Cluster 5: Photonics: Light-based Technologies in Everyday Life
Week 3
Day 1: Circuits Workshop + Fieldtrip to DRS Daylight Sol'ns
We started off the morning with a quick lecture from Professor Sahar about circuits and the two we'd be working on for the day. We created two circuits using wires, phototransistors, buzzers, light-emitting diodes, etc., exposing us to the basics of electrical engineering. In the afternoon, we took a field trip to DRS Daylight Solutions, a laser manufacturer based in San Diego. Many of us had lots of fun learning about their quantum cascade lasers and laser microscopes!
TA Ian helping out with wire placement.
DRS Daylight Solutions (image sourced from the web)
Enjoying the discovery zoom!
Day 2: Projects
Today we had a zoom session in the morning about robots and how they are used in warehouses. The speaker also talked about the autonomous vehicle he built. Later, we wrote our abstracts for our team projects and anonymously read and voted for the top six ethics essays in the class. The top six essays were written by Daniel, Katherine, Divya, Leanne, Owen, and Akshat. In the afternoon, we worked on our team projects while Peter and the TAs walked around advising us about our projects.
Our morning walk to the classroom in the electrical and computer engineering building, it was so foggy.
Day 3: More Projects & Simulations
We started off the morning with working on our team projects. Some teams coded their arduino boards, some worked on CAD models, and other teams constructed their setups. In the afternoon, we met up in the classroom with Professor Sahar to download the lumerical software for simulations. That took around 1.5 hours, so we just did a quick double slit simulation during the end of class.
Today's tour was of an electromagnetic lab. It had an anechoic chamber where all sound and electromagnetic waves are absorbed and nothing is reflected, making it absorb 99%+ of sound.
Owen, Sophia, and Ana working on the arduino code for their ID spectrometer project.
Mia soldering components onto a PCB in her team's fiber optic communication project.
Day 4: Even More Projects!!
In the morning, we tuned into a discovery lecture that brought in female guests from different areas of STEM. They discussed about the different challenges they faced in industry along with their personal motivations for pursuing STEM. Shortly after, we went to the lab to continue on final projects. Students were given access to a variety of resources including a 3D printer, soldering kits, and photonics related equipment (lasers, photodetectors, and LEDs). In the afternoon, we were given additional time which enabled most groups to pass the half-way mark and to prepare for the final presentations.
The free-space optical communication group discussing their project ideas.
TA Will helping out with the phototransistor code for free space optical communication.
A CAD model of a 3D printing part that the quantum cryptography group designed.