September 2016 – Research and outreach abroad

Thanks

Thank you for following

The first episode of my travels and research in North America is drawing to a close. It’s been wonderful and I have many people to thank.

Large back packs and a poster tube for research and travel.

I have visited people in 9 universities and 3 companies in the last 8 weeks. Thank you for giving me your time. I have enjoyed having the opportunity to discuss my research, my outreach & education work, and my plans for the future. It has been a true pleasure to meet you and find out what you do and what drives you.

Thank you to the organisations that have supported me throughout: the OSA, the SPIE, the University of Southampton and its’ Optoelectronics Research Centre, for providing me with the means and the networks to reach out to places far and wide and assist me in crafting my research adventure.

Thank you to all the people that I have met along the way. The new meetings have been rich and inspiring, the reunions have been great. I wish that I will see you again soon.

Thanks to the Lightwave team — A Powerpoint-thanks to the Lightwave team, as seen during my conference presentations.

Thank you to all of you that got me here, kept in touch, and followed the blog; you, unknowingly perhaps, kept me going throughout. My supervisors, Peter and James, for letting me go ahead with this project. Stephan, for encouraging me to blog and enhancing this space with cool maps, videos and a subscriber mailing list. The Lightwave team, all of you who make me feel a part of this wonderful community of research, education and inspiration; it was an honour to present our work at an international conference and tour our kit across North America. And of course, my family, and Mum, Dad, Rebecca for being there, always; and Becky, love of my life.

Thank you all

A surprise reunion with Becky at London Heathrow on my way back! — A surprise reunion with Becky at London Heathrow on my way back.

World classes

Last week I attended an international conference called Optics Education and Outreach IV (IV because it’s the 4th time it’s run!), which was held at the SPIE Optics + Photonics 2016 congress. I presented work that I and colleagues from the University of Southampton carried out during the 2015 International Year of Light (IYL 2015). IYL 2015 was proclaimed by UNESCO to recognise and celebrate the importance of light and light-based technologies for society, healthcare, education, environment, economy and as a means to connect the world.

2015 was proclaimed the International Year of Light by the United Nations to raise awareness of light sciences and its applications.

The conference was inspiring. It brought together a rich mix of researchers, educators and industry professionals to present outreach and education activities running around the world. Truly world-class. Words cannot begin to capture the diversity, enthusiasm and richness of what is going on. The work will eventually appear in an open access journal, and I will update this page when it becomes available.

I and, I felt, all of the authors sought to present our work on the world stage to inspire and inform. I had the pleasure to write 3 papers with 12 incredible human beings that go by the label of researchers:

Class-based outreach led by postgraduate students for school pupils. I presented types of activities that are suitable for working with schools, including poster competitions, school assembly lectures, workshops, classes, and more! This also included a once-in-a-lifetime project where 4 PhD students, from Southampton, and 2 high school pupils, from the Thomas Hardye School, took to the world stage by presenting outreach at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris for the IYL 2015 opening ceremony; here’s a great write-up of what happened in Paris, courtesy of Nicholas Wong.
Reflecting Photonics: a garden, with flowers, inspired by the world-leading research in photonics (the science of light) carried out at the University of Southampton’s Optoelectronics Research Centre. Watch the full video of my presentation here, courtesy of Dirk Fabian.
A compact optics suite with hands-on optics experiments and fully self-contained, like the one I have been touring during my trip through North America. It has now travelled to over 15 locations in 3 continents and 5 countries!

I presented the first 2 papers, and Nicholas did a great job at presenting paper #3.

Suited to educate: Nicholas and I presenting our oortable hands-on optics experiments suite at the 2016 SPIE Optics + Photonics congress. — Suited to educate: Nicholas and I presenting our portable hands-on optics experiments suite at the 2016 SPIE Optics + Photonics congress.

IYL 2015 had a global reach and the global impact will also, no doubt, be huge. I will be going back to UNESCO next month to hear the report on the year. It’s humbling that I played a part in this. I presented my hard work on the world stage at an international conference, people will read about this in a journal article, and I was filmed in front of a live audience on Facebook! Over 400 people have tuned into my talk, and those dearest to me, my girlfriend, sister, parents and family, were able to watch me present; that means the world to me.

Demonstrating live how light can be guided through fibres of plastic by total internal reflection. Watch the full video here, courtesy of Dirk Fabian.

Hampshire

Welcome back to the UK. Here are some pictures taken from sunny Hampshire.

The Milbury's at Beauworth — The Milbury’s at Beauworth

Southampton: the old, not so old and modern.

St Michael's Church, Southampton — St Michael’s Church, Southampton

Over the Heath to Ipley cross, New Forest National Park

Exploring roads in the New Forest National Park

Volunteering for leadership

Last week I attended a Student Leadership Workshop in the sunny town of San Diego, California. Over 240 students from over 30 different countries congregated at a large international meeting called Optics + Photonics that was organised by the SPIE. I had the pleasure to meet students at various stages of their education (both undergraduate and postgraduate), conference organisers, workers in universities and in private companies. The workshop was run by a very well-spoken gentleman, Jean-Luc Doumont, and over the course of the day explored the theme of leadership through group activities, presentations and role plays.

SPIE 2016 Student Leadership Conference. Picture credit SPIE Students.

At the start of the day 26 groups set about a creative brainstorm, half on what a leader is and the remainder on what a leader is not. My group quickly decided that a good leader is not indecisive. Indecisiveness is second nature to me, so it was uncomfortable to hear a lot of valid reasons of how my leading ability could be hindered by my personality. We discussed this a lot, and I found that one could become decisive through listening and asking questions: to make informed decisions, and strive to clearly communicate ideas and visions for a group to steer itself through a process. Being indecisive, listening and asking questions are three things I can do very well, I would like to think. I must practice to balance these for the sake of productivity!

A good leader is NOT indecisive; a morning well spent at the 2016 SPIE student leadership workshop. — A good leader is NOT indecisive: a morning well spent at the 2016 SPIE student leadership workshop.

“Leader-ship”. 2 words: leader and ship. Why would one take the responsibility to lead a ship? I have met people who think they are the best for the role, and some who feel a duty to step into the leader’s shoes simply because someone must. Someone at the workshop said that people volunteer to lead, and I can agree with that statement from my humble experience. I volunteered to take the reins of the Optics and Photonics Society (OPSoc), and I volunteered to attend this workshop in San Diego. In return, the SPIE supported me through a travel grant, and the OPSoc gave me access to a wonderful community of people that like to get together (preferably in a sunny place!). “Leaders coming together” feels to me like a chore; “volunteers coming together” feels much richer. My leadership roles have taken me to some incredible places and my path has crossed those of some incredible people. I will continue to make the time to volunteer; there, I’ve said it and so please hold me accountable to it.