SPIE awarded $90,000 in education outreach grants to 29 organizations with optics and photonics related education outreach projects. Applications are judged on their potential to impact students and increase optics and photonics awareness.
2011 Education Outreach Grant Recipients:
"Adopt a School," College of Optical Sciences, Univ. of Arizona (USA) - funds will help to bring more optics demonstrations to their outreach activities related to the "Adopt a School" program.
Astronomical Society of the Pacific (USA) - the outreach grant will help enable Bay Area Project ASTRO, a program of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, to conduct professional development for up to 60 teachers.
Bangor University (United Kingdom) - in support of the Photonics Academy of Wales Summer School's (PASS) outreach activities to high school students.
Centro de Investigaciones en Optica (Mexico) - to continue and extend the outreach activities for the Children and Teenagers Science Club.
Delhi Technological University (India) - to organize an Optics and Photonics workshop for teachers.
Edith Cowan University (Australia) - to put together a low cost equivalent of an optical fibre communication and sensing systems experimental program which will be used for educational outreach to young people both on and off campus.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania (USA) - for consumable materials used in the hands-on activities at their summer camp.
Institute of Cell Biology NAS of Ukraine - they are planning a 7-day summer school program dedicated to the anniversary of the discovery of liquid crystals
International Laser Center, Lomonosov Moscow State Univ. (Russian Federation) - for a wave processes in optics workshop during Moscow's October Science Festival.
Kent State SPIE Student Chapter (USA) - to give a variety of demonstrations to elementary and high school students spanning two days at each school
Koc University (Turkey) - will be used for the purchasing of equipment, outreach efforts and organization related to the solar powered remote controlled model Unerwater Rowers activity
Lebanese American University (Lebanon) - to initiate a series of outreach activities that promote the physics, engineering and fundamentally why light-emitting diodes are superior to incandescent light bulbs, i.e. the utility of light-emitting diodes.
Long Island Science Center (USA) - will be used to purchase supplies and equipment to design, build, test and present "In the Mind's Eye" program and exhibit
Nicolaus Copernicus University SPIE Chapter (Poland) - to hold a national contest to design optical tools supporting education and development for partially sighted children.
Northern California Section of the OSA (USA) - to help improve their Optics Road Show presented at local teacher education events.
Optics Institute of Southern California (USA) - to support hands-on optics demonstrations.
SPIE Student Chapter of St. Petersburg State University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (Russia) - to help with the organization of the "School kids Festivals" including "Magic&Power of Optics" light show and exhibition for younger students.
St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation (Russia) - to organize a study group of optics and radiooptics to help increase knowledge in physics, mathematics and optics to high school students.
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Ukraine) - for the 12th Interntional Young Scientists Conference, Optics and High Technology Material Science (SPO2011).
The Ohio State University (USA) - to develop a series of activities for junior-high and high school students relating to display technology.
Three Rivers Community College (USA) - to help support Laser Camps.
Universite Laval SPIE Student Chapter (Canada) - materials to support outreach activities of Les Jeux Photoniques.
University of Guanajuato (Mexico) - optoelectronics outreach awareness to middle and high school students.
University of Latvia SPIE Student Chapter (Latvia) - to help establish an optics and photonics research center.
University of Tasmania (Australia) - for optics and photonics outreach to middle school girls.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (USA) - to develop a demonstration unit, which will teach students about colors of light and the way they can be measured and quantified using simple spectrometer.
Victoria University (Australia) - to assist with the purchase of equipment for regional schools where there is no access to optical equipment.
Wekiva High School (USA), - for a week-long optics education outreach event for students, teachers and the general public.
West Salem High School (USA) - to incorporate photoelectronics into an existing college level class and to support photoelectronics research projects for entry at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
