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New resources, new grant winners to celebrate the International Day of Light 2019

The International Day of Light Logo
Created by SPIE.
The second International Day of Light (IDL) is only a few months away. Held on 16 May each year and organized by UNESCO, IDL is a global initiative for the continued appreciation of light and the role it plays in science, culture and art, education, and sustainable development. 

The broad theme of light allows many different sectors of society worldwide to participate in activities that demonstrate how the science, technology, and artistic expression of light can help achieve the goals of UNESCO — education, equality and peace.

SPIE enthusiastically supports the initiative and has created resources and funding opportunities to encourage local communities in creating their own celebration.

New Resources from SPIE

French Lesson Plan
An example of a French Lesson Plan
Worksheet: Diffraction Glasses.

  • Demonstrate the science of light with SPIE IDL Outreach Activities. In partnership with SPIE Student Chapters, and various optics educators, we have created a variety of lesson plans to engage young would-be scientists in the study of light. Lesson plans are available in multiple languages including English, French, Spanish, Chinese and more. More lessons have been added for 2019.

  • Decorate your social media feeds and webpages about your event with banners and graphics showcasing photography from the 2018 SPIE IDL Photo Contest. Formatted for Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, these images are perfect for setting the tone of your event, find them here: SPIE IDL Social Media Graphics

  • Hand out SPIE IDL Bookmarks featuring images from the latest SPIE IDL Photo Contest. There are eight images on eight different bookmarks capturing the beauty of light and the talent of our contest participants.

  • Decorate your event space with our three SPIE IDL Banners that feature the winning images from the 2018 SPIE IDL Photo Contest. Hang up our informational SPIE IDL Poster as well or give out copies for your attendees to take home.

  • Download the IDL logo (above), created by SPIE, to embellish your own materials for your event.
Find all these resources and more at our website: SPIE IDL Resources

2019 SPIE IDL Micro Grant Winners

Available to SPIE Members, these grants provide for planned activities that will highlight the critical role that light plays in our daily lives and must occur during the month of May 2019 and tie directly to celebrations on the 16th.

Our 2019 SPIE IDL Micro Grant recipients included:

  • Nicholas Kochan and the University of Rochester (United States)

  • Jesús Carlos Alberto Obando Aguirre and Instituto de Luz Ambiente y Visión (Argentina)

  • Jean-Christophe Gauthier and Université Laval (Canada)

  • Laura Tobin and Ealaín Solas (Ireland)

  • Paul Woafo and the University of Yaounde (Cameroon)

  • Arymurti Santosa and Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) (Indonesia)

  • Ben Hogan and the University of Exeter (United Kingdom)

  • Riley Logan and Montana State University (United States)

  • Perla Marlene Viera-Gonzalez and the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon (Mexico)

  • Natalia Mysko-Krutik and the Institute of Radiophysics and Electronics (Ukraine)

  • Frederik Van Acker and the Photonics Society of Ghent (Belgium)

  • Emma Pearce and the Imperial College (United Kingdom)

  • Audrey C. Brand and the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (United States)

  • Judith Donnelly and the St. Bernard School (United States)

We look forward to seeing what they will share with their communities.

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