3 Questions with Tracey R. Jones

Photonics Media spoke with Tracey R. Jones, senior graphic designer at Ocean Insight and creator of a video competition called Spectroscopy Star. Photo courtesy of Video Shampoo.

What got you thinking about running a contest?

Our customers are doing some really cool things with our products and solutions to unlock the unknown. We wanted to shine the spotlight on ways they’re working to make the world a safer, cleaner, and healthier place for our future generations. Spectroscopy can be used to find limitless answers to unknowns. In using light to interrogate the world around us, we can begin to explore the possibilities and offer solutions to some of the most challenging problems. Everything starts with a question. Just ASK (Applied Spectral Knowledge).

Is there anything in particular we should know about the competition?

Anyone using Ocean Insight solutions or products is eligible to participate. The contest, which recently closed for submissions, has generated a lot of interest. We use social media, our eNewswire subscriber list, and PR to promote it.

The annual competition yields Ocean Insight equipment credit to five winners. First place: $3000; second place: $2000; third place: $1000; fourth and fifth places: $500. A panel composed of Ocean Insight spectroscopy experts determines winners, and each winner will have his/her/their own personal sales engineer to help redeem the prize for the best solution for his/her/their equipment needs. Also, the top three winners could earn a professionally filmed video about their project.

How did it go last year?

Fantastic! We had participants as young as eighth grade submitting videos. That eighth grader was the exceptional Kylah Blough, who won third place and who was studying butterfly behavior and how markings are used for communication. Our second-place winner, Dan Burns, stumbled upon a cool experiment by dipping LEDs into liquid nitrogen. And our first-place winner, Dr. Joris DeLanghe, along with his scientific partner, Dr. Elisabeth VanAken, are using spectroscopy to diagnose and treat cataracts.

A screen grab of Dr. Joris DeLanghe using spectroscopy on a patient to diagnose and treat cataracts. Courtesy of Ocean Insight.