Annual Report. SPECTRA Joint SPIE and OSA student chapter

Transcription

1 Annual Report SPECTRA Joint SPIE and OSA student chapter

2 Table of Contents Chapter Officers... 3 Current Members... 4 Chapter Highlights... 5 Year of Light Research Symposium, WUSTL... 5 In-reach/Outreach Events... 5 Chapter Organization... 5 Group Structure... 5 Financial Information... 6 List of Events for Year of Light Research and Symposium... 7 Journal club/recruitment: SPECTRA Meet and Greet Recruitment Event: Bowling In-reach Events Out-reach Events Officer Travel Grants and Other Opportunities Conclusions

3 Chapter Officers Chapter Officers Advisor: Samuel Achilefu President: Dolon Maji Vice-Presidents: Rebecca Gilson and Avik Som Secretary: Karla Bergonzi Outreach/In-reach Coordinators: Patrick Wright and Jonathan Bumstead University Outreach Coordinators: Patrick Wright and Matthew Reisman Membership Coordinator: Deep Hathi Webmaster: Cody Greer Chapter Officers Elections forthcoming on June 25, New board will be sent out after that. 3

4 Current Members Andrew Fishell Ashton Hemphill Behzad Babaei Byungchan Kim Karla Bergonzi Cody Greer Deep Hathi Dolonchampa Maji Emily Goering Shengkui Gao Rebecca Gilson LeMoyne Habimana-Griffin Steven Huang Jonathan Bumstead Jonathan Gross Radoslav M. Marinov Jessica Miller Elliot Lu Nero Zhou Maiko Kume Matthew Reisman Nathaniel King Missael Garcia Inema Orukari Patrick Wright Qian Wu Qisheng Jiang Ramesh Raliya Runze Han Samira Hassanpour Samuel Powell Suman Mondal Avik Som Daniel Foust Zach Markow Leah Czerniewski Yutang Liu Alumni Metasebya Solomon Yang Liu Silvina Ferradal Vivak Shah Tauseef Charanya 4

5 Chapter Highlights Year of Light Research Symposium, WUSTL SPECTRA hosted a visiting speaker from both OSA (Alex Vitkin) and SPIE (Marc Himel), and created a day long research and career symposium featuring the keynote visiting speakers as well as members of the local optics research and industry community. The symposium was a day-long event and had attendance of over members of both Washington University s Medical and Danforth campuses. The event was instrumental in getting a broad swath of the community to celebrate the Year of Light. In-reach/Outreach Events Spectra participated in over six in-reach/outreach events this year, with students who spanned grade school to high school. Chapter Organization Group Structure Similar to last year, our group meets approximately once a month to plan upcoming events, with more frequent meetings as events require. These meetings are restricted to an hour and half and include refreshments for the members present during the course of the meeting. When more involved events are imminent, such as in-reach and outreach programs, the frequency of these meetings is doubled 2-3 months in advance. Tasks, such as coordinating event logistics (in-reach/outreach coordinator) with the schools and community centers, designing experiments (all members), and ensuring availability of resources (secretary, treasurer) for the event etc., are divided among members. Similarly, for seminars held for invited speakers, the president or vice presidents are responsible for coordinating the talks. Spectra members that are not officers are informed via about events for their participation. After combining our SPIE and OSA chapters into Spectra, we decided to include two vice president positions, one for SPIE and on for OSA. This has worked beautifully this year. Communication with each organization is the task of that VP. We have found that this allows us to be more responsive to both organizations. In addition, the two VPs are able to help in more of the leadership in the organization. For example, during the Year of Light Symposium, each VP invited a traveling speaker and organized that portion of the symposium. That allowed the president the ability to lead the overall planning, without worrying about every detail of the symposium. We also hold a General body meeting twice a year for all Spectra members. Due to the rapidly growing interest in optics-related fields at Washington University over the past couple years, 5

6 there have been several new optics-related labs started. Many of these research groups are unaware of our chapter. To expand and diversify our membership pool from these labs, we plan to run fun-filled events including ice-cream socials and an annual picnic. In addition, next year, we will be collaborating with the Imaging Sciences Pathway at Washington University. We are very excited to start a monthly journal club with student presentations with their students. The goal of this monthly meeting is to provide a place where students from all different background can discuss various aspects of their research, including future goals, experimental troubleshooting, and writing. We aim to provide a relaxed environment where students feel comfortable sharing knowledge and getting feedback on their projects. Financial Information Grants and expenditures ($ amounts, as of June 12, 2015) Officer in charge Description Date Received Spent Balance Forward from FY2014 Karla Bergonzi Pizza for General Body Meeting 7/24/ Activity funding grant from SPIE 9/24/ Patrick Wright Food for Meet n Greet in Lopata Hall 10/8/ Karla Bergonzi Pizza for Officers Meeting 10/28/ Rebecca Gilson Pin-Up Bowl Event 11/21/ Karla Bergonzi Pizza for Officers Meeting 12/15/ Karla Bergonzi Pizza for Officers Meeting 2/16/ Activity funding grant from OSA 4/2/15 1, Imaging Sciences Pathway, DBBS, WUSTL sponsorship Avik Som Bar Italia Faculty Introduction Dinner 4/8/ Patrick Wright Dinner for Year of Light Symposium 4/9/ Refreshments for meeting with Symposium Rebecca Gilson speaker 4/9/ Rebecca Gilson Dinner for Conference Debriefing 4/23/ Karla Bergonzi Pizza for Meeting to discuss Symposium 4/23/ Balance 6/12/ Balance: Grants to be used by Dec 2015: Lego microscope for inner city students (OSA) - $500 Art in Science Project (OSA) - $500 Elections, GBMs, officer meetings, others (OSA+SPIE): ~$300 To be reimbursed: Jon Bumstead, Outreach events $60; Dolon Maji, Bagels for Officer meeting $15. 6

7 List of Events for Year of Light Research and Symposium The WU Year of Light Symposium was introduced this year as an event with the goal of raising awareness of optics research and relevance across the sciences, bringing together the diverse optics and photonics community at Washington University, and increasing knowledge of cutting edge research and careers in optics and photonics. Fig. 1. Schedule for the YOL Research Symposium 7

8 CURRENT RESEARCH IN OPTICS AND PHOTONICS Hosted by SPECTRA (Optics and Photonics Student Group, WUSTL) Interested in research in optics and photonics? Hear from experts and their experiences in research, industry, and entrepreneurship Thursday April 9, am - 12 pm Erlanger Auditorium Check out our event on facebook or visit our website 8:45-9:10 am Breakfast and opening remarks by Dr. Samuel Achilefu 9:10-10am 10-11:15am Keynote by Dr. Alex Vitkin (University of Toronto) Presentation of Hot Topics in Optics/Photonics Research 11:15-11:30am Closing Remarks by Dr. Richard Wahl Contact: Deep Hathi (deep.hathi@wustl.edu) RSVP: gl/escqy8 Fig. 2. Flyers for the YOL Research Symposium 8

9 The event was unique in that it was tailored to both medical and engineering campuses. The morning sessions largely had a research focus with several industry leaders giving their take on optics. Dr. Alex Vitkin gave the initial keynote, and the Chair of Radiology at Washington University, Dr. Richard Wahl, ended the morning with comments about the importance of optics to medicine. Fig. 3. Pictures from the morning session of YOL Symposium. The afternoon sessions focused on industry, academic, and entrepreneurial career avenues for pursuing optics. Dr. Himel gave a wonderful keynote for this session, which was optimally situated in the heart of the undergraduate and engineering campus. Fig. 4. Pictures of the career panel during afternoon session of YOL Symposium As seen from Figures 3 and 4, the Year of Light Symposium drew interest from many members of the optics community at Washington University. The event allowed members of Spectra to meet and network with leaders in the regional optics community. The Symposium was featured in the newsletter of Department of Radiology, WUSTL. 9

10 Fig. 5. YOL Symposium featured in Wavelength the monthly newsletter of Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, WUSTL 10

11 2. Journal club/recruitment: SPECTRA Meet and Greet As an introduction to our new joint SPIE and OSA group to the Washington University community, we hosted an open-access journal club and recruitment event. The following talks were hosted by Dr. Adam Eggebrecht, an instructor in Radiology, Washington University: Shining Light on the Mind. Fig. 6. Flyer for the meet n greet event. 3. Recruitment Event: Bowling We hosted a bowling social for those in the optics and photonics community that reached 15 people. The goal of the event was to create a more diverse optics community on campus. We had attendance from students that did not participate in research traditionally represented by our group. For instance, a PhD student from plant biology with an interest in studying photosynthesis mechanisms attended our social event. Students who participated in the event expressed interest in building the optics community at Washington University, and have been generally enthusiastic about participating in events held by Spectra. 11

12 Fig. 7. Flyer for the recruitment event. 4. In-reach Events In April 2015, the WU Program for Excellence in Nanotechnology (PEN) Skills Development Core in conjunction with SPECTRA and the Washington University Institute for School Partnership organized the 4th annual Nanotechnology in-reach event for middle school students. Forty students from Brittany Woods Middle School came to the Washington University School of Medicine campus to be introduced to science at the micro- and nanoscopic scales. With the help of eight Spectra and PEN volunteers, the students performed experiments to study surface tension, non-newtonian fluids, and the effects of surface area on reactants in solution. Students were organized into groups of four and given a lab workbook. The workbook had questions on the science underlying the experiments and observed phenomena and also prompts to create hypothesis for each experiment and record observations. The middle school students were enthusiastic about completing the experiments mixing water with corn starch to create a non-newtonian fluid and using rubber balls to learn about its behavior proved to be a hit with them. 12

13 5. Out-reach Events Washington University s Spectra continued to develop the previously established relationship with Soldan International Studies High School, a local St. Louis magnet school. We participated in two outreach events with Soldan students over the year, helping their Human Body Systems classes learn about the anatomy and physiology of the eye, the physics of lenses, and visual perception. We refined our previously developed teaching plan and demos, giving students an overview lecture allowing them to hypothesize on the results of their upcoming experiments. Demos included optical illusions with prism goggles, puzzles involving aligning light from multiple lasers using a variety of lenses, and a detailed model of the eye demonstrating near- vs. far-sightedness, corrective glasses, and how the pupil acts as an aperture. Food was provided to the students after the class finished using the funds from the SPIE and OSA student chapters. Five members volunteered for this event. Fig. 8. Left: Jon Bumstead lectures about how the lens of the eye focuses light. Right: Jon Bumstead and Deep Hathi give students puzzles to solve using lenses to focus a variety of lasers. Fig. 9. Left: Matt Reisman uses the eye model to show how far and nearsightedness are corrected using glasses. Right: Nate King shows students how prism goggles change visual perception by having students attempt to throw a ball into a basket. In addition, in January 2015, we collaborated with PEN to participate in Science Café. Science Café is a program that brings scientific lectures, demonstrations and hands-on experiments to a wide range of students throughout St Louis. Through Science Café, we did three additional 13

14 outreach events, one at Washington University, one at the Science Center, and one at Cahokia High School (East St. Louis, IL). Cahokia High school was the first school that we have attended outside of St Louis, Mo. It was amazing to get to interact with students in a different part of our community. 6. Officer Travel Grants and Other Opportunities Travel Grant Matt Reisman and Jon Bumstead have received the SPIE Officer Travel Grant to participate in the SPIE Student leadership workshop at SPIE OP15, San Diego. They intend to participate in the Outreach Olympics and present poster for chapter activities. Facilitating Opportunity Board member Dolon Maji was selected as a facilitator for the student leadership workshop at SPIE OP14, San Diego. Fig. 10. Dolon Maji facilitating group discussion at SPIE OP15, San Diego. 14

15 Conclusions We have worked very hard this year to grow Spectra above and beyond what it had previously been. Our emphasis on increasing outreach and in-reach events represents a core goal of the group, which is to positively impact the St Louis community. In addition, the Year of Light symposium allowed Spectra to begin shaping our niche at Washington University. More faculty are now aware of Spectra and are very interested in getting their graduate students involved. In addition, the Imaging Sciences Pathway (ISP) at Washington University has contacted us about collaborating on events with them. We are very excited to have the opportunity to expand and growth through increased awareness of Spectra and ISP. 15