PhD students from the Optical Photonics Society (OPSoc) have been awarded an International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE) Micro Grant to run a programme of events as part of the UNESCO 2018 International Day of Light worldwide celebrations on 16 May 2018.
Coinciding with the official inauguration ceremony at UNESCO in Paris, our OPSoc students will be organising grassroots activities for school students and the public in Southampton.
School students explore the importance of light in our lives
An Outreach Masterclass (16 May 2018) for 100 ‘gifted and talented’ local school students includes an interactive laser light show exploring the importance of light in industry, and three workshops where students can recreate the Pepper’s ghost illusion using a smartphone and build their own spectroscope.
An art competition (16 May 2018) with Cantell School will ask students to produce a piece of art titled Why light is important in my life and aims to bring creativity and innovation into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. Winners will be invited to star in a video promoted by Fun Kids radio.
A public panel session (17 May 2018) will showcase applications of light sciences and technologies in the arts, education, industry and research, with a parallel poster competition running for participating students. Sign up to attend here.
Angeles Camacho Rosales, President of OPSoc, commented:
“We are delighted to have won support from SPIE and it is vital that we reach out to the wider community and encourage future generations of photonics scientists in the UK.
“I would like to thank the student officers leading these activities, who have contributed their time and effort: Callum Stirling, project leader and coordinator; Andrei Donko, outreach masterclass leader; Kasia Grabska, art competition leader and Neda Baktash, public panel session leader.”
