Optics Education and Outreach VIII

It is presented an automated-educational resource with the aim of determining the wavelength of a laser source that uses the Airy disk generated by a circular aperture, by using a machine vision sensor and an ultrasonic distance sensor.

Methods have been developed to assist scouts complete the Boy Scout Astronomy merit badge and the Boy Scout Signs, Signals and Codes merit badge. In addition, methods were developed to demonstrate coherent light using ropes. Thousands of scouts complete these merit badges every year. Sending and receiving Morse Code messages is a requirement for the Signs, Signals and Codes merit badge. This requirement can be easily, safely, and quickly completed using light and plastic fiber optic cable, indoors or outdoors. In addition, the concepts of attenuation, multiplexing, and simulating the internet can be demonstrated. Locating and identifying eight conspicuous stars and ten constellations, two requirements for the Astronomy merit badge, is very difficult for many scouts. The stars visible at night, and their location in the night sky, changes every night and every hour. A method has been developed to provide scouts Star Charts that are customized for any specific time, day, and location. Understanding the properties and power of coherent light is difficult for anyone. A method and activity has been developed to simulate coherent light using multiple ropes. Plus, the method is fun.

A community outreach event was hosted at the University of Southern California in collaboration with SEDS-USC (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space) and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to share the excitement of the mission development of the Habitable Worlds Observatory. The objective of this event was to help students understand the engineering and science collaboration needed for NASA projects. This event is a model for informal educational experience at the university level. This unique workshop brought together astronomy, physics, and engineering students to explore and define trade studies between the possible science objectives and engineering capabilities of HWO. Students were able to connect, learn, and be a part of shaping the future of space exploration.

Advanced professional courses (APCs) in the senior year lay the foundation for further graduate study. Principles and Design of Optoelectronic Instruments (PDOI) is a lecture-based APC aiming at familiarizing students with the operating principles and basic design methods of commonly used optoelectronic instruments. In previous study, we applied problem-based learning to the APC mainly based on an assignment of system design as the problem. However, the evaluation of the learning outcomes became a new problem because without a carefully designed evaluation scale, the grading of the assignment relied on the subjective judgment of the teacher and obviously was not reasonable enough. We have developed an evaluation scale according to the Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) of the course including requirements on knowledge, design, application and evaluation of optical instruments. We will introduce how to design the evaluation scale in this paper.

Students and faculty of the Optical Systems Technology Program at Monroe Community College have developed and deployed a narrative-based, mobile color science laboratory for public STEM outreach in the greater Rochester, New York region. The laboratory consists of a series of experimental demonstrations designed for hands-on self-exploration and guided instruction by trained optics students and outreach staff. Visitors to the lab learn about the hidden color world of white light and how different light sources generate color differently. Participants leave the classroom with a greater understanding of how illumination sources and imaging displays create the color present in their daily lives. Each experiment is designed to be robust, easily transportable, quick to assemble on any standard table, and safe for interaction by people of all ages. To date, the color science laboratory has been deployed at both on-campus and multiple, high-profile, off-site events, reaching several thousand members of the general public and inspiring the next generation of STEM students.

In the past, the knowledge of lighting design was taught to students through demonstration teaching combined with lighting design software. However, this teaching method has the defects of insufficient immersion and cannot experience the advantages and disadvantages of lighting effects in the classroom. Accordingly, this study uses problem-based learning as a teaching strategy and uses VR technology to create 3D virtual lighting environments for lighting design courses. We built five-question scenarios, including source brightness, optical properties of materials, color temperature, glare, and daylight. In addition, three questionnaires were used: presence, immersion, and learning outcomes as measurement tools. The results show that the post-test is significantly better than the pre-test, indicating that using problem-based learning strategies and VR technology for lighting design teaching can effectively improve students’ immersion and learning in the studying process.

This work shows the design of a beamline scale model developed at Sirius, the Brazilian synchrotron light source, intended for teaching physics. The scale model was named Rolinha, a common bird in Brazil, following the pattern of Sirius beamlines, which are named after animals and plants from Brazilian fauna and flora. Rolinha aims to illustrate in a didactic way how a real beamline works, using visible light. It uses an LED lamp as source and glass lenses, mirrors and a prism as optical elements, to allow the selection of different wavelengths (colors) for the focused beam. Rolinha had its first version built in 2023 and has been used for several Sirius scientific outreach events, benefiting visitors, students of different ages, teachers and researchers. The optical design of the scale model, the automation of the components and its functionalities will be presented here in detail.

In 2021 we started a co-operation with the privately owned Museum of Future in Berlin and the Foundation for German-Polish Cooperation, resulting a project celebrating 100 years of Kaluza's 5th Dimension in a geographically distributed interactive hybrid exhibition, as presented in our previous paper. The same year started a new master's degree program, which is designed as a part-time course for students who are already in full-time jobs. The new students had insights into the ongoing project on various occasions. Follow-up projects were dedicated to the uses of compounds of naturally occuring radioactive elements for their colors, and special optical effects in paintings, like polarization ant retroreflection. The results were presented in several multimedia based vernissages. In the first group of students several student papers were inspired by these projects and delivered input. Two master's theses in progress are directly linked to the projects. In the paper, we discuss the surprising motivating effect of art projects on design and choice of topics by students, especially working part-time students. In addition, we provide insights into research results from the projects.

This report mainly discusses the education system established by China in optics and photonics education for citizens of different age groups. A complete talent training system at various levels has been formed, to Ensure China's position as the center of global optical manufacturing.

The field of photonics needs more well-prepared professionals to support its growth and innovation potential. Addressing this pressing necessity requires engaging all stakeholders to increase the visibility of the outstanding professional opportunities available in photonics in academia, industry and beyond, and provide the future workforce with tools to boost their employability. In this session we want to talk about how the EU projects Carla and it's follow up project 360 CARLA are approaching this through innovative inclusive career development events and round up programs general to photonics or focused on photonics applications verticals.

Engaging community college students in research initiatives at universities offering four-year degrees and beyond serves as a powerful introduction to the research field. This opportunity allows students to work with research teams and make meaningful contributions. Such exposure provides valuable insights for community college students, guiding their choices towards pursuing advanced education or entering the workforce. The optics industry acknowledges a pressing need for technically skilled engineers. Candidates who possess a blend of practical technical skills, a robust theoretical foundation, and hands-on research experience are particularly in demand.

The NSERC CREATE training program on New Technologies for Canadian Observatories (NTCO) has been a unique collaboration between academia, government, and industry to advance innovation in astronomical instrumentation while fostering knowledge exchange as part of an advanced student training program. Through strategic partnerships and funding support, NTCO facilitated the creation of industrial internship opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students in physics, astronomy, and engineering, enabling them to gain valuable professional experience while making high impact contributions to cutting-edge research projects. The NTCO program included nearly 200 supervisors (a third in industry) working together to successfully bridge the gaps between academia, government, and industry, through 70 industrial internships (37 graduate, 33 undergraduate) over the 7 year duration of the program. This paper will outline the key activities and outcomes of the NTCO program, ranging from our strategies in recruiting a diverse group of students and matching them with appropriate industrial internship experiences, to the benefits of advanced summer school training, peer support, annual genera

MICROSCOM is an international master's degree in Computational Microscopy and Applications. There is a significant gap in the skills and capacities of the graduate workforce to meet both growth expectations and the demand for professionals in the sector of computational microscopy who are well-versed in microscopy and related software and hardware. The MICROSCOM Erasmus Mundus Master (EMJM) aims to fill this gap by being the first programme worldwide to cover the full life cycle of this discipline, from a deep understanding of microscopy principles, methods and techniques to software and hardware development and integration, including innovations and strategies to incorporate knowledge on AI techniques and edge computing; as well as hands-on projects in real-world problems. The EMJM will be delivered by a consortium of HEIs from Spain, UK and Ireland in collaboration with several international external partners from academia and industry with specific expertise. The final objective is to create a two-year joint master's degree (a single degree awarded to all students) with 120 ECTS, 30 per HEI and 30 as MSc Thesis in collaborating institutions.

The continuing shortage of trained optical technicians has become a bottleneck for the precision optical manufacturing and assembly industry. The Optical Systems Technology program at Monroe Community College has engaged with its industry partners to clarify the scope and timescale of training that will best address industry needs for qualified personnel. New modalities of instruction have been implemented to reduce the amount of time that employees and potential new hires are required to be at campus facilities to acquire core technical skills. In this paper, we present recent results in the use of microcredential offerings and condensed laboratory training to accelerate the certification process for optical technicians. These modalities have been applied to both hands-on manufacturing and classroom optical physics coursework.

Over the past few years, some work has been done to develop curriculum for teaching quantum technicians1, 2, 3. One challenge centers on the concept that there are multiple fundamentally different technologies involved in many of the applications. These include different approaches to quantum computing, communications, and sensing. Technician training, like for laser and optics technicians, typically have been completed in 2 years or less at local community colleges, with associate degrees being the top-level credential available. Other shorter programs lead to certificates in the specific area of training. An umbrella concept that emerged from a QED-C workshop was that creating awareness of introductory quantum topics for students in adjacent technology programs, like lasers, optics, nano, and microelectronics could be implemented by adding one or more quantum courses to these programs, based on the requirements of local industry, academic and government laboratory needs. Continuing to build on these efforts, this paper highlights some details of a few programs as examples to provide models for other programs to use in their local communities.

With impending workforce challenges in optics, photonics, and quantum applications in the coming decades, new educational tools are needed to indelibly and inspiringly communicate complex physics concepts to future professionals. We present an educational tool and accompanying curriculum that leverages hands-on experiences to allow students at levels ranging from technician to graduate level to create and manipulate atom clouds as cold as 100 microKelvin using optical cooling and trapping techniques. Real-world effectiveness of this hands-on experience is presented from an atomic physics teaching lab course.

Overview of findings and outcomes will be presented from several symposiums on Quantum Education as well as from most important journal publications in this field including the author's own experience at the Institute of Optics, University of Rochester and 2023 ETOP special symposium supported by the Institute of Optics. Seven topics will be covered, namely: (1) easily understandable and affordable experiments with single and entangled photons; (2) how to teach the formalism of quantum optics in the age of quantum computing and communications and how much mathematics is needed; (3) how to improve students’ learning, especially for large enrollment, and how to evaluate what the students learned; (4) curriculum development: how to elicit average students’ interest; (5) training quantum optical technicians; (6) K-12 education, outreach activity, and games devoted to “quantum”; (7) engagement of non-STEM majors.

In this presentation, I will provide an overview of the Optics outreach activities conducted under the banner of Active Learning in Optics (ALO), a self-funded program established in January 2016. This initiative operates under the umbrella of both Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) and the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP).Between January 2016 and January 2024, I have successfully coordinated 70 outreach activities in various educational institutions, focusing primarily on public sector girls' schools, colleges, and universities. The outreach activities conducted aim to bridge educational gaps and promote the understanding of optics, especially among female students.Towards the conclusion of my presentation, I will briefly elaborate on the establishment of the Pak-ICTP Alumni Society in January 2021. This initiative was conceived to effectively reach undergraduate and graduate students during the challenging times of the Covid-19 pandemic. In past three years, PIAS organised 30 online scientific talks, including Abdus Salam and Steven Weinberg lectures series, by eminent scientist from ICTP and around the globe.

I am describing a set of inexpensive optical experiments that can be implemented using everyday commercial components. The cost of each experiment ranges from $1 - $20 per student station. Each of the experiments can be easily analyzed using High School level mathematics. In past the examples of such experiments resulted in student’s papers being published in peer-reviewed journals [1], [2], References 1. Yasuda,et al. "Specular reflection from rough surfaces revisited." The Physics Teacher 54, no. 7 (2016): 394-396. 2. Dieguez et al. "Wave Reflections in a Circular Ripple Tank." The Physics Teacher 59, no. 7 (2021): 556-559.

Montréal is home to over 100 companies and six universities with photonics activities that drive regional economic development. This paper serves as a comprehensive update on the Montréal Photonics Networking, an annual event set to enter its 8th edition in 2024. With a core mission to foster a collaborative environment, the event is dedicated to nurturing the growth of student researchers and promoting meaningful collaborations within the field. Since 2015, online and in-person events have taken place; activities, marketing strategies, and lessons learned to enable peer-to-peer development across multiple academic research institutions will be presented.

Two decades ago, in the beginning of 2002, we decided to organize a graduate school in the field of biophotonics and biomedical optics. The purpose of the International Graduate Summer School Biophotonics is to provide education at the highest international level for postgraduate students and early career stage researchers. The school always experienced higher interest than the number of students we can accommodate, illustrating the needs it continues to fill in the field. Apart from learning from renowned lecturers and scientists, the international atmosphere in having about 80 biophotonics scientists from across the world for a week in a confined space, on the beautiful Island of Ven, makes networking opportunities phenomenally good. The school certainly has the potential to create lifelong friendships, and to help advance the field by exchange of ideas. We collaborate with the Journal of Biomedical Optics on publishing a special section (Selected Topics in Biophotonics) containing invited review papers from lecturers at the school and contributed papers from students at the school, respectively. They have been compiled into open access online teaching material.

The conceptual restructuring and reorganization of teaching in media photonics technology has succeeded in creating a broad platform for practical projects and applied research. The quality of the content, didactic and organizational aspects of teaching must be continuously developed. A suitable learning environment plays an important role here, for which existing hands-on concepts, blended learning and research-oriented education are used. The aim is also to achieve even more digitalization, virtualization and interactivity. The use of gamification as an innovative method to increase motivation, learning success and learner participation is intended to achieve further development. Gamification in higher education focuses on the use of game design elements that are applied to a non-game context. These can focus on the learner, be oriented towards processes or be used in the area of research-based learning. In the conception and development of a gamified learning environment based on the e-learning platform provided by the university, the main focus is on design elements with a motivating character in order to consciously and specifically increase the motivation to learn.

The University of Arizona College of Engineering has an interdisciplinary senior design program that places 5-6 students on a team sponsored predominantly by industry partners. Over the course of the academic year, students work to meet the requirements of the industry sponsor and ultimately present their results at a celebratory event called Design Day. The authors have been students, mentors, and now sponsors of projects through Ball Aerospace. This paper describes our general philosophy to designing a great project that will challenge and grow the students on the team, and give them a taste of what work at our company is like. The paper will give several example projects across the past years to describe what went well and what can be improved, as well as summarizing general roadblocks students consistently experience for other mentors to be aware of.

Digital holocameras entering the market enable teachers and students to produce and view their own holograms, reconstruct and view three dimensional images, and to better understand and use holography. Three-dimensional images stored in digital holograms are electronically reconstructed, scanned, and viewed plane by plane with sharp images displayed on the monitor coming in and out of focus throughout the volume. This paper describes such a system including exercises and experiments that explain how holograms are made and how they are used to record and analyze dynamic events that take place in three dimensions.

All fields will be affected by the arrival of ChatGPT and other highly advanced generative artificial intelligence models, which show us just how brilliantly tasks can be reproduced by these engines. It is therefore natural to ask how the teaching of optical engineering, and in particular optical design, is and will be affected by this phenomenon. In this presentation, I will report on how, over the past 5 years, I have modified my introductory and advanced courses in optical design. Using a few examples, I'll try to show the positive points but also the impacts of using tools like LensNet (Opt. Express 29, 3841-3854 (2021)). Finally, I'll conclude with some thoughts on what may or may not lie ahead, and how we can introduce these new technologies into the training of future optical system designers.

Over the past year, the authors have been editors on the special section of the SPIE Optical Engineering peer-reviewed journal focused on education and training of a global workforce in optical instrumentation and lens/illumination design. In this presentation, we seek to provide an overview of the selected papers in the special section and discuss the highlights of optics education innovation occurring at academic institutions around the world.

When an intense laser interacts with a gas of atoms, high-order harmonics are generated. In the time domain, this radiation forms a train of extremely short light pulses, of the order of 100 attoseconds. Attosecond pulses allow the study of the dynamics of electrons in atoms and molecules, using pump-probe techniques. This presentation will highlight some of the key steps of the field of attosecond science.