UR SPIE Student Chapter

Madilyn Beckman, Associate Project Manager at Circle Optics and a recent graduate from the Institute of Optics and the TEAM program, presented a talk on entrepreneurship and the journey that led her to Circle Optics. She discussed about her experiences working in an exciting start-up, and provided useful insight for individuals wishing to walk down the same path.

Volunteers from the UR SPIE Student Chapter were at the Brighton Farmers’ Market this past Sunday (8th September) for an ‘Ask a Scientist’ session. They had cool optics demos that caught the interest of passersby, who then engaged in informative conversations with our volunteers.

The General Interest Meeting for 2019 was held in Georgen Hall last Friday (6th September), and was attended by old and new graduate and undergrad students. Nick Kochan, president of the Student Chapter, introduced the chapter to the new students, and talked about the different ventures done by chapter in the past, and what we have planned for the next year.

Congratulations to our newly elected officers for the next year!

President: Nick Kochan
Vice President: Nick Takaki
Treasurer: Romita Chaudhuri
Secretary: Katie Dunn
Communications: Ben Moon
Web Admin: Saniat Choudhury

Also thank you to our previous officers for a wonderful year!

On Friday April 12th, our student chapter co-hosted a panel with RIT’s OSA/SPIE chapter that focused on graduate student mental health. The panel consisted of alumni from both schools that are currently working in industry, a student from the University of Rochester who is finishing up their Ph.D. in Optics, and a psychology intern from the University of Rochester’s Counseling Center. The event was well attended and consisted of an open question and answer session, small group discussions, and closed with a mindfulness exercise. Afterward, students were invited to play board games.

On April 6th, members of our student chapter presented optics demos to Girl Scouts at their STEM-A-Palooza event in town. The event was attended by many local troops from the Rochester area.

On March 29th students from our chapter went to the George Eastman House. Included in the trip to the museum was a tour of the technology vault, which is not usually open to the public. In the vault, students saw a vast collection of many different cameras spanning decades of the history of photography.

On March 12th and 13th, members of our student chapter visited local middle schools promoting the wonders of optics through an educational laser show. The show was presented by Prismatic Magic and sponsored by SPIE International. It was a great and unique opportunity for outreach and we are grateful to both the local and global optics communities for supporting us in this.

On February 22nd, members from the student chapter went on a tour of Vuzix. This company develops AR/VR glasses and is local to Rochester.

On February 9th, the SPIE student chapter participated in the STEM Superstar event on campus. Members from our chapter presented optics demos to many Girl Scouts from local troops.