X – 2006 Summer Showcase Workshop

2006 Showcase Workshop

PHOTON2 participants at the 2006 Showcase workshop

The capstone activity of the PHOTON2 project was to host a Showcase workshop. Twenty PHOTON2 teachers/faculty from across the US came together to share with each other and the attendees of the SPIE Annual Meeting how they have implemented what they learned during Project PHOTON2 and the “Introduction to Photonics” course.

The Showcase workshop was held in collaboration with the Optics & Photonics Conference held by the International Society of Optical Engineering (SPIE), from August 14 – 17, 2006 in San Diego, California. The SPIE conference was attended by more than 5,500 engineers and designers, and had over 230 exhibitors.  Many valuable connections were established creating collaborative relationships between the PHOTON2 educators and companies working in the optics/photonics industry.

The Showcase workshop started with a reception and dinner on Monday evening, August 14, 2006. The dinner guest speaker was Kristen M. Kulinowski, Executive Director for Public Policy of the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN) and Faculty at Rice University. Her state-of-the-art talk was titled Nanotechnology: Managing Potential Risks in a Climate of Uncertainty.

In addition to the PHOTON2 educators, guests included SPIE Board President Paul McManamon, SPIE President Eugene Arthurs and members of his staff, members of the PHOTON2 National Visiting Board and National Visiting Committee.

Left to right: SPIE President Paul McManamon, PHOTON2 Principal Investigator Fenna Hanes, SPIE Executive Director Eugene Arthurs

Below is a gallery of photos from the workshop week showing various activities, including participant presentations, breakout sessions, and interacting with SPIE conference attendees.

Palomar Observatory Field Trip

A highlight of the workshop was a field trip to the Palomar Observatory. The Palomar Observatory is located in north San Diego County, California.  It is a world-class center of astronomical research that is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology.  The observatory is home to five telescopes that are nightly used for a wide variety of astronomical research programs. The research is conducted by Caltech's faculty, post-doctoral fellows and students, and by researchers at Caltech's collaborating institutions.

Showcase Photo Extravaganza

To cap off the Showcase workshop a photo contest was held. Guidelines stated that photos could be taken on any kind of camera. Participants were encouraged to use their imagination and knowledge of optic since the photos should illustrate some optics or vision principle, for example, rainbows, halos, oil slicks, soap bubbles, and reflections. Subjects could be natural or contrived.

The photos were judged by a group of six members of the PHOTON2 National Visiting Board and National Advisory Committee. To view the winning photos, please click here. Double-click on the photos to see captions that explain the optics/vision principle illustrated.