California

A week at Photonics West

🎵 If you’re going to San Francisco 🎵

I’ve been humming Scott McKenzie’s lyrics for a couple of months now, as I have been planning and preparing my trip to the SPIE Photonics West congress that will be held in San Francisco from Jan. 26th to Feb. 1st. This is the first time that I will attend this conference and needless to say that I am incredibly excited to be travelling back to North America to “the world’s largest photonics technologies event”.

For all SPIE students out there, I will be giving a talk at the Student Chapter Meeting on Sun. 28th Jan called “Building your mentorship toolkit through your student chapter”. Beware, you need to register by Friday, 19 January to attend! See the schedule below for more information.

SPIE Student and Early Career Professional Committee 2018.

I have joined 2 committees of the SPIE, A.K.A the international society for optics and photonics. I will be part of their Education committee and help guide the society in its mission in developing and delivering Education activities worldwide. I am also delighted to join the SEaCarP ad hoc committee (this maritime acronym stands for “Student and Early Career Professional”) with officers whose reputation precedes them. I’m excited to meet or see them again again in San Francisco. I want to take the opportunity to thank SPIE for the Student and Early Career Professional ad hoc Committee member travel grant offered to me to attend Photonics West 2018, as well as their help in the organisation of this trip.

I will be around at technical talks and the trade show throughout the week. I’ve posted my abridged non-technical schedule below, which has lots of times when it might be convenient to meet! If you want to catch up then drop me a message on LinkedIn, Facebook or Whatsapp.

“Where is Matt?”

Abridged non-technical schedule

Sunday 28th Jan

Student Chapter Meeting, Sun. 28th Jan, 18:00-21:00, with my talk “Building your mentorship toolkit through your student chapter”. Registration required at students@spie.org by Friday 19 January!

Monday 29th Jan

Essential Skills for a Career in Industry by David Giltner of Turning Science, 13:30-17:30, Intercontinental Hotel. No registration required, but get there early to avoid disappointment!
Women in Optics and Diversity Inclusion Program and Reception, 17:00-19:00, Intercontinental Hotel. Details here.
SPIE Careers Lab Meet-up, 21:00, The Chieftain, 198 5th St.

Join me, moderators and members of the SPIE Career Lab on Monday night!

Tuesday 30th Jan

“How Global Investment is Bringing Quantum Technologies to the Marketplace”, 8:30-9:45, Moscone Centre, Room 21 (North Exhibit Level).
SPIE After-dinner Member Reception, 20:00-21:30, Hilton Union Square, Cityscape Lounge (SPIE Members only).

Wednesday 31st Jan

Early Career Networking breakfast, Moscone Centre, Room 2000. Registration at earlycareer@spie.org

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.

Volunteers in action: 2016 SPIE President Bob Lieberman with Southampton’s Optics and Photonics Society’ presidents of past & present (&future?) — Volunteers in action: 2016 SPIE President Bob Lieberman with Southampton’s Optics and Photonics Society’s Presidents of past & present (& future?).

Hands-on optics

This Tuesday I visited the University of California, Berkeley. I had an excellent afternoon running an outreach workshop with the kit that I am touring.

With a group of 8 graduate students we explored 3 different themes of photonics, i.e. the science of light (photons). We used hands-on experiments to experience scientific phenomena on mirrors & reflections, the electromagnetic spectrum and telecommunications. Easier possibly shown in video.

Mirrors can be made to create illusions. The Secret Savings box is not magic. The floating ball is actually half a ball stuck on a diagonal mirror. The other half of the ball is a mirror image. The coin disappears behind the mirror when dropped in the top of the box.

White light isn't white. Right? We see it in rainbows, where sun light can be split into red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, ... This is the visible light of the electromagnetic spectrum. 
This plastic sheet is a diffraction grating, a rainbow maker. The plastic has thousands of lines engraved in it, a grating. The grating splits the different colours of the light by changing the direction of travel of each different colour. Gratings can be used to filter light, reflect it, block it, or make it change direction.

Light travels in a straight line, but it can be made to bend and change directions in materials such as glass or plastic. This effect is called total internal reflection and is the fundamental principle of operation of fibre optics. 
Fibre optics are strands of glass that physically connect the world to carry messages and information, in the form of light, and are the skeleton of the internet.

I hope you get the feeling that these are very hands-on demos!

One important point was raised during the workshop. It remains a challenge to explain the scientific intricacies to a public that is not familiar with the underlying science and applications. That is where the practical experiments come in handy, as experiencing these effects can lead to questions and richer engagement. I, the researcher, can inform and help my audience form an opinion on the subject matter and broaden their horizon.

I am very grateful to Stephan, Joe and Mimi from the University of Southampton’s ILIAD team for the help in making these Vine clips and setting up this Tumblr page with more examples of hands-on optics experiments.

Thank you again to the UC Berkeley Photobears Society for the warm welcome and hospitality.

Comments open for discussion.