Ana Karen Reyes holds up an optical education tool.
Optica Ambassadors’ combination of expertise and passion for engaging students often results in strategic collaborations between them and Optica student chapters. The primary purpose of these partnerships is often to bring optical education to the broader community, while also unlocking the potential of each member of the student chapter and providing leadership opportunities for both ambassadors and chapters. , supporting optics and photonics. Global awareness. In short, these collaborations provide a recipe for success.
Support for optics and photonics education
For example, from May 16th to 17th, I collaborated with Colombia’s Pereira Polytechnic University Optica student branch to celebrate the International Day of Light by promoting low-cost research activities that can be applied as basic education in schools. . The lectures and workshops were designed to promote the scientific vocation of young people while teaching them about the main phenomena related to light.
My goal was to demonstrate that it is possible to do science and advocacy despite global challenges. Student chapter members were surprised to see how accessible outreach was, while also learning more about the planning required to make outreach efforts successful.
This is because optical education is important for both those who receive it and those who teach it. Those who receive it realize from an early age that much of the technology used today is based on optics. For teachers, it’s always exciting to see young people marvel at optical phenomena, and it keeps them enthusiastic about teaching.
Promote professional development
In addition to community education, ambassadors and student chapters partner to provide career guidance and new insights into possible paths for young professionals in these fields. For example, Optica 2016 Ambassador Aline Dinkelaker participated in the Berlin Optik Student Chapter held at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany on May 7, 2024, and spoke about “Working in Photonics 2024/A Career in Physics”. I attended a career event titled “Accelerate.” The forum, co-organized with OpTecBB, aimed to provide physics students and graduates with insight into possible career paths in research and industry.
Ana Karen Reyes engages with students and teaches them about diffraction gratings.
“This topic has been my focus since I started as an Optica Ambassador in 2016, and this event has been held regularly ever since,” Dinkelaker said. “Career workshops help to raise awareness of what is possible in our field. Ambassadors are particularly well placed to support these types of events by bringing in experts and key industry contacts.”
Ambassadors often amplify the spirit of student chapter activity, but many chapters are ambitious in their own right. Take, for example, the work of the new Optica Masai Mara student branch and Kenya Multimedia University. In partnership with the National Institute of Optical Lasers, we hosted the East Africa Summer School in Optics and Lasers. The event, which attracted more than 120 participants, promoted international cooperation through practical sessions, poster presentations, and speeches by Optica President Gerd Loechs and other prominent figures. The two-week program provided important optical education to the community. Participants left feeling confident in their skills and knowledge and having gained a global network to support their future endeavors.
Or consider a similar event, International Summer School – Holographic Horizons, hosted by the Optica Student Branch of Dublin Institute of Technology in Ireland. The event featured 18 talks by international scientists from around the world, covering a wide range of topics including vision, virtual reality and diversity, equity and inclusion. Additionally, there were three hands-on lab sessions and a series of networking events including excursions, dinners, and walking tours in Dublin. The goal of the event was to foster student collaboration and skill development through project presentations and peer briefings in hopes of inspiring enthusiasm for the future of the optical field.
Building the future of optics
Ana Karen Reyes guides students at an outreach event.
Collaborations like this bring optical products to life in tangible and accessible ways. In fact, it was the Optica Ambassadors who first motivated me to become a champion in this field when I was a student leader in the Optica Student Chapter of Centro de Investigaciones en Óptica AC (CIO) in Mexico. did. The work and enthusiasm of Maria Viñas, Gabriel Thomas, Antigone Marino and Samuel Serna was very helpful to me. Because they represent me in different ways. Maria, Gabriel, and Antigone are the women on the scene. And Samuel is Latin American.
As a chapter leader, I learned empathy, tolerance, patience, organization, and celebrating each accomplishment along the way. Additionally, the relationships I gained while serving as a student chapter member and later as an Optica Ambassador helped me build the global network I have today. I am confident that this network will continue to grow and support me at every stage of my career. . My network also helps me feel safe and keep pushing new ideas forward.
With support from the Optica Foundation, Optica Ambassadors and Student Chapters unite the global optics and photonics community. They are critical to invoking an enduring passion for the field, its impact on the world at large, and the ability to foster important change. And they are there to lift each other up, one chapter at a time, as ambassadors.
Sometimes I feel like what I do has no impact on my environment, but thanks to collaborative efforts like the one supported by the Optica Foundation, my network of contacts has helped me understand how the environment is changing over time. It will help you know what you are doing.
Ana Karen Reyes of Tulancingo Polytechnic University in Hidalgo, Mexico, is an Optica 2024 Ambassador.
For more information about the Optica Ambassador or Student Chapter programs, visit optica.org/Foundation.
