SPIE Annual Report 2013-2014 · PDF filepresentations was about 100 people including students...

Annual Report

2013-2014

SPIE Student Chapter, Washington State University

Department of Physics and Astronomy, PO Box 642814, Washington State University, Pullman WA 99164-2814

Introduction

The Washington State University SPIE student chapter was established in January of 2011. We operate

our chapter jointly with the Washington State University OSA student chapter. Over the last two years we

have focused on establishing a strong academic and professional development program for our members

with events such as the SPIE Visiting Lecturer and our Graduate Student Lecture Program. We have been

successful in growing the joint SPIE/OSA membership by hosting recruitment and social activities. Now

that we have established an outreach program that provides educational science activities to our

community with an emphasis on K-12 students, we are beginning to branch out with further outreach

activities around our area. In this report we describe our chapter’s activities over the past year and some

of our plans for the future.



Officers

Anya Rasmussen, President, [email protected], 3488050

Josef Felver, Vice-President (interim President), [email protected], 342716

Elizabeth Bernhardt, Secretary, [email protected], 3472077

Sean Mossman, Treasurer, [email protected], 3472067



Members

Adam Barden

Elizabeth Berhardt

Thomas Bersano

Josef Felver

Sheng-Ting Hung

Maren Mossman

Sean Mossman

Ryan Murray

Dan Plotnick

Anya Rasmussen

Nate Turner

Liangliang Yang



Chapter Activities

Summer 2013-Spring 2014

Welcome Back Picnic

To start off the year we helped our department host and plan a Welcome Back/Recruitment picnic at

Sunnyside Park in Pullman Washington. All students from our physics department were invited and

encouraged to bring friends. Food was provided by the department. Many of the attendees participated in

the 2nd Annual Physics Disk-Golf Tournament. Players were separated into beginner, intermediate, and

experienced and prizes were awarded to the first and second places from each category. Prizes included

three $50 gift certificates to a local sporting goods store, and three prizes acquired from a local game

store. Funding for this event was provided by WSU Graduate and Professional Student Association

(GPSA) and OSA ($119.31). This activity was not described in our funding request for SPIE.

Exhibit 1: Anya and Sean grabbing some grub before the Disc Golf Tournament

Visiting Lecturer (from SPIE)

The WSU OSA-SPIE Club hosted Dr. Alan Kost on 12 Nov 2013 as part of the SPIE Traveling Lecturer

program. During Dr. Kost’s visit he was able to meet one on one with WSU physics faculty members as

well as graduate students that share similar research interests. The OSA-SPIE club welcomed Dr. Kost

with a brunch of coffee, bagels, and lox in the morning (student funded). For lunch, sandwiches from

Jimmy John’s were available for everyone in the department (GPSA funded $220.10), and there was a

private dinner with OSA-SPIE members at South Fork restaurant (SPIE funded $165.00). Dr. Kost gave a

colloquium about advances in solar cell technology that was well received from everyone in attendance.

This event was not included in our funding request from 2013.



Graduate Student Lectures

Our Graduate Lecturer Program has been one of the most successful activities of our chapter. This

program allows graduate students to present current work to peers in a non-stressful format. Held during a

lunchtime meeting, these presentations help the student presenter prepare for future public speaking

events, practice answering questions about the research, and gain self-confidence. The event is open to

students only and the absence of professors gives the speaker the opportunity to be the “expert” in the

room. The program also enables the members to understand the meaningful work being done by our

graduate students. The chapter provides lunch for the student attendees with funding from SPIE, OSA,

and GPSA. This event was described in our funding request. This year’s presentations have included the

following topics:

"Small two-component Fermi Systems in a One-Dimentional Harmonic Trap" by Ebrahim Gharashi

"Detecting Gravitational wave from Binary Black Holes Using Ground Base Interferometers" by Thilina

Dayanga

"Quantum Mechanics in Nonlinear Optics and the Strange Case of 1/x^2" by Sean Mossman

"Underwater Acoustics; making images where light cannot go" by Daniel Plotnick

Exhibit 2: Following Sean's talk, March 2014

Winter Solstice Party

This past December, the chapter went to a local brewery to take part in cocktails and dinner. The club

provided one free drink to the first 20 members to arrive and provided appetizers for all participants (OSA

funded $185.65). There was a gift exchange, which included fun prizes valued at less than $5. Memorable

gifts were a handmade cutting board, a kit to build a spaceship, and an electronics play kit.



Exhibit 3: Wyatt and Nate excited about the records they received

The club also hosted a foosball tournament. This was not included in our funding request for 2013.

Exhibit 4: Wyatt and Kasey (left) taking on Ethan and Aaron (right) during the foosball tournament



Professional Development Trip - Richland, WA

On 10 May 2013, the chapter traveled to Richland Washington, home to the Laser Interferometer for

Gravitational-wave Observatory, Kadlec Hospital, and the Hanford nuclear reservation. During the trip to

Richland, our members met with professional physicists and scientists working in the private, academic,

and governmental sectors to get a better feeling about what it would be like to be employed at one of

these locations. Members that attended the event were provided bagged lunch and transportation to and

from the points of interest. Funding was provided from OSA ($456.94) and SPIE ($456.94). This was

included in our funding request for 2012.

Exhibit 5: At Kadlec Hospital in Richland, WA

Exhibit 6: At LIGO in Hanford, WA



Outreach - Pullman Elementary Schools

Outreach teams traveled to local elementary schools and gave demonstrations on the nature of waves to

5th grade classes. These demonstrations showed that there are different types of waves (longitudinal and

transverse) and how those waves can interact with each other to form interference patterns that we can

hear (using tuning forks) and see (using a Ruben’s Tube). The total number of students who saw the

presentations was about 100 people including students and teachers. The presentations were very well

received and we have been invited to return and give more physic demonstrations. Chapter funds were

used to purchase meals for the participants who gave the demonstrations, and in the future will be used to

reimburse travel expenses. Funds used to date: $27. This activity was described in our funding request.

Exhibit 7: After doing their demonstrations for the elementary students, (left to right) Josef, Veronica, and

Elizabeth pose for a picture. Now that our SPIE banner has arrived, we plan on taking lots of pictures with it as well!

Outreach - Rico’s Pub Trivia Night

The Chapter collaborated with a local pub to host an evening of trivia centered around physics and

science. $90 from the chapter were used to provide beverages for participants. The number of people

who participated in the trivia event was approximately 40 people. This was not described in our original

funding request.



Future Activities

Outreach - Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Camp Fire

Up to this point the chapter’s goals for outreach have extended to primary schools in the Pullman

School District. However, we understand that we can reach more concentrated groups if we start to

think about doing presentations and demonstrations for organized groups, such as Girl Scouts, Boy

Scouts and Camp Fire groups in the area (perhaps even 4-H). We plan to utilize our current

connections to build a relationship with these organizations and encourage groups from surrounding

areas to participate in the activities.

Optics Fun House

The WSU OSA-SPIE Student Chapter will host an outreach event titled “Optics Fun-House” during

popular weekends of the school year, including - but not limited to - Lentil Fest, Dad’s Weekend,

Mom’s Weekend, and Homecoming Weekend. This event would invite WSU community members

as well as non-WSU community members to share in the exciting world of physics and optics, while

being able to win prizes. By creating a fun environment for various ages, this event caters to

undergraduates, graduates, and families alike. Graduates and undergraduates get a chance to enjoy a

night of winning prizes, fun demonstrations, and exciting games, while families enjoy all the same

benefits as well as a relaxed learning experience with their children. The chapter anticipates building

3-5 demonstrations, as well as 8-10 games by the end of this summer. Funds for start-up have been

provided by the WSU GPSA.

WSU-UO Professional Development Trip

This May 2014, the University of Oregon (UO) and WSU OSA-SPIE Chapters will meet in Eugene

to create connections between graduate students from different research focuses and backgrounds.

This trip will provide both OSA-SPIE chapter members the opportunity to learn about the optics

research being performed at a sister university. Short 15 minute talks will be given by willing

chapter graduate student members from both chapters. Lunch, refreshments, and dinner will be

provided for 10 WSU Chapter members who are participating in the trip. OSA has provided funds

for travel to and from the event.



Financial Information

Date Event Vendor Category Withdrawl Deposit Balance

5/11/2013 Trip to Richland CREHST Club Trip 52.50 1,932.86

5/12/2013 Trip to Richland Atomic Ale Club Trip 351.23 1,581.63

5/13/2013 Trip to Richland Kasey (Gas) Club Trip 66.26 1,515.37

5/20/2013 Trip to Richland Samaneh (Gas) Club Trip 39.81 1,475.56

5/20/2013 Trip to Richland Eric Neid (Gas) Club Trip 50.18 1,425.38

5/20/2013 Trip to Richland Kasey (Camping

fees) Club Trip 106.95 1,318.43

5/20/2013 Trip to Richland Kasey (Camping

Fees) Club Trip 246.95 1,071.48

5/24/2013 New Officer orientation Maialina Misc. 245.50 825.98

5/24/2013 Transfer from RSO GPSA Funding Transfer 246.95 1,072.93

5/28/2013 Grad Lecture Lunch Walmart Grad Lecture 6.64 1,066.29

5/29/2013 Grad Lecture Lunch Pizza Hut Grad Lecture 80.00 986.29

5/30/2013 Grad Lecture Gift Ebrihim Grad Lecture 25.00 961.29

10/9/2013 Lunch for members @

meeting Pizza Perfection Activity 81.88 879.41

10/16/2013 Khet Game Amazon Outreach 30.00 849.41

11/1/2013 Grad Lecture Lunch Pizza Hut Grad Lecture 135.00 714.41

12/5/2013 Grad Lecture Gift Thalina D. Grad Lecture 25.00 689.41

12/11/2013 Prizes/ picnic

reimbursement Sean Activity 119.31 570.10

12/14/2013 Holiday Party Paradise Creek Activity 185.65 384.45

1/21/2014 Coffee for breakfast

meet and greet Starbucks Travel Lecture 15.04 369.41

1/22/2014 Dinner w/ speaker Paradise Creek Travel Lecture 276.50 92.91

2/12/2014 Outreach Trivia Ricos Outreach 72.50 20.41

3/26/2014 Jimmy Johns etc Dan Plotnick Grad Lecture 101.09 -80.68

3/26/2014 Grad Lecture Gift Sean Mossman Grad Lecture 25.00 -105.68

4/7/2014 OSA Grants 1450 1,344.32

SPIE Annual Report 2013-2014 · PDF filepresentations was about 100 people including students...

Documents

Transcript of SPIE Annual Report 2013-2014 · PDF filepresentations was about 100 people including students...