TRCC STUDENTS HELP SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT OPTICS

Three Rivers students were active during the spring semester assisting at several events on and off campus to introduce optics to middle school and high school students.

TRCC students participating in the Dark Skies @ EASTCONN program used "sky quality meters" to record the darkness of the night sky in their own neighborhoods, adding to an international data base of similar measurements that will be used to study light pollution around the globe. The meters were provided by EASTCONN through a grant from the Optical Society of America.
 Dark Skies at EASTCONN participants included three fifth grade classrooms in eastern CT, their partner classes in Wales and Romania and the Astrophysical Society at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in New York.  The culminating event was held on March 31 at EASTCONN's Hampton conference center where TRCC students provided invaluable assistance hosting seventy five fifth grade students. Three Rivers volunteers provided demonstrations of phosphorescence and luminescence and helped the young students build telescopes. 
Two astronomy educators from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, AZ were special guest speakers/facilitators at the event.

Three days later, nine members of the TRCC student chapter of SPIE hosted 30 students from three area high schools at Laser Camp '08, an opportunity for high school students and their teachers to learn about careers in optics/photonics. Three Rivers students helped the visiting group make and use pinhole cameras, make colorful polarized light art, and complete team building exercises with EASTCONN facilitators. Laser Camp '08 is a three-day activity funded by the Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing and hosted by Three Rivers Laser and Fiber Optic Technology Program and EASTCONN.
 The introductory day was held in December and featured laser engraving, fiber optic communications and team building. The final event will be a trip to Trumpf, Inc. in Farmington, CT to see industrial lasers being built and demonstrated.

4/2008