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SPIE Cambridge Student Chapter

http://spiecambridge.com/

SPIE University of Cambridge

Student Chapter

2017-18 Annual Report

December 2018

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Dear SPIE,

We, SPIE University of Cambridge Student Chapter (CUSPIE), would like to submit our

2017-18 Annual Report.

This year we aimed the chapter and its activities at furthering our collaborations with

various departments and organizing more multi-disciplinary events.

Beginning the year with an event to gain insights into taking a project from the lab to

the industry, we invited Professor Daping Chu, the director of Centre for Advanced

Photonics and Electronics (CAPE). He is also the founder of ROADMap systems (a

startup in the field of optical telecommunication and data communication). Professor

Chu shared his ideas on what is required to take any idea from lab to the industry. Our

second guest for the night was a theoretical physicist who is now the CEO of VividQ a

company working on developing a software platform for 3D holographics. Although

from two completely different fields, the two speakers shared their experience and

journey with us, inspiring all young scientists with possible opportunities available to

them after their graduation!

In lent term we brought together young principal investigators (PIs) from different

departments to foster idea-sharing across departments and provide students an

opportunity to learn about optics and photonics research going on across various

disciplines and labs. We had PIs from the physics, chemistry, material science,

engineering departments and the cancer research institute. It was an incredible

evening with a multi-disciplinary audience. This opened channels of collaborations and

further cross-disciplinary projects both for the students and the PIs present at the

event.

Finally to look at the theme from a broader perspective, we invited field leaders working

on optics and photonics from physics, nanophotonics, chemistry departments and also

the graphene centre group to shed light on how their respective fields have grown in the

past 20 years and where they are headed in the future. This event was popular not only

amongst the graduate student body but also amongst the postdoctoral community and

the undergraduates.

All our events this year were sponsored by these institutions: Winton Programme of

Physics of Sustainability, Nano DTC, Sensor CDT, IPES (Integrated photonics and

electronic systems) CDT and the Cavendish laboratory. We are very grateful not only for

all the financial support but for the involvement of these societies in our events. We

hope to develop our network further in the coming years and make SPIE a networking

and professional development platform for graduate students.

Sincerely on behalf of the CUSPIE committee,

Arfa Karani (Chapter President)

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Chapter Advisor Dr. Sarah Bohndiek University Lecturer Group Leader, CRUK Cambridge Institute

Fellow of Corpus Christi College

SPIE University of Cambridge Student Chapter

Committee 17-18

Arfa Karani

President Cavendish Laboratory

Haralds Abolins

Vice President Cavendish Laboratory

Jiangbin Zhang Treasurer Cavendish

Laboratory

Dale Waterhouse Outreach Coordinator

Cavendish Laboratory

Qifei Gu Social

Coordinator Cavendish

Laboratory

Sascha Feldmann

Event Officer Cavendish

Laboratory

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Chapter Advisor Dr. Sarah Bohndiek University Lecturer Group Leader, CRUK Cambridge Institute

Fellow of Corpus Christi College

SPIE University of Cambridge Student Chapter

Committee 18-19

Haralds Abolins

President Cavendish Laboratory

Sascha

Feldmann Vice President Cavendish

Laboratory

Lina Hacker Outreach Coordinator

Cavendish Laboratory

Qinying Gu Treasurer Dept. of

Engineering

Philip Koehler Secretary

Cavendish Laboratory

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(NOTE: To strictly manage our balance, our bank account is a sub-account of

Cavendish Laboratory)

Account Name: KAFE.EGDT SPIE-Student Chapter Community

Table 1 Summary of Balance

Term Event Expense Incoming

Funds Account Balance

August 2017 account

balance £ 549.58 £ 549.58

Physics Department Funding £ 450 £ 999.58

Michaelmas 2017

From Lab to Enterprise event £ 200 £ 799.58

Winton sponsorship £ 100 £ 899.58

Nano DTC contribution £ 100 £ 999.58

Lent 2017

Young PIs event £ 55.60 £ 943.98

Winton programme sponsorship

£ 100 £ 1043.98

IPES CDT sponsorship £ 100 £ 1143.98

Sensor CDT sponsorship £ 100 £ 1243.98

Nano DTC sponsorship £ 100 £ 1343.98

Event promotion on Facebook

£ 15 £ 1328.98

Easter 2017

A Leader’s Panel event £ 304.80 £ 1024.18

Grand

Total £ 575.40 £ 1599.58 £ 1024.18

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Michaelmas term event description

From Lab to Start-up: Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Optics and

Photonics

Made by Qifei Gu

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On the evening of 27 November 2017 CUSPIE hosted an event bridging the gap

between academia and industry. With support from the EPSRC Doctoral Training

Centre in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (NanoDTC) as well as from Integrated

Photonic and Electronic Systems (IPES CDT) and the Winton Programme for the

Physics of Sustainability the event took place in the Maxwell Centre Cambridge to

successfully host an audience of more than 40 people. The event was inaugurated

by evening’s academic host, Winton Advanced Research Fellow Dr. Felix Deschler,

chairman of Physical Chemistry of Semiconductor Materials and Interfaces in the

2018 SPIE Nanoscience + Engineering conference. Dr. Deschler energetically

described the benefits of joining and becoming an active member of the SPIE

community.

The first talk on the topic of entrepreneurship in academia was presented by Prof.

Daping Chu. Prof. Chu is the head of the Photonics & Sensors group, director of

the Centre for Advanced Photonics and Electronics (CAPE) in Cambridge, and CTO

of ROADMap Systems. By relating know-how from fundamental research and

combining it with an entrepreneurial spirit, Prof Chu delivered unique insights in

transforming research ideas into businesses. In his talk Prof. Chu outlined the

many start-ups that have spun out of his research group.

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The second venture capital themed talk was given by Dr. Darran Milne CEO and

co-founder of VividQ, a company that develops highly realistic holographic display

technology for the augmented and virtual reality market. Dr. Milne explained how

challenging but also fulfilling the road from an original research idea to an actual

product can be, including a cross-over from science courses to entrepreneurship.

The evening concluded with food and drinks allowing the fascinated

audience to network and learn more about the speakers’ background and carrier in a more informal environment.

Written by Sascha Feldmann

Photo taken by Dale Waterhouse

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Lent term event description

Young Principal Inverstigators: UNCENSORED!

Made by Dale Waterhouse

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One minute slides from PIs

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Slides prepared by speakers and compiled by Arfa Karani

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Young PIs Uncensored

3/24/2018

Last week 6 young principal investigators from 5 departments across the University

of Cambridge gathered with an audience of around 50 students to share their top

tips for becoming a successful group leader in optics and photonics.

Left to right: Hannah Joyce (Engineering), Steven Lee (Chemistry), Emilie Ringe

(Materials), Sam Stranks (Physics), Stefanie Reichelt (CRUK) and Sarah Bohndiek

(CRUK).

After briefly introducing their research in a short flash presentation, the PIs

gathered at the front of the lecture theatre to take part in a stimulating panel

discussion.

Outreach aficionados in the audience were delighted to hear the majority of group

leaders recommend outreach and public engagement as a method of enhancing

communication skills. Sarah Bohndiek emphasised that the ability to communicate

with the public goes hand in hand with the ability to effectively communicate the

core ideas of a research proposal, increasing the chances of securing the crucial

funding required to run a successful research group. Steven Lee echoed this,

explaining that running his podcast, TheScienceShed, had taught him to better

convey his scientific ideas.

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The young researchers also discussed carving out your research niche, though

there was disagreement on whether to find your own, with Stefanie Reichelt

revealing she had her own microscope at the age of 12, or whether to let your niche

find you. Indeed, many niches come in and out of fashion anyway.

Alternatively, Emilie Ringe emphasised the importance of finding your niche skill

set by imagining a 3 circle Venn diagram of skills. Should only 2 circles of unique

skills be currently on this imaginary figure, she explained, you should search for a

third, such that the intersection of the three represents a unique skill set only you

possess.

Panel discussing Emilie Ringe’s Venn diagram of skills.

Hannah Joyce pointed out that you don’t necessarily need to be an extrovert to be

enthusiastic about your research and convey that to others, a reassuring message

to the more introverted members of the audience. She went on to explain that

professional presentation training was available to help us to communicate our

research more effectively.

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A shared laugh as the PIs admit that the majority of academic endeavours result in

failure.

Sam Stranks remarked on how the best chances of success can be achieved by

making your work stand out as much as possible. Reassuringly though, the PIs

were unified in admitting that the majority of academic endeavours result in failure,

at all stages and for all people. The key, as cliché as it may be, is to keep trying and

never give up!

The young investigators also highlighted networking as a crucial aspect of

becoming a PI, and the SPIE student chapter gave aspiring PIs the opportunity to

do so following the panel, laying on a wine and nibbles. Indeed, attendees took the

advice on board, enjoying the outstanding refreshments and food kindly supported

by our sponsors, many sticking around to mingle with the PIs and one another for

well over an hour after the scheduled end time of the event.

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The attendees put their networking skills to the test.

Steven Lee, Sarah Bohndiek and Sam Stranks answer attendees’ questions.

The committee would like to extend a special thanks to Sarah Bohndiek, Sam

Stranks, Steven Lee, Hannah Joyce, Emilie Ringe and Stefanie Reichelt for giving

up an evening to share their experiences. We would also like to thank our kind

sponsors, the Department of Physics, The Winton Programme for the Physics of

Sustainability, CamBridgeSens, Nano DTC and IPES CDT on behalf of all the

attendees and the CUSPIE committee.

Photos and article by Dale Waterhouse

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Looking Into the Future of Research: A Leaders' Panel

Looking Into the Future of Research: A Leaders' Panel

6/3/2018

Last week the SPIE Student Chapter gathered four of leaders in photonics from

around Cambridge. Professor Sir Richard Friend, Director of the Maxwell

Centre, Professor Andrea Ferrari, Director of the Graphene Centre, Professor

Jeremy Baumberg, Director of the Nanophotonics Centre, and Professor Oren

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Scherman, Director of the Melville Laboratory gathered to discuss the future of

research.

Each of the esteemed speakers gave a fifteen minute presentation of their work,

and speculated about the future of their research. Following this, the professors

took part in a lively panel discussion, with questions directed at the panel from an

audience of around 100 graduate and postgraduate students.

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From Left: Prof. Andrea Ferrari, Prof. Sir Richard Friend, Prof. Jeremy Baumberg,

Prof. Oren Scherman

As well as some serious discussion around the topics of scientific funding and

undergraduate teaching, the panel also shared some laughter whilst discussing the

pros and cons of their respective fields, and their past interactions.

Following the talks, the audience were invited to join the professors at a drinks

reception with wine and pizza being provided by the student chapter, a perfect

chance for the professors to answer any further questions they had evaded during

the panel discussion.

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The SPIE Cambridge Student Chapter would like to thank the Winton Programme

for Physics of Sustainability, the Sensor Doctoral Training Center (CambridgeSense)

and the Integrated Photonics and Electronics System Center for Doctoral Training

(IPES CDT) for their sponsorship for this event.

Photos and article by Dale Waterhouse

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Committee Outreach Activities

Posted on March 23rd, 2018 By Outreach

Categories: Outreach Tags:

A bulky suitcase full of optical and biomedical equipment made its way to South Yorkshire last week, accompanied by Dale Waterhouse, Joanna Brunker and Lina Hacker, from VISIONLab. This equipment, kindly supported by an SPIE Education Outreach Grant, and put together by Dale

and Joanna in the last 6 months, illustrates the use of light and sound in detecting cancer.

‘The Colour and Sound of Cancer’, a one hour class built around four hands on demonstrations, was shared with seven classes of students at two

schools, Maltby Academy, where Dale studied from 2003 – 2010, and Sir Thomas Wharton Academy in nearby Edlington.

Through the four demonstrations the students learned how we can use light and sound to help us understand cancer.

First, the students used spectrometers, devices that split light into a

spectrum of many hundreds of different colours, to discover that individual constituents of living things have unique fingerprints, or ‘characteristic spectra’.

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Next, the students saw this principle put to the test using pulse oximeters, devices that clip onto the finger and shine red light into the fingertip,

through to the other side, where the amount of light passing through, and the known spectral fingerprint of blood, is used to calculate the amount of oxygen in the blood.

Unfortunately, red light can only penetrate a few centimetres into the body,

so it isn’t very useful for imaging the deeper organs. To reach these deeper areas, we can use ultrasound.

The students wasted no time in slapping on the ultrasound gel and taking to the task at hand; attempting to measure their pulse rate with an ultrasound

probe designed for checking a baby’s heartbeat before birth. Some were successful. Others could not hear their pulse above the laughter of their classmates as they struggled to position the probe alongside the gel.

Finally, we demonstrated the combination of light and sound in a device called a ‘photophone’. This device allows us to ‘listen’ to light!

The students plugged their mobile phones into a specially designed torch.

The light from this torch pulses with the music. Then, across the room, a stethoscope, the device doctors use to listen to our hearts, can be used to ‘listen’ to the light. Though this is tricky in a noisy classroom, the students

determinedly took to the task, some managing to listen to their favourite music shone across the classroom on a light beam.

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We wrapped up our classes with an update on the work we are doing in our labs in Cambridge, emphasising our use of the principles learned in science

class at school. We tried to emphasise that while science in school may sometimes seem disconnected from the world, perhaps even a little dry,

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there are many applications of science in research, and that many of these are multidisciplinary, crossing the traditional boundaries between biology,

chemistry and physics.

We would like to thank the staff and students of Maltby Academy and Sir Thomas Wharton Academy for being so welcoming, and the students in

particular for showing so much enthusiasm for the demonstrations and for making our visit thoroughly entertaining. We hope to keep in touch in the future.

This work was kindly supported by SPIE – the international society for

optics and photonics, whom we thank for their contribution on behalf of all those involved.

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SPIE Optics + Photonics 2018

Officer Travel Grant Report

Benefits:

- 100% Registration fee waiver

- Accommodation sponsored and arranged by SPIE

- Airfare, ground transport and meals funded by the grant (up to $1800)

- Poster printing and other miscellaneous costs

Outreach is a significant part of any scientific achievement. When you make

advancements in science, along with publishing it in journals, it is important to

present such results in conferences. SPIE provides students with unique

opportunity to present their scientific research at a leading conference in optics &

photonics while getting involved in many other exciting activities with students and

facilitators from all around the globe. Through this article, I will try and channel

the sense of exuberance I felt throughout this trip to San Diego!

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Leadership workshop: Traveling to a new country all by yourself can be a daunting

experience. Although I’ve travelled to a lot of countries, I realized I was always

accompanied by a friend or a colleague on most of my trips. This trip however, was

going to be my first trip alone. I was nervous ever since we took off an hour late

from London. I somehow made it to my connecting flight in time, but unfortunately

(or fortunately) my flight from Dallas to Los Angeles was delayed by 3 hours. This

meant that I was going to miss the last train at night (10:20pm) from Los Angeles to

San Diego (my final destination). Since the delay was due to a maintenance issue

by the airline, they offered me a hotel room to stay for the night and I could take

the first train in the morning to San Diego. A couple of hours later, but I finally

made it to the leadership workshop! And all that nerve-wrecking travel seemed so

worth it!

It was a day full of exciting activities with chapter officers from all across the globe.

In groups of 7-10 people we got to interact and perform tasks with a team full of

young leaders. From tackling situations like handing over the chapter to a new

committee to running a chapter efficiently we discussed and concluded on best

strategies to overcome challenges with SPIE Student Chapters. Jean-Luc Doumont,

led the workshop with great enthusiasm while teaching us the dos and don’ts for

becoming a successful leader. It was a fruitful day full of activities that helped all

the 180 of us to mingle and get to know each other!

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Outreach Games: Following the networking and workshop activities on Saturday, it

was our chance to demonstrate our chapter outreach kits to a global audience on

Sunday. With over 20 stalls in place, the exhibition room was ready to host

audiences with varied backgrounds. Iliya Stoev, CUSPIE (Cambridge University

SPIE Chapter) member, helped me set up our outreach stall called ‘The Colour and

Sound of Cancer’.

Using a few Pulse Oximeters, a digital stethoscope and a modulated light torch, we

demonstrated the use of light in detecting cancer. The pulse oximeters were used to

demonstrate how the simple principle of light absorption was used to measure the

amount of oxygen in one’s blood. Followed by that explanation, we conveyed how

the absorbed light can be detected in our bodies through ultrasound detectors

instead of light detectors. Although the background noise in the room made it very

difficult for to demonstrate the functioning of our photophone, we had a great time

explaining the importance of optics in earl detection of cancer.

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Chapter Mixer: Outreach activities, although crucial, are only a part of what we do

as student chapters. There was a lot more we needed to share about our chapters

and learn from other chapters. SPIE gave us the opportunity to do so at the

Chapter Mixer. An evening of poster sessions where we presented posters about the

activities we carry out in our respective chapters. University of Cambridge, being

one of the youngest chapter present, got a lot of attention especially for having

reached various departments across the University with our activities.

Conference Presentation: Being actively involved with various networking and

chapter activities during the evenings, we had our mornings booked with scientific

talks. As it was a conference with representation from various fields, the SPIE

Conference app allowed us to make sure we were aware of all the relevant talks

happening at every hour of the day. Personally for me, as I work on fabricating

solution processed tandem solar cells, while developing theoretical models to

understand the potential of my devices, there were a wide range of talks that

appealed to me. From industrial (III-V) tandem solar cells to multi-junction organic

tandem cells, it was an incredible experience finding out about all the problems we

have been solving as a community in this field. Finally, I had the opportunity to

present my work on solution-processed tandem solar cells to a room full of

experienced researchers. It was my first ever conference talk and the most fulfilling

experience I’ve had so far in my science career. I got a lot of encouraging

suggestions and comments on what the future holds for my research project.

Hopefully, I’ve managed to convince you that SPIE Student Chapters offer a lot

more than just individual events. It offers you the opportunity to be a part of an

entire community of like-minded scientists who are keen to develop their skills in

every sector and not just education.

Supporting Document - Website, social platform and media coverage

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Homepage of chapter website

As a chapter, our active Website and Facebook group have reached a wide

community of people outside and inside Cambridge, respectively. The

website is designed to be the window for other bodies to get knowledge of

what is going on in our chapter. After every event, we summarize share our

stories. For the Facebook group with around 82 members, this unique

multimedia platform enables us to contain various forms to people where we

share our coming activities, event summaries and optics-related news from

SPIE as well.