International Day of Light 2020: February Newsletter

Dear Supporters of the International Day of Light,

It has been a real pleasure for us to see that the energy and interest for the second International Day of Light in 2020 is developing at a tremendous rate.  We are receiving many enquiries and updates from national nodes and other partners, and a very wide range of exciting events are being planned.

This newsletter describes a selection of events covering themes from photonics to photography. We also provide an update on resources that are available - from fascinating historical archives to high resolution images to help you plan your own poster exhibit. In fact, we cannot recommend more strongly that you consider planning an exhibit of some kind.  A series of attractive visual images can either accompany any other activities you may be running or can serve as a stand-alone display. We know of some institutes where such posters have become permanent fixtures to be admired by visitors all year round!  As always, we are very grateful to all our partners for their hard work in curating these resources.

Please also make sure to register your event on our event calendar as soon as possible, and don’t hesitate to send us more details if you have them, as we’ll be delighted to consider this for our newsletter or website. There are currently events registered in 35 countries around the world and we look forward to seeing the reach and impact of the celebrations in 2020 continue to grow. And as mentioned before, events do not have to be restricted to May 16.  As long as the events respect the goals of the International Day of Light, other dates can be a focus for a celebration.

Please regularly check the IDL2020 website for updates and news items and continue to reach out to us via Twitter (@IDLOfficial), Facebook (@DayOfLight2020) and Instagram (@IDL2020) or by email if you have any questions about IDL or you want to share any idea or resources.

We can’t stress it often enough, but for a successful International Day of Light in 2020, your involvement is essential. With proclamation of an International Year of Light, UNESCO have given us the opportunity to celebrate light, and through this annual event, to strengthen our diverse communities. It is up to us to make the most of this opportunity, and so if you haven’t started to think about organizing something for 2020, now is the perfect time!

John Dudley and Joe Niemela
International Day of Light 2020
Steering Committee Chairs

Duke University Celebrates Light and Lasers in 2020

The Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics (FIP) is one of the major research centres at Duke University (Durham, North Carolina, USA), and has regularly organized major events in optics and photonics, both to promote the latest research and to host large public events. In 2020, to celebrate the 60^th Anniversary of the laser, their Annual Meeting will welcome 2018 laser pioneer and Nobel laureate Professor Donna Strickland. Professor Strickland will join a remarkable array of other light-related Nobel laureates who have spoken at FIP annual meetings - including Charles Townes (2006), Ahmed Zewail (2010), William Phillips (2012), Ted Haensch and John Hall (2015), William E. Moerner (2016), Eric Betzig (2017), Steven Chu (2018), Shuji Nakamura (2019).

In addition, the FIP regularly organizes outreach events with its local OSA/SPIE Duke Student Chapters (DOSC) to promote general awareness in photonics and successful engagement with the local community. The 2020 Photonics Field Day event will be held at the FIP on 16 May 2020 as a community gathering to celebrate the International Day of Light. The event aims to explore everyday technologies driven by light-based innovations through photonics demonstrations, interactive games, and tours of Duke's photonics related facilities. The event will be suitable for those of all ages interested in light! The Photonics Field Day is generously supported by OSA, the Optical Society and SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics.

For information about the Fitzpatrick Institute of Photonics please contact Professor Tuan Vo-Dinh.

Introducing the Photographer Summit for IDL2020

The first virtual summit for photographers launches this April 2019. The Photographer Summit, a series of Skype interviews by award-winning photographer Saurabh Narang, will assemble some of the world's most accomplished photographers/editors/curators to share their career experience and insights on what it takes to thrive as a visual storyteller in the 21st century.

Participants include:
  - Ami Vitale, Nikon Ambassador and National Geographic Magazine Photographer
  - Sarah Leen, the former Director of Photography for National Geographic Visual Media
  - Eliot Stein, Deputy Editor at BBC Travel
  - Serge Ramelli, Fench Photographer
  - Alexa Keefe, Senior Photo Editor at National Geographic.

Whether you're a beginner or an expert, you'll find tons of great ideas and advice from world-class experts in storytelling. Subscribe online to take advantage of this exciting opportunity.

"LIGHT: Beyond the Bulb" Exhibit Resources for IDL2020

“LIGHT: Beyond the Bulb” is an open-source international exhibition program that showcases the incredible variety of light-based science being researched today across the electromagnetic spectrum, across scientific disciplines, and across technological platforms. The exhibit materials and striking images were crowd-sourced, and expert curated for science content, high-quality printability, stunning beauty and ability to engage wide audiences. With short informative captions on each panel, "LIGHT: Beyond the Bulb" covers a robust selection of the science, technology, nature and culture essential to the goals of the International Day of Light.

The Chandra X-ray Center / Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory created “Light: Beyond the Bulb” which was originally assembled for the International Year of Light and is now available to celebrate the International Day of Light, an UNESCO-endorsed event being held every 16th of May.

It is easy to create an exhibit from the images that are provided, and you can see photos from exhibits during the 2015 International Year of Light here. Printed images on posters or rollups make a wonderful display either for particular events related to the International Day or Light, or all year round.

For details on how to organize an exhibit please see the exhibition website. You can also preview the images or register to download the high-resolution versions. Please also ensure that you list your event on the IDL2020 event calendar. For more information, you may contact Kimberly Arcand.

Celebrating the Laser with the ELI Beamlines Laser Center

As part of the worldwide celebrations of the 60^th anniversary of the laser (#Laser60), a particular series of high-profile activities will be organized by the ELI Beamlines Laser Center. ELI Beamlines is a part of the ELI (Extreme Light Infrastructure) pan-European project, which aims to operate the world's most intense laser system for research not only in physics and material science, but also in biomedicine and laboratory astrophysics and many other fields.

In 2020, the ELI Beamlines laser center is organizing a number of events for the general public in the Czech Republic including laser days for high school and university students, excursions for the public, participation in a Czech music festival, and many other events. The highlight will of course be some special activities held on the 16th May – the International Day of Light itself and the precise 60^th anniversary of the day when Ted Maiman first observed laser oscillation in Ruby.

For more details and resources including a special logo developed for these celebrations, please visit this website or contact Michael Vich.

Mirwat Shamshad (center) joined by other participants at the 2020 ICTP Winter College on Optics

Bringing Light to a New Generation in Pakistan

Mirwat Shamshad is a remarkable individual. She is a young teacher of high school girls at Beacon House, one of the premier private schools in Islamabad, Pakistan, and holds a Master’s degree in physics from Quaid-i-Azam University. She regularly attends physics conferences to keep updated on new research, leading to her recent invitation to participate in the UNESCO Active Learning in Optics and Photonics (ALOP) workshop for teachers in Indonesia in October 2019. This was followed by her participation in the 2020 ICTP Winter College on Optics: Quantum Photonics and Information held in Trieste, Italy in February. She sought to work out how best to introduce quantum technologies in high schools and also acquired help to have optical supports printed in the ICTP SciFabLab as part of a Michelson Interferometer she will construct for her class. This will comprise one of her activities planned for IDL2020, as she is organizing a follow-up to the ALOP activity by bringing it to her own classroom in May of 2020, taking the award-winning program from pedagogy to practice. In addition, she and her class will also be participating in the joint National Science Foundation- Harvard-Smithsonian robotic arm telescope project, in which they will help search for exoplanets.

IEEE Photonics Society Technical Skills Educator Award

Education is at the heart of UNESCO's goals in supporting science and promoting sustainable development, and recognizing individuals and educators who are committed to education is an important part of raising awareness of its importance. To this end, the IEEE Photonics Society is delighted to announce the creation of a new award specifically to showcase those who work in this important area.

The IEEE Photonics Society Technical Skills Educator Award is given to recognize educators specializing in bringing technician and technical skills training within the PHO field of interest to traditionally underserved communities. While candidates teaching at the technical skills level, such as at US community colleges, are targeted, we also welcome applicants from any accredited, degree- or certificate-granting institutions worldwide.

The award will recognize effective, impactful, and innovative educators who bring specialized training to communities for whom photonics is not typically viewed as a common educational and career path. Contributions to curriculum and course development, industrial and governmental education programs, textbook development, will all be considered in the award evaluation.

The deadline is 30 April 2020, and for details please see this website.

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