To strengthen professional connections, expand awareness of optics and photonics, and encourage interest in both fields, two staffers at AmeriCOM have been working the crowds lately both in the Rochester area and across the country.
Magda Hernandez Otero, AmeriCOM’s Program Manager of Workforce Development, and Donna Smith, Science Educator Liaison, travelled to Bozeman, Montana, for the Montana State University (MSU) Gallatin College GC-360 youth outreach event, where they engaged more than 300 students with hands-on optics activities. While there, Hernandez and Smith also connected with the Montana Photonics and Quantum Alliance during their Spring Networking Event. They also presented at the Montana Department of Labor Job Service Bozeman on local photonics career paths.
AmeriCOM’s Magda Hernandez Otero and Donna Smith attend the Montana State University, Gallatin College GC-360, a career and technical education expo event.
Donna Smith and Magda Hernandez Otero are ready to greet students at their MSU GC-360 table.
Donna Smith leads students, grades 7-12, in a hands-on exercise of making their own hologram viewers.
The pair then continued their outreach in Rochester, New York, at two RochesterWorks career fairs, as well as a joint event with Monroe Community College (MCC) Optical Systems Technology and the University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics at Rochester’s legendary Lilac Festival.
Smith also engaged in science educator development. First, in Arizona, where AmeriCOM and the Southwest Center for Optics and Photonics (SCOP) hosted a two-day Optics Technology Professional Development Workshop for STEM educators. Donna led this workshop, introducing teachers to the diverse career paths in optics and photonics and shared ways to integrate those topics into their existing curriculum.
Next, Smith led a virtual photonics education workshop at the MSU GEAR Up Teacher Camp for middle school teachers from rural areas. This workshop coached participants in how to teach the concept of optics in their classrooms and excite kids about the career paths it can take them on. As part of the workshop, teachers also toured MSU’s photonics labs and explored the various optics units available on the AmeriCOM resources page, gaining firsthand experience to bring back to their students.
Hernandez Otero represented AmeriCOM at the ROC The Block Employment & Resource Community Fair in Rochester, as well as the city’s Downtown Community Resource Fair.
And in July, these two busy professionals hosted a STEM tent at the Airshow with the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo, New York.