Ana Karen Reyes holding up optics teaching tools.
When an Optica Ambassador combines professional expertise with a passion for engaging students, what often results is a strategic collaboration between that ambassador and an Optica Student Chapter. While the main goal of these partnerships is often to bring optics education to a broader community, at the same time they draw out the potential of each member of the student chapter, provide leadership opportunities for both the Ambassador and the chapter and support optics and photonics awareness on a global scale. In short, these collaborations deliver a recipe for success.
Supporting optics and photonics education
For instance, on 16 to 17 May, I linked up with the Technological University of Pereira Optica Student Chapter in Colombia to celebrate the International Day of Light by promoting low-cost research efforts that can be applied as basic education in schools. The talks and workshops were designed to promote scientific vocations in 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 outreach despite global challenges. The student chapter members were surprised to see how accessible outreach can be, and at the same time, they learned more about the planning needed for a successful outreach activity.
Because optics education is important for both the one who receives it and for the one who imparts it. For those who receive it, from a very young age, they realize that much of the technology they use today is based on optics. For those who teach, it is always exciting to see how young people marvel at optical phenomena, which allows one to remain enthusiastic about teaching.
Driving professional development
In addition to community education, ambassadors and student chapters partner to provide career guidance, offering new insights into the potential paths young professionals can take in these fields. For instance, Optica 2016 Ambassador Aline Dinkelaker joined the Berlin Optik Student Chapter at Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany, on 7 May, 2024, for a career event entitled, “Working in Photonics 2024/Accelerate your Career in Physics.” This forum, co-organized with OpTecBB, sought to provide physics students and graduates with insights into possible career paths in research and industry.
Ana Karen Reyes engaging with students, teaching them about diffraction grating.
“This topic has been my focus since I started as an Optica Ambassador in 2016, and the event has been running regularly since then,” Dinkelaker shared. “Career workshops help raise awareness of what is possible in our field. They really help to expand students’ perspectives on the variety of positions available and opportunities that await. Ambassadors are especially positioned to support these types of events as well by bringing essential professional and industry contacts.”
In many cases, ambassadors amplify the spirit of student chapter activities, but many chapters are ambitious on their own. Take, for example, the work of the new Optica Maasai Mara Student Chapter and the Multimedia University of Kenya, as they partnered with the National Institute of Optics and Lasers to host the East African Summer School in Optics and Lasers. With over 120 attendees, this event fueled international collaboration via hands-on sessions, poster presentations, and talks by Optica President Gerd Leuchs along with other luminaries. It provided important optics education to the community throughout the two-week program. Attendees left feeling more confident in their skills and knowledge and having gained a global network to support their future endeavors.
Or consider a similar event—The International Summer School - Horizons in Holography—put on by the Technical University Dublin Optica Student Chapter in Ireland. The event featured 18 lectures by international scientists from around the globe, covering a wide range of topics, such as vision, virtual reality and diversity, equity and inclusion. In addition, there were three hands-on lab sessions, and a series of networking events that included excursions, dinners, and a walking tour in Dublin. The event’s goal was to promote student collaboration and skill development through project presentations and peer explanations, with the hope of inspiring enthusiasm for a future in optics.
Building a future in optics
Ana Karen Reyes teaching students at an outreach event.
Collaborations like these bring optics to life in tangible, accessible ways. In fact, while I was serving as a student leader at the Optica Student Chapter at Centro de Investigaciones en Óptica A.C. (CIO) in Mexico, it was Optica Ambassadors who first motivated me to become a champion of the field. The work and enthusiasm of Maria Viñas, Gabrielle Thomas, Antigone Marino and Samuel Serna were instrumental for me because they represented me in different ways: Maria, Gabrielle and Antigone as women in the field; and Samuel as a Latin American.
As a chapter leader, I learned empathy, tolerance, patience, organization, and to celebrate each achievement along the way. In addition, the relationships I gained as a member of my student chapter, and later in my role as an Optica Ambassador, helped me build the global network I have today—one I am confident will grow and support me in all phases of my career. My network also helps me feel safe to continue advancing new ideas.
Enabled by the support of the Optica Foundation, Optica Ambassadors and Student Chapters unite the global optics and photonics community. They are crucial to sparking an enduring passion for the field, its impact on the world at large, and its ability to facilitate important change. And they are there to build one another up, one ambassador, and one chapter at a time.
Sometimes when I feel that what I do does not impact my environment, my network of contacts helps me see how the environment is slowly changing, thanks to joint efforts, like those supported by the Optica Foundation.
Ana Karen Reyes, Universidad Tecnologica de Tulancingo, Hidalgo, Mexico, is an Optica 2024 Ambassador.
For more information on the Optica Ambassador or Student Chapter programs, visit optica.org/Foundation.