Here at UCI, our OSA student chapter is actively involved with outreach.  We are not only concerned with showing students what the wonderful world of optics has to offer, but also what general science knowledge can do for you.

Upcoming  Events:   Stay tuned...

Past Events:

Girls Inc. Eureka! Day at UCI July  2008 On Friday July 25,  Girls Inc., sponsored by the SAGE program,  brought 65 girls aged 12-15 to UCI for a day of science.  Desiré worked with the UCI Iota Sigma Pi chapter treasurer Nicole to organize a kaleidoscope  event.  The girls got to build their very own kaleidoscopes using materials purchased by Iota Sigma Pi, and Desiré gave a presentation about the history and inner workings of kaleidoscopes.

Girl Scouts Engineering Camp 2008 On July23 and 30, Desiré went to UC Riverside to participate once again in the Girl Scouts Engineering Camp.  This year the girls studied robotics and learned to build and program their very own robots.  Desiré taught them about how robots use optics to help them perform their different actions, and then she used the OSA's laser HOO module to teach them about refraction, relection, and lasers.

Student Science and Technology Day at the Exposition Center May 2008 This is an event put together by the Los Angeles African American Engineers and Professional Employees Association in order to ignite the Science and Technology interest of the inner city kids.  Desiré went and demonstrated the idea of diffraction, and collor mixing to form white light along with Dr. Mary Brown form UCI astronomy.  The kids loved the patterns that we made with the rainbow peepholes.

Optricks Days March 2008 On March 1st and 2nd, Desiré, Max, Mercedes, and Ned all helped out at this event at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana, Ca.  Desiré gave the Optricks suitcase demonstration, with the help of Brian Monicelli and Donn Silbermann from the OISC. We also had a Hogwarts school of optics, where we taught about light and colors.

Beall Center Family Day November 2007 This is a UCI event, at the Beall center, the on-campus Art Gallery. Families from all over orange county  come and enjoy the exhibits.  On November 3rd, Desiré participated along with Donn SIlberman from the OSSC to show families how interesting and fun optics can be.  We had a huge turnout, and a lot of fun demonstrating how polarization affects what you see and 3-D glasses.

EDAY San Jose 2007 On September 20 Desiré, with the help of Charles Gaugh, participated in EDAY.  This event was sponsored by the OSA student chapter at Stanford, and took place at the Fairmont  hotel in San Jose, Ca.  The purpose was to show school teachers how to teach science (optics in particular) in a fun and interesting way.  There was a great turnout, and the teachers all learned a lot.

COSMOS-UCI 2006 From July 8 to August 4 many of our members once again participated in the COSMOS program, where high school students from all over California live in the UCI dorms, take college-level math and science classes, and take part in many labs.  The labs included: building a Michelson interferometer, two-photon fluorescence, and calibrating a home-made spectrometer.

Top 20 OC High School Students 2007 On August 3,  the top 20 High School Students who fit into a disadvantaged economic background from the Costa Mesa and Santa Ana High School Districts  came to UCI to learn about optics and lasers.  Desiré gave them a tour of her ultrafast spectroscopu lab, and then they got to have hands-on laser experience with the HOO module donated by OSA.

Girl Scouts Engineering Camp 2007 On July 23, and 30, Desiré went to UC Riverside to participate in the Girl Scouts Engineering Camp.  This is a 5 day program where the girls stay on on campus, and learn all kinds of science and engineering.  Using the OSA's laser HOO module, Desiré taught them about reflections and lasers.  In small groups, they built their own laser setups and learned how important alignment is.

Harry Potter Carnival: a Magical Muggle Morning 2007 On July 14, Desiré along with Donn Silbermann of the OISC participated in this Girl Scouts event in celebration of Harry Potter. Optricks wizard Donn and apprentice Desiré were there to teach at the Hogwarts School of Optics.  The girls made their own spinning tops to demonstrate that white light is made up of all colors, and we had optics games involving periscopes and telescopes.

Roosevelt Elementary School 2007 On June 13, Desiré and Max participated in the MESA and Hands-On-Optics science day at Roosevelt Elementary School in Compton, California along with the OSSC's Donn Silbermann.  200 students grades 2-5 competed in such events as macaroni cars, egg drop, and bottle rockets.  We then showed them how to make their very own kaleidoscopes.

Santa Ana High School 2007 On June 7, 45 students from Santa Ana High School came to UCI and listened to a talk given by Desiré about light and optics.  After the talk, the students designed and built their own bone out of everyday materials, and had a competition to see whose was the strongest.   They then went on to a lab tour where they learned about the regeneration of the Mexican Salamander.

Costa Mesa Jr. High School  2007 On May 18, the honors biology class from Costa Mesa Middle School came to UCI and listened to a talk given by Desiré about Light and Optics.  After the talk, they had a blast with a set of Optics workbenches provided to us by OSSC's Donn Silbermann.  The kids learned a lot, and had fun with the Fresnel lenses and polarizers.

Undergraduate Seminar Spring 2007 On May 10th, we hosted an outreach event to attract undergraduate students into our chapter. It was the first in a quarterly series of undergraduate seminars. This first installment was given by chemistry professor Eric Potma, who gave a talk titled "The Secret of the Photon." We had a large undergraduate turnout, and hope that the next one will be even better.

Beall Center Family Day April 2007 This is a UCI event, at the Beall center, the on-campus Art Gallery. Families from all over orange county  come and enjoy the exhibits.  On April 21st, Max and Desiré participated along with Brian Monacelli from the OSSC to show families how interesting and fun optics can be.  We had a huge turnout, and a lot of fun demonstrating how the eyball works.