Saturday Engineering for Everyone is a great opportunity for non-engineers of all backgrounds who are interested in learning about engineering to explore some of the most exciting topics and trends in the field.
“Going Beyond Where Lasers and Optics Have Gone Before: Multiple Beam Lasers, Water Optics, and Other Fascinating Topics” will explore:
As the laser approaching its 60th birthday, we see its impact on so many aspects of our lives. Although it has been studied by many, the laser and the broader field of optics continue to amaze scientists and engineers as we learn more of the properties of light and its applications to manufacturing, agriculture, communications, and medicine. This presentation will explore several phenomena being pursued at Illinois and the first of these is a laser that produces not one beam of light, but thousands. Amazingly, the interactions between these beams allow this laser to observe events (such as the common fruit fly in flight) not seen before. Videos of the movement of unicellular organisms such as common algae will also be shown. We will then be introduced to light sources that lie beyond the visible region that we see with our eyes. Lamps that emit vacuum ultraviolet radiation (wavelengths below 200 nm) have been shown to produce the nanoscale and microscale patterns required for photonic and electronic devices. This, in turn, has led to the demonstration of “water optics”, lenses and other optical components that work only if water condenses on them!