Optics Camp Lets Students 'Listen to the Light'

Optics professor Franko Kueppers (far right) hosts "Listen to the Light,” a workshop on optical free-space transmission, at Arizona Youth University Optics Camp, held earlier this month at the University of Arizona’s College of Optical Sciences. The students used lasers and photo diodes to transmit music from their MP3 players across an optical table and along hallways across the building, using mirrors to set up an optical transmission path. At optics camp, students in grades 9-12 who are interested in science, math and high-tech gadgets become optics researchers -- alongside College of Optical Sciences professors, scientists and students -- by participating in hands-on optics experiments that illustrate the basics of optics light sources, vision, adaptive eyewear, lasers, art, organic LEDs, sound, photography, communication, medical optics and holograms.