Spring 2018 Schedule

  • Friday, January 12th, 2018 through Thursday, January 25th, 2018, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Monday-Friday
    • What: Holography Show
    • Where: 215 Barnard
    • Topic: Bring family and friends to see various forms of holograms, optical illusions, and other fun exhibits at this self-guided tour open to the public. This event is produced by Paul Rugheimer, Ph.D, Assistant Teaching Professor from the Physics Department.
  • Wednesday, January 17th, 2018, 5:00-6:00 PM
    • What: Meeting
    • Where: 330 Cobleigh (Lloyd Berg Conference Room)
    • Speaker: Ryan Galloway, M.S. in Optics and Photonics student at Montana State University
    • Topic: Galloway will give his talk, “Intro to Coherent Imaging”.  Coherent imaging is a way to recover the amplitude and phase of an optical field. With this information, one can use Fourier optics methods to create an image of an object, using the amplitude and phase of the coherent light that scattered off of it. He will talk about how this is done in terms of a common coherent imaging technique, Off-Axis Digital Holography. This discussion will be continued in more detail in his upcoming M.S. Thesis defense.
  • Thursday, January 25th, 2018, 3:10-4:00 PM
    • What: Master's in Optics and Photonics Thesis Defense
    • Where: 258 Barnard (Dayton Conference Room)
    • Speaker: Ryan Galloway, M.S. in Optics and Photonics candidate at Montana State University
    • Topic: Galloway, current Vice President of this SPIE Student Chapter, will defend his thesis entitled, “Coherent Imaging Via Temporal Heterodyne and Spatial Shearing Methods”.
  • Wednesday, February 7th, 2018, 5:00-6:00 PM
    • What: Meeting
    • Where: 330 Cobleigh (Lloyd Berg Conference Room)
    • Speaker: Margaret Ramsden, Director of Education, Children's Museum of Bozeman
    • Topic: Children's Museum of Bozeman and Science Education
    • About: Ramsden will be speaking on the observations of the current science education climate in the area. Additionally, she will speak on behalf of the Museum for their plans, events and exhibits for the coming year.
  • Wednesday, February 21st, 2018, 5:00-6:00 PM
    • What: Meeting
    • Where: 330 Cobleigh (Lloyd Berg Conference Room)
    • Speaker: Christie Bell, MTIP (Montana Technology Innovation Partnership)
    • Topic: In this talk, Bell will be speaking about the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) federal grant.  MTIP offers free technical assistance to help individuals and organizations access the SBIR.
  • Thursday, February 22nd, 2018, 4:10-5:00 PM
    • What:OpTeC Colloquium (SPIE Guest Speaker)
    • Where: 210 Roberts
    • Speaker: Cody Youngbull, Research Professor at University of Montana, Flathead Lake Biological Station Director
    • Topic: Emulsion Droplet Microfluidics for Digital Quantification of eDNA: Automatic Detection of Invasive Species
    • Abstract: Dr. Youngbull will speak about a novel field instrument for detecting the presence and activity of life from environmental water and air samples. The instrument is based on emulsion droplet microfluidic technology which allows for digital quantification by stochastic fluorescence signal detection. The instrument was developed at Flathead Lake Biological Station (FLBS) and is currently being deployed in the fight against the invasion of non-native freshwater mussels here in Montana. At the end of the talk, Dr. Youngbull will be presenting SensorSpace: A Cutting-Edge NSF Facility for Environmental Sensor Education, Design, Prototyping, Production, and Deployment. FLBS is offering a NASA Montana Space Grant supported internship and for-credit Summer classes and hands-on training in the development of embedded systems and sensors for ecological monitoring. 
  • Wednesday, February 28th, 2018, 5:00 PM
  • Thursday, March 1st, 2018, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM and 4:30-7:00 PM
    • What: MSU Family Science Day "NanoLand"
    • Where: SUB Ballrooms
    • About: Volunteer to give kids an introduction to nanotechnology. The morning section will be hosting classes from local middle schools, while the evening section will be open to the public. There will be setup and cleanup before and after. More information about the evening event can be found here.
    • If you are interested in volunteering, email Prof. Wataru Nakagawa (wataru.nakagawa@ece.montana.edu) and specify which time block you are available. You may volunteer for both time blocks, and if you need to arrive late or leave early to either block you may, as long as you are there for most of the time period.
  • Thursday, March 8th, 2018, 8:00 AM - 2:30 PM
    • What: Engineer-a-thon
    • Where: Shroyer Gym, Marga Hosaeus Fitness Center
    • About: Volunteer at the SPIE booth at this event. Demonstrate to participating students how polarized materials and other light filters interact with infrared light. If interested, please sign up using the link below.
    • Sign up to volunteer here. Available shifts are 1 hour long (set up), 3 hours long (first session), and 2 1/2 hours long (second session and take down).
  • Thursday, March 22nd, 2018, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
    • What: Student Luncheon with SPIE Guest Speaker
    • Where: 608 Cobleigh
    • Speaker: Dr. Christopher Middlebrook
    • About: Come meet and discuss with Dr. Middlebrook, who will be presenting the OpTeC Colloquium later that day (see below). Students may come and go anytime during the luncheon. Sandwiches will be provided.
  • Thursday, March 22nd, 2018, 4:00 PM
    • What: OpTeC Colloquium (SPIE Guest Speaker)
    • Where: 210 Roberts
    • Speaker: Dr. Christopher Middlebrook
    • Topic: Careers in Optics, Photonics, and Engineering; Graduate School vs. Industry
    • About: Dr. Middlebrook will talk about various options including both industrial and graduate school that are available to engineering/science students pursuing degrees with an emphasis in the areas of optics and photonics. From the industrial perspective, how you can market yourself to employers showcasing your core engineering science background while also promoting your specialization in optics and photonics. In terms of graduate school, what are the key steps in identifying and gaining admission to a university and program that best suits your personal and research interests. The two paths, graduate school vs. industry, will be contrasted with a discussion on pursuing both concurrently.
  • Tuesday, March 27th, 2018, 3:00 - 4:30 PM
    • What: Professional Headshots Event
    • Where: SUB 235
    • About: Come and get your professional headshot taken for free! This is a great opportunity to get a professional photograph for use on a professional website, resume, etc.
    • If interested in attending, please sign up here.
  • Wednesday, April 4th, 2018, 5:30 PM
    • What: Company Tour
    • Where: Montana Instruments - 101 Evergreen Dr, Bozeman, MT 59715
    • About: Tour a local company which designs and manufactures high-performance, easy-to-use cryostats. More information about the company may be found here.
    • Note: The tour group will meet in the Barnard Hall atrium at 5:00 pm and then drive over to the company. 
    • Please sign up for the tour using the form here. This form is also for the company tour on Wednesday, April 11th. You only need to fill out the form once.
  • Wednesday, April 11th, 2018, 5:30 PM
  • Thursday, April 12th, 2018, 5:00-7:00 PM
    • What: MPIA Spring Networking Social
    • Where: Quantel Laser - 49 Willow Peak Drive, Bozeman, MT, 59718
    • About: The Montana Photonics Industry Alliance (MPIA) and Quantel Laser are hosting an evening of networking with Montana optics and photonics companies, entrepreneurs, laboratories, faculty and students. Refreshments will be provided by Quantel Laser.
  • Sunday, April 15th, 2018, 9:30 AM - 2:30 PM
    • What: Astronomy & Aerospace Day
    • Where: Museum of the Rockies
    • About: Volunteer at the SPIE booth at this event, or attend to learn about space and its relation to our lives on Earth. The SPIE booth will showcase polarization demonstrations. Info about Astronomy and Aerospace Day may be found here.
    • If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out the form here. Two shifts are available: from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm and from 12:00 pm to 2:30 pm.
  • Wednesday, April 18th, 2018, 5:00-6:00 PM
    • What: Meeting
    • Where: 330 Cobleigh (Lloyd Berg Conference Room)
    • Speaker: Dr. Ioannis Roudas, Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
    • Topic: Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) Optical Communication Systems
    • Abstract: The long-haul telecommunications traffic due to cloud computing, internet of things, 5G wireless, and the worldwide generation and web storage of an unprecedented amount of data, is expected to grow by 30%-60% per year in the near future. Such rapid exponential annual growth can cause severe congestion in the fiber-optic backbone network within the next ten years. Few-mode fibers (FMFs) and multicore fibers (MCFs) have the potential to replace single-mode fibers (SMFs) in congested optical communications links. Space-division multiplexing (SDM) can be used to transmit independent data streams on different fiber modes or cores. Coherent detection and digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms can be used to compensate interference due to coupling among modes or cores, respectively. Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) optical communications systems use all aforementioned technologies for the reliable transmission of information between two locations. The purpose of this tutorial presentation is to explain the basic principles of optical MIMO transmission and to provide a research road map for long-haul optical communications for the near future.
    • Elections: SPIE Student Chapter Officer Elections will take place during this meeting. If you are interested in becoming an SPIE officer, please fill out the form here before this meeting. If you have questions about the officer positions, you may email the current officers at the addresses listed.