ISP-CELOS SPIE Student Chapter Annual Report 2016
Introduction The ISP-CELOS CHAPTER has been in good standing right from its very beginning from the year 2005. The chapter is one of the biggest in India with a massive participation of over 50 members, successfully organizing events in both academic and social outreach. The year 2015-2016 witnessed an increase in participating members owing to chapters enthusiastic activities. At present the chapter has an overall member roster of 61 students. The chapter was also represented for SPIE OPTICS + PHOTONICS 2016 by the Chapter President. The Session started with a Special Lecture on International Year of Light by the Chapter Advisor, Prof. P Radhakrishnan. The Session was followed by the election of Office Bearers and a future programs for the year were discussed. The Elected Body for the year were as follows. President: Aswani G Vice President: Sangeeth Secretary: Akshay Vishwanathan Treasurer: Jessy Advisor: Prof. P Radhakrishnan
Chapter Activities The chapter could successfully conduct most of the programs which were planned as future chapter activities from the previous term 2014-2015 with additional events; Special Lecture on IYL and IYL Inauguration. Special Lecture on IYL 23 rd July 2015: Dr. P Radhakrishnan, Advisor, SPIE chapter gave a special lecture on IYL 2015 and future of Optics and Photonics. Around 100 participants including undergraduate, masters, research scholars and teachers were part of this lecture.
IYL Inauguration 30 th July 2015 The IYL celebrations were inaugurated officially at the CV Raman Auditorium, ISP CUSAT by Prof. V Ramakrishnan, Director IISER Thiruvananthapuram. The first Optics Kit v 6.0, developed by the chapter as a part of Optics to School Program, was handed over free of cost to a government school in the locality. Throughout the year, various outreach programmes were initiated to intensify the heat of IYL celebration.
Teachers Workshop 19 th September 2015: Chapter organised a One Day Teachers workshop on Wave Optics. The event saw a participation of more than 40 teachers from schools in Ernakulam and nearby districts. Eminent professors shared their teaching experiences and gave lectures on topics like interference, diffraction and polarisation. Experimental demonstrations related to wave optics was also a feature of Teacher s workshop.
Workshop On Fiber Optics and Nonlinear Optics 19 th October 2015: A workshop on fiber and non-linear optics was held at ISP. The renowned Professor, Dr.Thyagarajan from IIT Delhi supervised and guided the workshop. About 150 college students from nearby districts participated in the workshop. Optics to School Optics to School is an outreach programme organised by chapter in collaboration with Kerala State Council for Science, Technology & Environment to promote optics and photonics at school level. Optics kit v.6.0 had been provided free of cost to about 30 Government schools. This programme has successfully covered more than 100 schools all over Kerala where demonstrations were used as the major teaching aid to arouse the curiosity in the young students and to pique their interest in the field of optics and photonics.
Alumni Meet 26 th December 2015: An Alumni meet was organised by the present members of the chapter. It was for the first time that such a gathering was ventured. About 30 alumni were present for the occasion. The interaction session proved to be fruitful career development program for students as it helped the them to get an idea about how to proceed their career in industry or academia. The guidance, support and encouragement from the alumni was praiseworthy and notable.
Optics Fair 2016 11 th and 12 th of January 2015: EtchNew 2016 is the annual Optics Fair held at ISP, CUSAT with the intention to promote and encourage optics and photonics among youngsters. It is a platform where the young students are given a chance to interact with the photonians thereby introducing a new outlet for scientific surge into the world of photonics. EtchNew aims to enhance the gravity of experimental physics and let the students approach education with a new mindset, where their curiosity overrides the limiting barriers of book-restricted education system prevailing today. More than 2000 students visited the department during EtchNew Annual Optics Fair.
SPIE Visiting Lecturer program 26 th February 2016: Prof. Chen Nanguang from National University of Singapore visited ISP as a part of the SPIE visiting lecturer program and gave the keynote address for the National Photonics Symposium and Annual Workshop (NPSAW) held from 26-28 February 2016. He described his works on the topic Novel techniques for 4D imaging of biological samples invivo and interacted with chapter members.
SPIE Balance Sheet Income Balance carried over from the previous year - 15,000 SPIE - 1,07,964 Total Income - 1,22,964 Expenditure OSA Transfer - 10,050 Optics Fair - 47,750 Optics to School - 15,000 NPSAW (APW) - 18,000 Seminars - 8,051 Account Keeping - 630 Total Expenditure - 99,481 Balance In Hand - 1,200 At Bank - 22,283 Total Balance - 23,483
Future activities: Optics Fest 2017 The SPIE Student chapter plans to organize a massive student and public outreach programme, Etch New 2017: Optics Fest aimed to take the annual optics fair to the next level by conveying the ideas of optics and photonics to greater audience. The chapter is planning to incorporate art with science to reach a general public. The program will also focus on environmental issues and how to create a greener Earth by exploiting photonics. Etch New 2017 will show case the change from current era of Electronics to the future, Photonics. Idea Competition The innovative ideas on Optics and Photonics from school students are selected by a committee of faculties and students wing. The selected ideas are given guidance and project consultancy. The ideas are nurtured and made into working/still model. The chapter also plans a competition among the selected ideas giving prizes and rewards. Optics to School A new and updated Optics Kit will be developed with more experiments. With a plan for an online platform where the kit could be requested for giveaway by schools all over India. A concise manual and video lecture in different regional languages will also be provided with the kit. Demonstration and giveaway of the optics kit will be expanded to cover more schools in Kerala. Visiting Lecturer Program The SPIE student chapter will collaborate with other organisations to conduct grand lecture series bringing renowned professionals in photonics and related fields to keep the students updated with latest trends and technologies, creating a network around the globe. Industrial Visit The chapter unfortunately could not conduct an Industrial Visit in this term, and so the chapter plans to organise the same for the next term. The visit will focus on an industry or a research and development facility based on photonics to give students a first-hand experience in the field and incorporate a sense of career development.
Placement Cell Activities As part 2012 SPIE activities, a placement cell was formed in International School of Photonics. The Placement cell was formed aiming ISP SPIE chapter members for securing good carriers in the field Optics and Photonics. The chapter will collaborate with placement cell in bringing elite companies in the field to absorb students and conduct a placement drive. Open Lab Programme for Visiting Students from Schools and Colleges The Chapter members are always enthusiastic to demonstrate various experiments and facilities at the department to the students of schools and colleges visiting the University from time to time. Students from various institutions in the state are welcome to visit the labs on open day. Raman Day Celebrations November 7, Sir C. V. Raman s birthday, the annual gathering of the students to remember one of the legendary figures in the field of Indian physics and optics. A short film themed on his scientific works and his life will be organized by the chapter open to the public. Soft-skill Development workshop A program dedicated to enhance the software skills for students in various programing languages, simulations software and technical writing for better grounds in their career. SPIE Chapter Networking A social event that understand the working of other SPIE Chapters. The program will focus on professional development by inviting different professionals for talks. Light and Life The Chapter plans to organize a one day even Light and Life. The main event will be open to the public and is planned to be hosted at the University Amenity Centre. Workshops and Demonstrations will be organized themed on the importance of light in life art and society. The event is also panned to be clubbed with Cochin Muziris Biennale, an art event. Reduce Reuse and Recycle Based on clean environment and green earth, the chapter plans to organize a year-long event where chapter members are involved in scavenging re-usable and repairable components such as Lasers and Lenses and other photonic devices from E-wastes such as Old CD players, Hard Drives, CRTs and projectors. This event is also aimed on creating a start where other student groups also take up the initiative. Scavenged parts will be incorporated in innovative Photonic and Optic demonstrations and experiments set up in the Department.
Word of Thanks A sincere thanks to the SPIE community and the chapter members for their wholehearted support. We express our sincere gratitude to Meagan Harris for the support. Chapter is especially thankful to our faculty advisor Dr. P Radhkrishnan, faculties and other guest lecturers for their support. Our sincere gratitude goes also to all our senior batches and previous office bearers who made all this possible. ASWANI G S Chapter President aswanigopan@gmail.com