SPIE Annual Report (2015-2016)University of California, Berkeley

February 1, 2016

Contents

1 Student Roster 21.1 Elected Officers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.2 Complete Roster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 Chapter Activity (2015-2016) 42.1 Invited Talks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.2 Photobears Sponsored Dissertation Talks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.3 Official Chapter Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3 Plans for Forthcoming Activities 63.1 Invited Talks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.2 Social/Networking Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3.2.1 Star Gazing at Chabot Space and Science Center . . . . . . . . . . . 63.2.2 Tour of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.2.3 Joint trip to the Exploratorium with Stanford . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3.3 Outreach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73.4 2016 Activities Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4 Finances 9

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Section 1

Student Roster

1.1 Elected Officers

For the most up to date version of the student roster, please visit the Photobears website1.

Michael Chenmchen0405 at berkeley.eduSPIE ID: 3667390

President

Andrew Michaelsamichaels at berkeley.eduSPIE ID: 3735439

Vice President

Patrick Xiaoptxiao at berkeley.eduSPIE ID: 3742001

Treasurer

Jodi Loojodi.loo at berkeley.eduSPIE ID: 3741996

Secretary

Regina Eckerteckert at berkeley.eduSPIE ID: 3739402

Outreach Coordinator

1photobears.berkeley.edu

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1.2 Complete Roster

Member Name Email Role

Michael Chen mchen0405 at berkeley.edu President

Andrew Michaels amichaels at berkeley.edu Vice President

Patrick Xiao ptxiao at berkeley.edu Treasurer

Jodi Loo jodi.loo at berkeley.edu Secretary

Regina Eckert eckert at berkeley.edu Outreach Coordinator

Adair Gerke sagerke at gmail.com

Phil Sandborn sandborn at berkeley.edu

Gregg Scranton greggscranton at gmail.com

Aamod Shanker aamodsh at gmail.com

Indrasen Bhattacharya indrasen at berkeley.edu

Herbert Liu hyliu at berkeley.edu

Zain Zaidi zzaidi at berkeley.edu

Jonas Kapraun krapun.jonas at berkeley.edu

Grace Kuo gkuo at berkeley.edu

Nick Antipa naantipa at gmail.com

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Section 2

Chapter Activity (2015-2016)

During the 2015 calendar year, we held a number of Photobears sponsored talks. Amongthese talks were two invited speakers and a handful of dissertation talks given by gradu-ating students in the area of optoelectronics. In addition to sponsored talks, three officialPhotobears meetings were held during which lunch was provided to attending members.

2.1 Invited Talks

In order to promote interesting speakers, boost attendance to chapter events, and facilitatenetworking opportunities, Photobears sponsored two talks by speakers from industry andacademia. Refreshments were provided to both of these events in order to further encourageattendance.

The invited speakers from industry and academia are as follows:

1. Ali Eftekhari-Bafrooei, Ph.D, Newport – Newport Lunch and Learn – “Overview ofTechnical Aspects of Newport Technology and Application Center (TAC) Products”

2. Jan Balzer, Ph.D, Philipp-Universitat Marburg – “Novel concepts for the generationof fs light pulses with semiconductor lasers”

2.2 Photobears Sponsored Dissertation Talks

In order to promote visibility of work done by student members of photobears, five disser-tation talks given by graduating students in optoelectronics were advertised by Photobears.In order to promote attendance, Photobears provided refreshments for the talks.

The sponsored dissertation talks are as follows:

1. Vidya Ganapati, UC Berkeley – “Optical Design Considerations for High ConversionEfficiency in Photovoltaics”

2. Fanglu Lu, UC Berkeley – “III-V Nanolaser Integration with CMOS Electronics andSilicon Photonics”

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3. James Ferrara, UC Berkeley – “High Contrast Metastructures on Silicon for Optoelec-tronic Devices”

4. Samarth Bhargava, UC Berkeley – “Inverse Design and Nano-Antennas to AdvanceCloud Storage Hardware”

5. Ryan Going, UC Berkeley – “Ultra-low Energy Photoreceivers for Optical Intercon-nects”

2.3 Official Chapter Meetings

Three official Photobears meetings were held during the 2015 calendar year. The first ofthese meetings took place in April 2015. During this meeting, plans for the remainder of theyear were made. Unfortunately, Photobears became relatively inactive between the first andsecond meeting and the second meeting did not take place until December 2015. During thesecond meeting, new officers were elected and the organization began efforts to reorganizefor 2016.

The final meeting of the year took place in January 2016 and served as the 2016 Photo-bears kickoff meeting. In addition to introducing new members, we brainstormed activitiesfor future activities and delegated planning responsibilities to those interested. At the endof the meeting, it was agreed that future meetings would be held at 2:00pm every otherThursday during the Spring Semester 2016.

Figure 2.1: Photo taken following new officer elections in December 2015.

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Section 3

Plans for Forthcoming Activities

It should be noted that the chapter underwent a six month period of relative inactivity. As aresult, the Photobears offerings during the 2015 calendar year were sparse and documentationof those events minimal. Considerable efforts are now being made to reinvigorate the chapter,entice new members to join, and plan future activities.

3.1 Invited Talks

As a chapter, we will be making a strong effort to organize a number of talks throughout2016. These will be given by speakers from both academia and industry, and will cater tothose interested in optics, optoelectronics, and computational photography/computer vision.

The first of these talks is scheduled to take place on Tuesday February 16, 2016 and willbe given by Professor Eli Kapon from EPFL. Subsequent talks are still being planned.

In order to take advantage of the close proximity of UC Berkeley and Stanford Univer-sity, discussion of “faculty speaker trades” has begun. It is our hope that we can arrangefor faculty in optics-related fields from both universities to give chapter-sponsored talks.As evidence of the feasibilty of speaker trading, similar arrangements have been executedsuccessfully in the past.

3.2 Social/Networking Activities

One of our primary goals is to foster a sense of community among those studying or interestedin optics-relate fields. To this end, we are planning a number of social and networkingactivities.

3.2.1 Star Gazing at Chabot Space and Science Center

In order to bring members of the optics community at UC Berkeley together, we are planninga trip to the Chabot Space and Science Center for an evening of star gazing. The ChabotSpace and Science Center, located in Oakland, CA, is a facility that offers group eventsfocused on the observation and exploration of outer space. The Chabot observatories arehome to several telescopes, which are used to offer public viewings of various celestial objects.

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Group events can be scheduled with Chabot, including planetarium events, science centerevents, observatory visits, solar viewing, and evening viewing using the Center’s telescopes.These events are excellent for demonstrating and experiencing the utility and power of opticalinstruments in space exploration. Discounts are offered for college students and groups of15 or more.

3.2.2 Tour of the National Ignition Facility (NIF)

In addition to star gazing, there are numerous other opportunities to promote educationin optics in and around the bay area. In particular, NIF, the worlds largest laser facility,is located nearby in Livermore, CA. NIF holds records for being the most precise and re-producible laser as well as the largest optical instrument. The giant laser has about fortythousand optics that precisely guide, reflect, amplify, and focus 192 laser beams onto a fusiontarget that is about 1 cm3 size. We are currently contacting NIF to plan a tour for membersof Photobears. This would be a great chance to explore a real world application of opticsresearch, and we also hope that it will attract new members to Photobears.

3.2.3 Joint trip to the Exploratorium with Stanford

While facilitating networking within UC Berkeley and the directly adjacent community isone of Photobear’s primary goals, it is important to us that we develop a relationship withthe optics community at large. In a step towards achieving this goal, we hope to hold jointsocial events with Stanford’s SPIE Chapter, the Stanford Photons.

Tentative plans for a meetup at the Exploratorium in San Francisco have been discussed.The Exploratorium is a museum with a large collection of hands-on exhibits which teachvisitors about a wide array of topics in science and engineering. Of particular interest is the“After Dark” event, which invites members of the community over the age of 18 to enjoy theexhibits every Thursday night. We plan to defray the cost of transportation and admission tothe event for chapter members in order to enable the greatest amount of attendance possible.

3.3 Outreach

In addition to inviting speakers, holding networking events, and social activities, we aremaking a strong effort to give back to the community. To do so, we are investigating andactively planning a number of outreach events with organizations already well establishedat UC Berkeley. In particular, we are planning to design lessons in optics geared towardelementary and middle school students. We will pair with outreach programs in place at UCBerkeley, such as Bay Area Scientists in Schools (BASIS) and Students for EnvironmentalEnergy Development (SEED), to present these modules in local schools to increase scienceand optics literacy in our community.

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3.4 2016 Activities Budget

A rough estimate of the expenses anticipated for the 2016 calendar year are tabulated below.The values listed comprise a conservative estimate, and the exact budgeting will be subjectto change as additional funding is acquired throughout the year.

Invited Talks $900

Social/Networking $600

Star Gazing $245

NIF Tours $50

Exploratorium Visit $300

Outreach $500

Chapter Meetings $500

Total Budget $2500

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Section 4

Finances

Due to Photobear’s limited activity, both expenditures and new funding were minimal. Thedetails are tabulated below.

Begining Balance (February 2015) $2491

Expenses: $780

Photobears meetings $270

Sponsored visitor talks $209

Refreshments for dissertation talks $229

Bank Fees $76

Income $800

SPIE Funding $0

OSA Funding $800

Ending Balance (February 2016) $2511

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