Outreach at CUDOS @ Macquarie in 2008
June 2008
|
 |
Demonstrating concepts to high school science teachers Macquarie postgraduate students Sara Ek and Martin Ams went to Mount St Benedict College the 23 of June 2008 and held a talk on optoelectronics for 19 students in year 11 and 12. During the 90 minute long session the students learned the some theory of lasers, optical fibres and information encoding for optical communication. A laser pointer and fibre was used to demonstrate. Also, a short movie was shown to provide an understanding of the fibre optic cable network that currently spans across the world. On the topic of fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) the concept of the photonic chip was introduced and some of its components, this was visualized with Sam Campbells' simulation and with our student competition winning movie "phrame by phrame photonics". Before summarizing and then discussing future research/ job opportunities, the students got to build their own network with the computer game "Photonic Simulator" made by Adam Strickland. They enjoyed this and were given a 20 minute time slot for some hands on learning. Before and after surveys were positive and showed that students did learn a lot about photonics. The general impression was that they enjoyed the dynamic structure of the talk, and they were asked many questions to encourage a dialogue. It was a good experience for both our presenters and the class and we hope we got the message through that photonics is fun! |
Demonstrating concepts to high school science teachers Assoc Prof Judith Dawes visited MLC School in Burwood on June 16, to speak to the Year 12 HSC and IB Physics classes. She talked about Lasers and Optical Fibres in Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, explaining her group's research in aspects of microsurgery and dentistry, and also showed a video and demonstrated some equipment that is used in this area. She explained how research results are disseminated to the wider community via research papers in journals, patents, and research theses. Students asked questions about the use of lasers in medicine, and in particular about careers in the field of physics and photonics, and they heard about some of the career paths that students from Macquarie have taken.
|
||
From left: Prof Ben Eggleton (Director of CUDOS), Dr Mark Butler (Gosford High School), Doug Little and Kali Madden (Macquarie University) catching up in the hall on the day of the teachers workshop. |
|
Inter-university outreach to demonstrate concepts to high school science teachers Macquarie PhD student Doug Little was asked by his former teacher, Dr Mark Butler (Head Science Teacher at Gosford High School) to lend a hand at a workshop for high school science teachers at Sydney University held on the 11-12 June. Doug was involved in the opening plenary presentation, in which Dr Butler gave a talk on the physics of climate change. Throughout the talk, Doug performed a number of simple demonstrations such as jiggling a spring (to simulate electromagnetic waves transferring energy) and blowing air into a beaker of water containing methyl blue (to show how Carbon Dioxide dissolved in water increases its acidity) when prompted by Mark throughout his presentation to demonstrate, for real, some of the concepts being discussed. The feedback from the teachers was overwhelmingly positive, the teachers received the talk with genuine enthusiasm and plenty of them remained after the talk to ask questions. For Doug it was a valuable experience discussing science and physics with people who are experienced in looking at science from a pedagogical (educational) perspective, given the increasing emphasis being placed on outreach and communicating research to non-scientists. |
May 2008
Gosford High School Talks
|
|
|
March 2008
2008 Manly Wharf Bridge to Beach Swim After only a little swim next to the Sydney Opera House last Sunday, our Ocean Swim Team were at it again today, this time determining to make proper use of one of the world's most beautiful harbours by getting in it, rather than travelling on it, as is the norm. Starting at a point next to the Sydney Harbour Bridge our brave first swimmer Dr Graham Marshall (top and bottom right), swam alone under the bridge, past Luna Park, and out to our waiting boat for a change over. The rules of the race were simple. It was a relay. Team sizes varied. Ours was four (with two avid supporters along for the ride). Each swimmer must always be accompanied by a kayak or boat tracking alongside them. No escort = disqualification. That last item caused some extra anxiety when motor trouble caused some emergency repair work part way through the race... Unable to let our swimmer know, we watched a dwindling head way ahead of us until he eventually stopped to tread water. Thanks very much to the kindly kayaker who did double duty for a while! A reserved table at the Manly Wharf Bavarian Bier Cafe for a sumptious lunch topped off the morning nicely. Kali was interested to note that her German lunch companion could not only vouch for the authenticity of the food, but was also doing a PhD on Events & Sports Management. This topic, as it turns out, looks at a variety of benefits and social impacts resulting from activities such as today's event and how they can benefit organisations. A confident swimmer at the next table told us we might like to consider doing the swim solo some time in the future. (Apparently accomplished by dwindling your team size each year until you are on your own). View the map here to get a sense of what that entails. With a final team time of 03:41:23 despite boat breakdowns, and possibly extended-length swims, we figure it was a good effort and folks are excited to go again next year. If you are a fellow member of CUDOS and keen to get in the ocean, let us know - an inter-university national team (or two?) could be just the thing! View our photos from the day here. There are also some *awesome* pics on the Ocean Swim site here. And with the help of some strategic tips from a member of the day's winning mixed team (met by chance at jury duty in Darlinghurst Court House when he* spotted the photo proof sheets from the day before - did you know ocean swimmers were everywhere??) keep an eye out for an even better time next time! Read more about the efforts of the newly formed MQ CUDOS Swim Team below. * Our thanks to Paul Duffy!
|
|
|
|
|
2008 Sydney Harbour Swim Classic What happens if you put a bunch of laser physicists into the Macquarie University (MQ) pool for a month or so and then send them off for a 2km swim in the famous Sydney Harbour Swim Classic? Well... Apart from the initial rain and cold, spirits were high, competition fierce (where did those olympic swimmers come from anyway), and a final placing of 2nd in their category saw the CUDOS MQ-Uni team bracing up for the 11km Bridge to Beach (Manly) swim the following Sunday. You can view the slideshow pictures from the day here. The team was quite a hit with visiting tourists. Note the CUDOS MQ Speedos*. For those who are not in the know, Speedos are a bit of a cultural icon in Australia, and their founder became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM). You can read more about him and the history of the innovative Speedo swimwear design here. This day was made possible not only through the initiative of our individual swimmers, but also the team effort was possible due to generous support from the MQ Community Engagement Unit, MQ Sport & Aquatic Centre and MQ CUDOS. Many thanks to all for what we hope will be a continuing tradition for the group and encouragement to other Healthy Staff at MQ. *Logo's on swimwear? Interestingly enough a fellow competitor recognised a team member by his CUDOS logo (!) amongst the 436 competitors in that race, and caught up afterwards for some shop talk. Images communicate volumes. To get yours, contact the wonderful folk at Monograma. |
February 2008
January 2008
Science Teachers learn about the latest in Photonics Judith Dawes presented a talk on Cutting Edge Research in CUDOS for a group of Science teachers from Catholic Schools, as part of their inservice training. The 1.5 hour talk included a discussion of lasers and their applications, optical fibres, and photonic communication systems, with demonstrations of lasers, optical fibres and light guiding, and a new computer-based photonic simulator designed for high school students [read more about the simulator here]. The talk was well-received, and one attendee suggested that Judith may also present the talk for a meeting of the Science Teachers Association. |
|
|
