Photonics for a Better World

As we get closer to the 2019 International Day of Light, we will be re-visiting our 2018 IDL Micro Grant winners from around the world, and showcasing their celebration of this annual event in their communities. This week we visit Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire, and Islamabad, Pakistan to meet the innovative organizations who celebrated IDL 2018 with the help of an SPIE Micro Grant. Each year, SPIE provides International Day of Light (IDL) Micro Grants to SPIE Members who want to celebrate the importance of light and share that knowledge with their community. These activities must take place during the month of May and tie directly to the cross-global festivities held on the 16th of that month. Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny Students gather outside the INP-HB before talks and demonstrations On the 31st of May last year, over 320 high school, undergraduate, and graduate students, as well as their teachers, joined the general public for a celebration...

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 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 ...

On 16 May, the second International Day of Light (IDL) will celebrate the importance of light and light-based technologies to individuals and communities around the world. SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, supports IDL in part by offering Micro Grants towards SPIE Member activities that showcase and share the role that light plays in our lives. We are currently welcoming applications for 2019 IDL Micro Grants, with an application deadline of 15 December. Last year, SPIE supported activities across the globe, from Cote D’Ivoire, Argentina, the US and India, to Thailand, Italy, the UK, and South Africa. Programs engaged students of all ages, professors, volunteers, and industry professionals, resulting in exciting, impactful events. The Université Laval SPIE Student Chapter in Quebec City built an interactive, informative, light-phenomena-sharing platform, La Terrasse Optique , in front of the Quebec Parliament, making their venture an educational, scient...

SPIE Women in Optics program has been enhancing and promoting the personal and professional growth of women in STEM since 1998. With its proactive focus on diversity, inclusivity, gender equity, SPIE leverages its extensive networks as well as its funding programs to support professionals and students alike. Two Society grant programs, currently open for application, offer critical opportunities to SPIE Members, their communities, and their families. The SPIE Women in Optics Activity Grant Networking lunches and diversity coffee-and-cake meetups; hosting high-profile visiting speakers; recruiting and building groups of students interested in optics-focused careers; running STEM-engagement workshops aimed at young girls; and creating symposiums at which students interact with women professionals from industry and academia: these are just a few of the myriad activities that recipients of the SPIE Women in Optics Activity Grant have implemented around the world. The program, now en...

TEAM STEM: 2018 Participants It's a feast for the science-curious senses: in June, two cohorts of two dozen middle-school girls came together for the free, STEM-focused, four-day-long Physics Wonder Girls Camp sessions organized by Dr. Roberto Ramos, associate professor of physics at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. The girls studied the properties of light, built telescopes, designed and engineered submersible robots, and learned about scientific professions directly from the experts: nanoscientist and Chair of Bryn Mawr College's Physics Department Dr. Xuemei Cheng; INTEL software engineer Dr. Marisa Bauza-Roman; and several female food scientists from Puratos, a global company working with bakers and chocolatiers to assess the best ways to improve their products, all came and talked about their professions, answering questions and interacting with the campers. Plus, they got to be on TV ! The camp was initially inspired by Dr. Ramos' daughter K...

The first International Day of Light was 16 May 2018, and SPIE joined citizens around the globe in celebration of lifesaving, life-enhancing light. To assist communities in the organization of their own celebrations of light, SPIE made available micro-grants worth up to US$3,000 to help fund and execute their events.  Available to SPIE Members, the grants provided for planned activities that highlighted the critical role that light plays in our daily lives. The activity also had to occur during the month of May 2018 and tie directly to the inaugural event on the 16th. Our 2018 SPIE IDL Micro Grant recipients included: Martina Mrongovius and the Center for the Holographic Arts (USA) Thouakesseh Jeremie Zoueu and Institut National Polytechnique Felix Houphouet-Boigny (Cote D'Ivoire) Amar Deo Chandra and IISER Kolkata (India) Jesús Carlos Alberto Obando Aguirre and the Instituto de Luz Ambiente y Visión (Argentina) P.T. Ajith Kumar and Light Logics Holograp...