2019
6th Scientific Seminar 2019 with Prof. Jenny Read, from the Institute of Neuroscience (Newcastle University)
17/12/2019
On December 17th , the 6th edition of the IOSA scientific seminars took place. As in the last years, these seminars are open to all the staff of the CFMAC: pre- and post-doctoral researchers, technicians, as well as senior researchers, and, of course, all the IOSA members.
The aim is presenting the different lines of research developed in the Institute and promoting discussion between the different groups.
Moreover, this year, we were delighted to count on the presence of a renowned speaker, Prof. Jenny Read, from the Institute of Neuroscience (Newcastle University) giving a talk on 'Stereopsis-Mantis'.
"Insect stereopsis: behavior and neurophysiology"
Stereopsis – deriving information about distance by comparing views from two eyes – is widespread in vertebrates but so far known in only class of invertebrates, the praying mantids. Understanding stereopsis which has evolved independently in such a different nervous system promises to shed light on the constraints governing any stereo system. Behavioral experiments indicate that insect stereopsis is functionally very different from that studied in vertebrates. Vertebrate stereopsis depends on matching up the pattern of contrast in the two eyes; it works in static scenes, and may have evolved in order to break camouflage rather than to detect distances. Insect stereopsis matches up regions of the image where the luminance is changing; it is insensitive to the detailed pattern of contrast and operates to detect the distance to a moving target. Work from my lab has revealed a network of neurons within the mantis brain which are tuned to binocular disparity, including some that project to early visual areas. This is in contrast to previous theories which postulated that disparity was computed only at a single, late stage, where visual information is passed down to motor neurons. Thus, despite their very different properties, the underlying neural mechanisms supporting vertebrate and insect stereopsis may be computationally more similar than has been assumed.
OSA Travel Lecture Prof. Jim Schwiegerling from University of Arizona.
12/11/2019
On November 12th we had the pleasure of having the presence of Prof. Jim Schwiegerling from University of Arizona. According to the program we developed, we first welcomed Prof. Jim with the members of IOSA. We made a brief presentation of the IOSA group and the activities we carried out, thanks to the OSA grants. We had the pleasure of also having the presence of our supervisor Prof. Susana Marcos. Then, according to the schedule, Prof. Jim gave his talk ‘Research in the Visual Optics Lab at the University of Arizona’, where we discovered very interesting and innovative projects being developed in his research group, in collaboration with companies. The talk was very good because it is a line of research that most of the members of the Student Chapter share, so we have been able to ask and discuss different theories.
Next, we had a break with coffee and sweets, where attendees could at the same time continue talking and asking Prof. Jim in a more informal atmosphere. To end the official event, Prof. Jim gave a Workshop on EDOF multifocal lens design, a very current topic in visual optics, and with several points of view. The entire event was broadcast on Live Streaming, and it was a success with almost 20 connected people who also asked questions. It is the second time that we use this channel for greater dissemination of our activities, and both times it has been a success.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGox_DaG38k .
After the scientific and practical part, we went for lunch the members of IOSA and Prof. Jim in a more relaxed environment where we could ask him about various topics (congress, advice, professional career development….). To end the day, our members of the research group and Prof. Susana Marcos we did a tour of the laboratories. He told us that he enjoyed this part very much. Biography: Jim Schwiegerling is a Professor in the Wyant College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona. His research interests are in in ophthalmic instrumentation and lens design. His group has been highly active in building systems such as corneal topographers, wavefront sensors, retinal imagers and in design and testing multifocal and extended depth of focus intraocular and contact lenses. He teaches courses various optical engineering courses including Geometrical Optics and Instrumentation, Fourier Optics and Optical Fabrication and Testing. Dr. Schwiegerling is also the author of several books including the Field Guide to Visual Optics and Optical Specification, Fabrication and Testing. On behalf of all IOSA members we would like to thank OSA for giving us this opportunity. Thank you very much for trusting us again.
Week of Science 2019
06/11/2019
On November 6 we celebrate another year of Week of Science. This year we set our Gymakana to the book "Discovering the Light".
We had experiments of:
-Light properties.
-Optical elements and vision.
-Fluorescence, phosphorescence and chemiluminescence.
-Optical telecommunications
And our key activity is the laser maze, which every year is more liked by children and not so children.
It is an activity that we always like to organize, even if it requires a lot of coordination from all the members.
But the children's smile and interest pay for every effort we did.
Week of Science waiting for you next year!!!!
Student Leadership Conference 2019 Washington DC
12-16/09/2019As every year it is celebrated SLC OSA, where a member of the Student Chapter almost always the President attends an event in which more than 200 Student Chapter participate, to get to know each other and share experiences.
I leave you here the Link of some of the activities that are carried out https://www.osa.org/en-us/get_involved/students/slc/ .
Unforgettable experience!!!!
Women's Optics and Photonics Workshops 2019
06/09/2019
On September 6th , the Women's Area of Sedóptica Sociedad Española de Óptica held a Workshop to reclaim the role of Women in the field of optics. As an Optics outreach group we were invited in the dissemination section along with other Student Chapters (Salamanca and Valladolid), to expose how diversity activities are favored within our group, and our role in the different activities we carry out (in education centers) to encourage girls to pursue STEM science careers.
It was a very productive section since we were able to show a large audience about the activities we carried out and also see and learn ideas from other outreach groups.
IOSA celebrates the day of International Gastronomy
09/07/2019
On July 9th we had the idea to celebrate a group meal but in a special way.
Since we are an International group from different parts of Spain, Europe and also the world, we decided that each member should bring something traditional from their land. It was an unforgettable experience since we tried all Indian, Madrid dishes and Zaragozano or Italian dessert.
Yummy Yummy !!!
That day we ate a lot and we had a great time trying different plants. We had our OSA Ambassador Maria Vinas as judge.
Surely we repeat !!!
International Day of LGBT in STEM event 5th July
05/07/2019
As we announced in the previous post, we had the honor of celebrating the International Day of LGBT in STEM for the first time at IO-CSIC. At the event we had the pleasure of having as a guest the president of the PRISMA Association ROI VIVAZ .
Link: https://prismaciencia.org/
Who spoke to us about how this association was formed, the objectives it has and the activities they want to carry out. There were many people who came to the event, we did not expect so many people, so we were glad that this event had been carried out with great success.
This allowed a very interesting debate to develop with different points of view and opinions, since Clara, a member of the Student Chapter and organizer of the initiative, prepared different news clippings related to that topic with a great impact on our society that we were able to discuss. Having an expert on the subject within the public.
We look forward to next year celebrating our second edition !!!!.
Internacional Day of LGBT in STEM Working on it
03/07/2019
5th of Juy is the Internacional Day of LGBT in STEM.
IOSA members support diversity in Science and we wanted to share some interesting knowledge about this topic with our colleagues. For it, we have some posters with statistics and biographies that are going to be in our campus’s walls during this moths or more.
You can see the posters that we designed here.
We would like to thank Aitor Villafranca from PRISMA association, who advised us with the content of the information, as well as Nerea García, who helped with the design od the posters.
Also, on 5th of July we will celebrate a coffee where everybody can share their impressions, You all are invited!!!
Day: 5th July.
Time: 11:00 am.
Place: 4th Floor Club, IO-CSIC, C/Serrano 121.
See you there!!!
IONS Barcelona 2019
26/06/2019Some members of the Student Chapter had the pleasure of attending the IONS that was held in Barcelona . As part of this event, in addition to presenting our scientific studies, each in his field of research, we had plenty of time to interact with other Student Chapters from different parts of Europe 'Networking'. Sharing scientific concerns in a youthful and relaxed environment. We also had the pleasure of speaking with Terence Rooney, and told his our new activities and collaborations (Example IONS from Aveiro, Portugal). There were very productive IONS sessions on Scientific Carrer in Academia or Industry; with different points of view, and also tips like organizing an IONS from their experience. We take note to do our best when we have the change.
First visit of the European Director of the OSA Yann Amouroux
20/05/2019
On May 20, the European Director of the OSA, Yann Amouroux, visited us for the first time. It was a very productive and interesting visit. Since we were able to present our function as a Student Chapter at the OSA in Spain, focusing on all the activities and events that we carry out. We receive very good feedback that encourages us to continue doing what we do in the best possible way.
We were also able to expose some doubts that we had, which Yann Amouroux solved very closely by giving us advice, telling about the experience of other Student Chapters or explaining new platforms that the OSA has that we were unaware of.
We think it was great that he will visit us.
We look forward to your new visit!!.
Ciencia en el Barrio AGAIN SECOND PART
One of the goals of this project is that after some IOSA members teaching and showing different experiments to ESO students, they had to teach younger children . To be scientists for a day and show all the skills that had been acquired. It was a very good experience. Here we leave you some Tweets that confirm it.
2019 International Day of Light Kit The Optical Society
Different activities celebrated on this day 16/05/2019
For the International Day of Light, we carried out events in two different places, and thanks to the amount and diversity of material that was in the LIGHT KIT we were able to carry out both workshops without any difficulty. In total we carried out three activities in two different places in Spain far from each other, and aimed at different audiences:
On May 16 an activity was carried out in Mahón (Menorca) within the Cuidad Ciencia project, in which three members of IOSA participated. IOSA members performed workshops in two institutes in the morning with 60 students. Where using the KIT material, along with other materials, three workshops were created that students could enjoy.
The workshops were:
Color (LED lamps) and optical illusions.
Optical elements and visual optics (lenses).
Optical telecommunications.
Sources of light, polarization and diffraction (lasers, diffraction grating).
In the afternoon, IOSA members performed workshops in an adult School, with the same theme. The workshop was a success that we were part of the news of the newspaper.
In parallel in Madrid on May 16, we celebrate the ceremony of the delivery of the FOTÓN Prize (https://www.io.csic.es/premiosfoton/). And as an outreach group of the Institute of Optics, they invited us to show the attendees and the Vice-president of the Spanish National Research Council, part of the activities and workshops that we carried out. This time we use a lot of elements of LIGHT KIT, to show that it doesn’t take much space to concentrate the most important elements to explain the different properties of light. Also for that day a member of IOSA, had the idea of building a solar clock printed on a 3D printer, and to be transmitting the solar time on social media. It was a new experience and curious to the attendees, since the clock was located at the entrance of the building. When locating the stand at the entrance of the event, people stopped to ask us and we explained the different workshops. Among the public there were several professors and people dedicated to dissemination.
Some photos of the event the Upper panel Mahón activity and Down panel IO-CSIC activity.
16/05/2019
Ciudad Ciencia @Tarrega
11/04/2019Last month 11 April, we visited Tarrega (Lérida) with Ciudad Ciencia, where they organized a gymkhana with workshops all around the town for the STEAM day (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Maths). We explain our workshops on laser ray tracing, visual system and refraction and reflection to the students of Vedruna school. It was a very interesting day because this time they placed us outdoors in a beautiful park and as a curious anecdote, our crystal ball placed on its wooden support, being a converging lens, was able to burn in a matter of seconds the support where it was placed by concentrating all the solar energy at a point of support! We really enjoyed this activity as much as the students.
31/03/2019
On Sunday 31 March, we had the opportunity to participate in the Madrid por la Ciencia. Its main objective is to spread in the school environment and in society in general, scientific culture and research, to encourage scientific vocations by eliminating gender barriers, to communicate science and innovation that takes place in our universities, research centers and Companies, stimulate interest and curiosity in the science of young people, and show how science influences economic development and social welfare, fostering the competitiveness of companies through innovation.
The IOSA Group was in Stand of the CSIC, representing the outreach group of Institute of Optics.
We were explaining to the walkers of the Fair three workshops: ray tracing, visual optics, properties of light and optical fibers. There were many families with small children, curious young people and not so young people but just as curious, with many questions.
It was a very rewarding experience. We also had the opportunity to visit other Stand, and learn about other activities. We are not left with some of the ideas to be included in our workshops.
29/03/2019
As part of the CSIC divulgation program ‘Ciencia en el barrio’ we visited IES Ciudad de los Ángeles high school in Madrid on 29th of March. The main purpose of the activity was to explain some workshops to the students so they can repeat them and explain it to younger children and later in a science fair to children of other high schools on May.
At the beginning of the activity we were introduced by the ‘Ciencia en el barrio’ organizer and then we gave a brief explanation of our research at the labs. We continue to explain two workshops: ray tracing and pseudo-holography.
With the ray tracing workshop different concepts of geometric optic and human vision system were explained to the students. Next we showed them how to create a pseudo- hologram using a smartphone and a plastic sheet.
To finish the activity we divided the students in two groups of 15 people and gave them the materials so they can do the workshops by themselves and answered all their questions about both workshops.
The activity was recorded by a producer!!
Ciudad Ciencia @JumillaTeam
21-22/03/2019On March 21st and 22nd IOSA participated once again in the outreach activity “Descubriendo la luz” (Discovering light), framing in the program Ciudad Ciencia. The project is organized by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) and brings into small towns the recent advances on science and technology, as well as playful workshops to illustrate and explain science on different fields.
In this edition the activity was conducted in Jumilla, a town with around 25.000 inhabitants, located in the region of Murcia. Jumilla is worldwide famous for their vines, but also it is field of delightful fruits, as pears. To manage the workshop, the Jumilla Team, integrated by Rocio, Esther and Diego, was mobilized to the town, bringing with them three different workshops related with distinct aspects of light: fluorescence & phosphorescence, ray tracing & visual optics and optical fibers & communications.
The first day the activity was realized at the afternoon, in the “Centro Integrado de Formación y Experiencias Agrarias de Jumillas” (CIFEA). The workshops were opened to general public and about 60 kids, some of them with their parents, enjoyed with the experiments. In addition, a group of 20 persons with mental disabilities shared with the Jumilla Team the passion for learning and discovering.
The morning of the 22nd the workshops were delivered to the Secondary School Infanta Elena. Around 85 students, two groups of 4th ESO and one of 2nd Bachiller, explored the properties of light together with their teachers. The students were very involved and enthusiastic with the project, paying a deal of attention and asking interested questions.
The activity was very gratifying, for both participants and Jumilla Team. Who knows where we will go the next time, we can’t wait for the next destination!
CEIP JOSÉ DE ECHEGARAY School (4 years old)
06/03/2019On 6th of March, we visited José de Echegaray School and did an activity in which we explained some of our workshops to 4 years old children.
Before starting with the workshops, we introduced ourselves so that they knew who we were, where we were coming from and what we were doing there as part of IOSA Outreach Group.
Since they were 4 groups of 25 kids, we took one group each hour and divided them in 4 smaller groups so that each group did a 15 minutes workshop and then rotated until they all saw the four workshops we brought to this school (fluorescence, ray tracing, visual perception and changes in the index of refraction). Then, the next group of 25 kids enter into the classroom and we repited the same procedure.
It seem that all kids had a good time seeing and hearing our explanations as they participated with us when we asked questions, they wanted to investigate with the things we had there and they were very happy with the fluorescence bracelet we gave them in one of the workshops.
PEAC & IOSA – ‘Guess who women in science?’
09/02/2019Last 9th of February we visited PEAC (Programa de Enriquecimiento Educativo para Alumnos con Altas Capacidades).
In the first place, we gave an introductory talk about Who we are? Where we come from? and What we do? so that they could get to know the CSIC, the research organization, Institute of Optics which we both belong, and most importantly, the IOSA Outreach Group. Then we gave importance to 11F the ‘International Day of Women and Girls in Science’.
We explained why this day was important and the need to make future generations aware of the role of women in science. And Women / Science have always existed, but due to different circumstances their knowledge has not been recognized.
Then we move to a more dynamic topic the game ‘Guess who women in science?’ , which consisted of three templates each with five scientists with different areas of knowledge; where only the name and date of birth and death (if they had it) were indicated. Next to it were two holes where the photo was to be pasted and a small description of the most important events. We tried to put a degree of medium difficulty since it was the first time.
The students were divided into groups of 5 people.
The students were corrected and scored themselves, according to a presentation where these scientists appeared and many more.
The gift for the winning team was a sample of polarization.
Finally, we went to the workshops divided the group 15 students each workshop, during 45min. Both groups held the two workshops as they rotated.
1. Optical fiber optical telecommunication
2. Fluorescence and phosphorescence and applications.
Finally, a survey was carried out to determine the degree of satisfaction of the students, and in this way, improve as much as possible.
Colegio San Ramón y San Antonio ‘Internacional Day of Women and Girls in Science’ & Workshops
13/02/2019Last 13rd of February we visited Colegio San Ramón y San Antonio, as part of our aim to make women’s contribution to science visible.
We introduced them to different women scientists whose discoveries have been crucial to move humanity forward, such as Jocelyn Bell and the pulsar, or last Nobel Prize in Physics, Donna Strickland.
Afterwards, we showed them different workshops; ray tracing, fiber optics, vision, florescence and optical illusions.
It was a very nice afternoon, with very participative students.
‘Cáfe, Género y Ciencia’ Prof. Eulalia Pérez Sedeño
11/02/2019On the occasion of # 11F ‘International Day of Women and Girls in Science’, we organized together with #womeninoptics networking coffee this session where the pleasure of hearing first-hand Prof. Eulalia Pérez Sedeño, Professor of Research in Science, Technology and Gender in the Department of Science, Technology and Society of the Philosophy Institute of CSIC (Spain).
The event consisted of a talk titled ‘Stereotypes, gender and knowledge’, where emphasis
has been placed on the definitions of gender and sex, and that the characteristics of a
gender is not something innate, but is the product of socialization and education.
She commented that women study a lot of science. What we do not study are physics and engineering. But the rest we study a lot. Studying certain careers or scientific engineering has a lot to do with stereotypes. Women are educated from very young in activities that have to do with language and care. Consequence “That women do not dedicate themselves to some types of science, impoverishes those disciplines very much”
And the more prestige less women and the more women less prestige. This happens in any area, not only in science.
She has explained how sexist or androcentric biases influence the relationship of women in science with a very striking example: myocardial heart attack; In medicine, for example, clinical trials continue where women are not studied.It is thought that the norm is man and that everything that applies to a man can also be applied to them, and it is not true.
How does she see the future?
She said that she is positive because , she think we are better than when she started in the late 80’s. 30 years have passed …she is negative because we are moving very slowly and because we have to repeat things over and over again. In other areas, when you achieve an achievement that is already settled. In feminist and gender issues, this is not the case. You have to start over and over again. And this has a lot to do with the fact that young people think that equality is already achieved and that nothing more needs to be done. And there is more to see what happens on a daily basis to realize that we have not achieved equality and go back is possible.
Colloquium with Prof. Eli Peli
04/02/2019
Today we had the pleasure of celebrating our second Colloquium with a Senior Scientist, the first was last year with Prof. Arthur Bradley.
On this occasion we had the pleasure of having Prof. Eli Peli, Senior Scientist and Moakley Scholar in Aging Eye Research at Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass. Eye and Ear, and Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School. His research spans the interface between engineering and ophthalmic/vision research. Specifically, he tries to understand how we see in the context of low vision rehabilitacion. Prof. Peli’s principal research interests includes eye movement analysis, binocular vision, image processing, image communications and optics.
He has told us about his experience in the industry based on his knowledge as an ophthalmologist / optometrist specialist in vision science. And how do you behave to deal with a company.
Tip: What do you need to have ‘a person’ who is going to relate to a company is pay attention and be lucky. Be able to understand the businessman speak their language, and think not like in laboratory. It’s another world, another interest, other objectives. He has commented examples of his collaborations as a consultant in successful companies, which were successful and not now or on curious collaborations.
Test out of the market, magnifying glass from optical fibers.
Thank you Prof. Eli Peli for joining us. Group picture.
We have learned that we must pay attention, be proactive and hardworking. That success is achieved with hard work and luck.