The mission of the chapter reflects the mission of parent SPIE organization, which involves "advancing an interdisciplinary approach to the science and application of light". To this end, the Chapter's activities are two-pronged:
- Outreach: to reach out to the community to promote the cause of scientific study and thinking.
- Professional Development: to support the Chapter members in their professional development through invited lectures on scientific topics, as well as professional development opportunities to help members develop skills in presentation, leadership, and scientific development.
Outreach
In outreach, the chapter caters to a wide variety of people. Recently we have expanded outreach activities to local schools (middle, high) to promote science education. Some of our past outreach events are:
- We host the Expanding Your Horizons conference to promote science education among middle-school girls. The event involves approximately 250 children.
- In collaboration with other professional student organizaitons (see below), the Chapter hosts an open-house event - Optics Day - to promote the understanding of Optics in the University and beyond. The event gathers some 300 visitors.
- To promote informal conversation, networking, and discussion, the chapter hosts one of a handful of KHET Tournaments (a chess-like game using lasers) in the country.
Professional Development
The chapter hosts a few invited speakers every year. In the past we have hosted:
- Dr. Jeffery Saul of FIU, invited to speak on the current state of active-learning education methodology.
- Dr. Nicoleta Sorloacia-Hickman of the Florida Solar Energy Center, invited to speak on the current state of solar energy harvesting technology. DVD available upon request.
Miscellaneous Information
- Chapter elections are typically in the early Fall - September or so.
- The Chapter President is an ex-officio member of the executive board of the CREOL Association of Optics Students (CAOS), which is an umbrella organization of the SPIE, OSA, IEEE/LEOS, SID Chapters at CREOL. As such, the chapter participates collaboratively with the other professional organizations in outreach and professional development events.