Innovation and entrepreneurship lunches

Posted on 11/08/2017 by ggunaratnam

During Wednesday’s lunchtime on April 26, the Line of Light auditorium was crowded with 80 bachelor, master and PhD students interested to hear about optics and photonics technologies in the “Lunch with Industry” event. After grabbing a sandwich with soda, they focused their attention firstly to Peter Skovgaard, CEO and Co-founder from Norlase, and later to Sidsel Petersen, representing NKT Photonics company. Peter made a short overview of how their novel high-power visible laser technology allowed them to become a promising start-up company with a vision to outperform currently leading solutions available on the market. Sidsel, on the other hand, shared the vision and perspective of NKT Photonics – one of the leaders in the market of high performance fiber and laser technologies. She was generous enough to bring some of the examples of industrial photonic crystal fiber products, components, and materials used in fabrication.
…Thanks to Norlase and NKT Photonics for shedding some light on current status of the laser industry!

A week later, on Friday 5, serial entrepreneur David Hardwick gave the talk “Science for profit and fun in the laser industry” accompanied by Prof. Jes Broeng. The duo addressed entrepreneurship, and shed light on some of the best ways to start a business in an effort to inspire students with innovation dreams.
David Hardwick is co-founder and Chairman of Norlase and Fauna Photonics in Denmark and an investor and advisor at BiFrost Communications. David is a past member of the Optical Society of America (OSA) Board and the OSA Foundation. He is a consultant to IMRA America and other companies in the industry.
During this event, everybody got a chance to pick the two entrepreneurs’ brains at the following discussion and plenty of opportunity to mingle. What a great afternoon!

Seminars on nanospectroscopy and novel applications of nanomaterials in catalysis and energy engineering

Posted on 11/08/2017 by ggunaratnam

The EPS-YM section of University of Calabria has organized a cycle of seminars on nanospectroscopy and, moreover, on novel applications of nanomaterials.
The seminar on nanospectroscopy has been focused on the novel concept of “nanospectroscopy” and the speaker has been dr. Antonio Politano.
Methods and techniques to perform spectroscopy with a nanometric spatial resolution and to the investigation and discovery of new phenomena at the nanometer scale at the interface between physics, chemistry and biology have been presented.
In particular, the study of nanostructured materials necessitates analytical methods that combine spectroscopy with electron microscopy. The feasibility of nanospectroscopy at synchrotron radiation sources has been addressed, with some examples of beamlines already open to users.
The seminar on nanomaterials has addressed novel applications recently developed. We have tried to recruit as speakers both PhD stud-ents of other departments and post-doc from our department, under the coordination of Marco Alfano. Nanomaterials can be used for energy engineering as nanofillers in novel Li-ion batteries in order to reduce the problems of silicon microparticles currently used. Furthermore, nanomaterials can be used for devising novel applications in chemical engineering.
During the talk it has been clarified that many critical issues remain unresolved in current energy systems such as low charging rate, low energy and/or power density, poor cycle life, poor thermal management, and low environmental sustainability, impeding broad adoption in new engineering applications. Therefore, the development of new, green materials and technologies is essential to design energy systems with comprehensive out-standing electrochemical, thermal and mechanical properties. In particular, graphene is a suitable platform for electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices. Moreover, scalable production of such energy materials/devices is imperative to realize the transition from laboratory-scale materials to industrial applications.
The participating categories were mainly undergraduate and PhD students.
After the end of the seminar, we have organized a round table of 30 minutes on the problem of energy.
Refreshements with some snacks and beverages have been offered in each seminar.

Outreach towards secondary and primary schools

Posted on 11/08/2017 by ggunaratnam

We have introduced phenomena, concepts and materials in the fields of optics and materials science to students of secondary and primary schools.
Activities have been carried out both at schools and at University of Calabria and in both cases they have been divided into (i) simple experiments and demos and (ii) simple lessons.
Some lessons have been necessary in order to give them the minimal background in order to understand the simple experiments. However, we have started with experiments since we have noticed that in this way the lessons are found more interesting and funny by the students. In other words, the students are more interested in understanding what they have just seen that the reverse. In any case, the lessons to explain the concepts behind physical phenomena have been organized with in mind the requirement to be interactive and funny.
The first experiments organized directly at schools were focused on light (light-emitting devices and light propagation). In the last meetings, we have even introduced the nanoworld with simple demos.
Some new experimental apparatuses for outreach have been shown at students and successively described in most basic details, with a particular emphasis for the potential application fields of the topic. We have used also some videos in order to stimulate the visual memory of the students.
For the case of primary schools, we have shown how colors are formed with very simple considerations to support the experiment.
A discussion with students of secondary schools about the prospect of nanotechnology and nanoscience has been also organized. During the visit at University of Calabria, we have presented with simple words the new facilities on nanospectroscopy and nanomaterials recently installed at our University and their possible connection to the technological applications. In this case, we have formulated in a much simpler way (for secondary schools) the most intriguing concepts that have been discussed in the Seminar Activity of our EPS-YM section, instead oriented toward undergraduate and PhD students.
During the visit to the University, the students have been invited to participate actively to a low-energy electron diffraction experiment unveiling the position of atoms at surfaces of topological materials. Subsequently, a short and simple discussion to understand why the last Nobel prize for Physics has been awarded to studies on topological materials.
Refreshments with some beverages and snacks have been offered after each meeting to the students and to teachers. We acknowledge both teachers and local administrations who have nicely supported us in all the phases of the project.

Career orientation conference for PHD students

Posted on 11/08/2017 by ggunaratnam

We took part in the organising the seventh DOFFI Conference, which is an event for hungarian PhD students in the field of physics to present their research and to learn about the others’ as well. The annual conference is also a great opportunity for the students to connect and build networks with academics and each other, too.
The event itself was four days long. Each day was divided into 15-minute sessions. During these sessions the students had 12 minutes to present their work. After that there were 3-minute periods when an assigned discussant, an academic of the student’s field and the audience could analyse and give feedback on the work and presentation.The students could also present their work on posters that were shown throughout the whole conference.
Academics were invited each day to hold plenary lectures about the newest research topics, this year for example about transport properties of graphene-BiTeI hybrid structures and the effect of virtual reality on human balance.
Several companies that employ physicists (e.g. Morgan Stanley) were invited to give presentations on the opportunities a student can get if they choose to work for them.
There was also a forum for discussing the difficulties that affect the community of physisists.
The conference was held in Balatonfenyves, a small town next to lake Balaton, where the participants could relax and go to the beach each day.
We hope that the participants learned a lot, and got to know each other.

Webpage with abstracts, pictures and program:
http://doffi.elte.hu/

Physics for everyone LIVE

Posted on 11/08/2017 by ggunaratnam

Primarily we designed this program for primary and secondary school pupils. During the day the kids could choose several type of activities. We cooperated with some academic teachers from Eötvös Loránd University and Budapest University of Technology and Economics, that gave some lectures about Cosmology, Big Bang Theory and etc. Besides these lectures we wanted to show some interesting physics experiments from the everyday physics and modern physics, like how to use apps for measuring the sound intensity, and how to make ice cream with liquid nitrogen, and we had a self-made cloud chamber. During this time some of our people made some spectacular explosions in the yard. We considered it is important to speak about the new energy resources, so we made a special corner for the fusion power, with the help of the guys from the Wigner Research Center. During these activities the Wigner Research Center made available for us their moving experimental station (the all-colour of Physics bus). This is an interactive exhibition about the wide range of physics of nanostructures. We had more than one thousand visitors just in the University, it is twice as much as last year, and we have more than ten thousand visitors across country because many school joined to our program . After the event we asked the visitors what they thought about the activities. We got many positive responses, and i think in this event we learned a lot about the technics of of presentation and any other skill so we can do this better next year.

We have some pictures in here : https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4R1tDrTxGkWQWJKc0gwbHFOM2c

Alumni-evening of the University of Antwerp Physics Department

Posted on 11/08/2017 by ggunaratnam

On the 5th of May 2017, the Antwerp Young Minds section organized an alumni-evening for the Physics Department of the University of Antwerp, with the aim of bringing together the students, researchers and alumni of our department.
This event was a great occasion for our students and researchers to meet physicists who are now working outside academia and to learn more about future job opportunities. Furthermore, it provided alumni with the possibility to see their old friends and teachers again and to get to know the new generation of physicists. We were therefore glad to see that a lot of people attended the event.

After a short welcome drink, we began the evening with presentations of several alumni whom we had invited to speak about their career after graduation and to tell us more about their current occupation. Their occupations were:
• Validator at Argenta (a Belgian bank)
• Senior System Engineer at Verhaert
• Physics teacher in secondary education
• Junior ICT Analyst at Fluxys
The members of the audience always had the opportunity to ask questions in order to learn more about the different aspects of these professions.

The presentations where followed by an extensive reception, where everyone could enjoy a drink and a bite. This gave our students and researchers the possibility to freely speak with all of the attending alumni and to make important contacts for their own professional future.

Altogether, we received a lot of positive feedback from people who attended the event, which encourages us to repeat it the future.

Colloquium “Topology in atomic flatland”

Posted on 11/08/2017 by ggunaratnam

On the 7th of March 2017, the Antwerp Young Minds section invited Professor Doctor Jean Dalibard to give a colloquium at the University of Antwerp about his work on topology-related effects in 2D quantum gases. The target audience were the students and researchers of the University of Antwerp physics department, many of whom attended the lecture.

Professor Jean Dalibard is a professor at Collège de France and researcher at the Kastler Brossel Laboratory. His research focuses on the study of quantum gases, in particular Bose-Einstein condensates, and explores, among other subjects, the properties of rotating and low dimensional gases. His work on topologic transitions and other topology-related effects in 2D quantum gases served as a very fascinating subject for the colloquium, especially because of its close connection to the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Professor Dalibard began his talk with a general introduction on the subject of quantum gases in order to make those who might not yet be familiar with these systems acquainted with the topic. Subsequently, he focused on the key aspects of 2D quantum gases such as their topological transition to a superfluid state. He also addressed other topology-related effects in these systems, related to the creation of artificial gauge fields and quantum-Hall type phenomena. The colloquium as a whole was a great occasion for students to be introduced to the concepts of quantum gases, topology and the subject of last year’s Nobel Prize, while at the same time providing the researchers of our department with more profound insights into the underlying theory of these phenomena.

The lecture was followed by a reception, where the audience members and speaker could enjoy a drink and a bite. This also presented our students and researchers with the opportunity to speak with professor Dalibard in a more informal setting than the lecture itself.

The colloquium received a lot of positive feedback from the students and researchers who attended it.

OPTO2015 conference

Posted on 22/05/201722/05/2017 by ggunaratnam

The OPTO-Meeting for Young Researchers & 10th Anniversary International SPIE Student Chapter Meeting 2015, called OPTO2015 was organized by the Wroclaw University of Technology OSA & SPIE student chapters and newly formed EPS Young Minds Section at out university. I have been held between 27th and 30th of May 2015 in Wroclaw, Poland.

OPTO2015 was a great opportunity for young researches, BC, MS and PhD students to meet, present and talk about their scientific work. We organized several oral sections, poster session, lab tour, soft skills training and integration events. The number of attendees was around 100, making it the biggest even in Poland for students and young researchers within the physics field.

Because OPTO is the annual conference for OSA and SPIE student chapters in Poland, we decided to organize special event focused on their activities. After presentations and short discussion we presented the conference sponsors, which also was the EPS Young Minds organization. During this special section the conference participants could find out what the EPS is, what’s the Young Minds project, its mission, purpose, goals and tools to achieve them. Additionally we presented the benefits for new members and gave short instruction how to establish new EPS Young Minds Section and apply for grants.

This project cost us a lot of work. Organizing the conference by students who hasn’t done anything like that before is a big challenge, but our members accomplished that goal. We are very proud that the Warsaw University of Technology established their EPS Young Minds section and many other still consider doing so. For our section it was a good way to train ourselves within new EPS Young Minds structure at our university and to try work with our new and fresh team within other projects.

Fun with physics – demonstrations in kindergarten

Posted on 22/05/201722/05/2017 by ggunaratnam

Within our formed WrUT EPS Young Minds section all of our members have the experience in the outreach field. We have been very successful in that area in the OSA & SPIE student chapters, that is why we wanted to introduce these kind of activity in the newly form section.
This project was a big success. There wasn’t any problem in changing the scope of our lectures from optics to basic physics. For children in primary school and especially in preschool every scientific presentation is a lot of fun. It also brings to them an inspiration to thinking about the experiment, its result and asking question. As from our observation these children who cannot ask any question react in a special way, on their face you can see at the beginning surprise with disbelief, after that they want to repeat the experiment by their own. When they finally convince their self that experiment show true result they have more curiosity to see and experience another demonstration, which is one of our goal to increase the interest of our physical world.
We carried out demonstrations in one of the biggest kindergarten connected with the primary school in Wroclaw, Poland. The number of attendees where around 80 children (4 groups with around 20 children in each). Our presentation was divided for parts related with air, water, light and balance. At the end some of the children wanted to bring few experiments back again to demonstration, because of their high attraction, so we combined the topics.
In our opinion this project was a success. We increased the children’s curiosity of the physical world, their also trained the ability to perform some of the experiments by their own. The challenge of searching discussed phenomena in their surrounding world went also well. We had a bit of problems with the team work, because all the kids wanted to do the experiment at one time, but for us it was an opportunity to gain some teaching experience. We don’t see any problem to repeat such project in the future if our members will bring the will to do so.

Open Readings – YM BAA 2017

Posted on 20/05/201724/05/2017 by ggunaratnam

60th international conference for students of physics and natural sciences “Open Readings 2017” took place on 14-17th of March, 2017 in Vilnius, Lithuania. The conference gathered more than 300 presenters from 20 different countries all-around Europe while creating an interactive platform for sharing knowledge, scientific results and best practices in the fields of physics and natural sciences.

The four day conference was full of activities, including but not limited to the mentioned students’ oral and poster sessions, workshop on scientific publishing and discussion on career in science, but, of course, the highlight of the conference were the invited speakers – world-known scientists, top of the top in their fields:

Prof. Ben Feringa (Netherlands) – 2016 Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry, h-index: 103;
Prof. John Ellis (UK) – one of the most known theoretical physicist working at CERN, h-index: 150;
Prof. Philip Russell (Germany) – former president of OSA and leader in the field of photonic crystal fibers, h-index: 86;
Prof. Michael Graetzel (Switzerland) – Millennium Technology Prize laureate, 3rd most cited chemist in the world, h-index: 207;
Prof. Xi-Cheng Zhang (USA) – one of the best known researchers of THz technologies, h-index: 70;
Prof. Eugenio Coccia (Italy) – co-author of the gravitational waves discovery, h-index: 43;
Prof. Naomi Halas (USA) – one of the leaders in the field of plasmonics and the use of nanoparticles in cancer treatment, h-index: 106.
Prof. Robin Lovell-Badge (UK) – active scientist and policy maker in the field of genetics, h-index: 66;
Prof. Frederik Clayessens (UK) – novel material creator by using various light sources, h-index: 23;

The importance to motivate young minds to pursue their scientific path is of an extreme importance, the students are the force who is pushing the motors of science. It seems that taking attention of over 5000 science enthusiasts coming to the conference venue and watching lectures online – let’s us make the assumption the conference did it’s job. It was the biggest scientific conference in the Lithuania.

The full program and more pictures of the event can be found at: http://www.openreadings.eu/