheshire – and some of the attendees were the same, albeit with a little less hair. It was great to see that Dr Colin Fowler is still doing optical experiments in his garage, Dr Richard Earlam is still shooting holes in spectacle lenses and Professor Mo Jalie is still concocting long equations to refine best form lenses. But some things have changed. There were a lot more people than last time. There are many more universities and colleges teaching dispensing optics and optometry than there used to be. And things were a lot slicker, thanks mainly to Essilor’s Professional Services dynamic duo, Dr Andy Hepworth and Charlotte Timbury.