2024 Photo Galleries

On December 12th outside of the Meinel building, the final staff recognition awards were presented after a fantastic meal during the Wyant College Staff Appreciation and Holiday Luncheon. Awards presented included the 4th Quarter Peer-to-Peer, Jason Orlowski; November SPOT Award, Hillary Mathis; and the Honorable Mention, Ian Arnold; and Employee of the Year, Nathan Martinez. The celebration ended with a lively series of karaoke!

Nobel Laureate Donna Strickland gave an engaging colloquium to a crowd of about 200 attendees at the Wyant College of Optical Sciences on Dec. 5. Titled "High Intensity Fiber Lasers for Nonlinear Optics," her talk discussed the development of fiber laser amplifiers for nonlinear optical interactions, emphasizing their potential for high average power applications, such as mid-infrared generation and electron acceleration. Ahead of the colloquium, Strickland met with students from the college, sharing insights into her research and career journey while answering their questions. This was a wonderful opportunity for students to connect an inspirational researcher in optics and photonics ahead of the colloquium.

The Wyant College Industrial Affiliates Showcase and Meeting took place Oct. 28 - 30 in Tucson, AZ. The event kicked off with a busy poster session and corporate showcase in the Student Union Grand Ballroom. The second day was filled with student and faculty presentations that outlined current Wyant College research. On the final day student interviews took place as well as lab tours and a pizza party.

A new era of scientific innovation began at the University of Arizona on Oct. 24 when a ribbon was cut in the lobby of the Grand Challenges Research Building. University of Arizona President Suresh Garimella said he expects the facility, also known as the GCRB, to play a pivotal role advancing fields such as optical sciences, health care and space exploration. Garimella and Cheu cut the ribbon on the GCRB alongside Thomas L. Koch, dean of the College of Optical Sciences; JP Roczniak, president and CEO of the University of Arizona Foundation; and Dr. Michael Dake, senior vice president for health sciences.

Tech Launch Arizona and the Wyant College of Optical Sciences had a great lunch with Faculty Innovation Ambassador Hong Hua on Friday, Oct. 11. There were amazing discussions about research, innovation and creating real-world impact! Hong led the conversation alongside Dean Tom Koch and TLA's Rakhi Gibbons and Rich Weite. Look for opportunities to connect with Hong or Rich if you have further questions, let's keep the conversation going! Rich will be hosting his next "Wednesday with Rich" on Nov. 6.

Scholarship recipients and donors came together with Wyant College of Optical Sciences staff and faculty to celebrate the 2024 scholarship awards ceremony, which took place on Sept. 20, 2024.  The program's keynote speaker was Jacobus "Jim" Oschmann (OSC MS 1983) alumnus and donor to the Jacobus M. and Michelle L. Oschmann Optical Sciences and Business Leadership FoTO Scholarship. Congratulations to all student awardees!

The students are back! And so is all the excitement and activity that comes along with them. To start the year off with a celebration (or two!) undergraduates enjoyed a special meet-and-greet "ice breaker" welcome back event with ice cream! Next, the Student Optics Chapter (SOC) and Women in Optics (WiO) welcomed everyone in the college back with an amazing and fun BBQ. Welcome back students!

Wyant College of Optical Sciences hosted the Christian Home Educators of Tucson - South East (CHET-SE) on August 28th, to tour the Meinel Building and Museum of Optics, as well as participate in a museum scavenger hunt and other exciting demos. Volunteers escorted the 42 adult and child participants throughout the building to see all that the John E. Greivenkamp Museum of Optics offers. A special thank you to the volunteers for hosting this group, and to the CHET-SE students and chaperones for visiting us at the college!

The College of Engineering Summer Engineering Academy (SEA) was in full swing this summer at the University of Arizona. Wyant College of Optical Sciences shared the wonder of optics at four camps in June and July. Two camps focused on "Intro to Engineering" and hosted around 30-40 campers each. Another camp was specific to women in engineering and included 50 campers. The final camp was an advanced engineering summer camp split between Arizona's Wyant College of Optical Sciences and Electrical & Computer Engineering and included 30 campers. A total of about 150 high school students experienced the excitement of optical sciences this summer with the help and support of Arizona faculty, staff and students!

New photos and videos are now available for the Grand Challenges Research Building Construction updates page! Planning, Design & Construction has released two new versions of timelapses of the building's construction including a drone-flyover timelapse and a daily progress timelapse. Kitchell has also released an in-depth video of the construction of the new building.

The Class of 2024 celebrated their graduation and induction into Wyant College's distinguished alumni ranks on May 9th, 2024. Congratulations to the graduating students, their families, instructors, and advisors. High-resolution images are available.

On Monday, April 29th, Wyant College of Optical Sciences and College of Engineering undergraduate teams showcased their interdisciplinary final projects at the Craig M. Berge Engineering Design Day. Students, faculty, staff and judges met the teams and learned about the industry-sponsored senior capstones in the most highly anticipated event of the year for engineering and innovation. Congratulations to everyone who participated for their hard work and perseverance, and a special congratulations to those who received a prize.

Laser Fun Day 2024 attracted over 400 visitors and was made possible by over 100 volunteers. On the day of the event, the building was filled with hands-on activities and demonstrations that showcased the amazing world of optics. The third floor was especially busy with many visitors coming in from the solar telescope and fresnel lens, set up out front of the building. Once inside, they found many more stations set up on the third floor and extending throughout the rest of the building, including a cow-eye dissection and pickle light bulb in Meinel 307. A special thanks to SPIE and Optica for supporting this event.

Senator Mark Kelly and his team were warmly welcomed to the Wyant College of Optical Sciences on April 5, 2024 for a "Quantum Tour" to see the cutting-edge NSF-ERC Center for Quantum Networks (CQN) and the Grand Challenges Research Building (GCRB).

With more than 60 attendees between in-person and online students, Prism Week received positive feedback from our attendees and guest speakers. A whole week dedicated to celebrating diversity and inclusion was not a trivial matter to plan, but our determined members of the Women in Optics (WiO) Club pulled it off once again.

The first UArizona Museum Day was a huge success for all participating museums on campus! The Wyant College of Optical Sciences had its doors open from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. on March 23rd and saw many excited visitors interested in learning more about the mysteries and history of optical sciences. A special thank you to all the amazing volunteers who made this day possible!

The University of Arizona Alumni Association announced Dr. Kent Rochford as the 2024 Alumnus of the Year for the Wyant College of Optical Sciences. The Alumni of the Year ceremony took place February 22, 2024.

The Wyant College Industrial Affiliates Showcase and Meeting took place Feb. 19 - 21 in Tucson, AZ. The event kicked off with a busy poster session and corporate showcase in the Bear Down Gym. The second day was filled with student and faculty presentations that outlined current Wyant College research. On the final day student interviews took place as well as lab tours and a pizza party punctuated with a few exciting outreach demonstrations courtesy of students from this semester's Outreach Class.

On February 9, hundreds of people gathered on the University of Arizona campus to celebrate the amazing life of Dr. James C. Wyant, founding dean and professor emeritus. Speakers included Mrs. Tammy Wyant speaking on behalf of the Wyant family. From the University of Arizona, speakers included Dr. Robert Robbins, President, Dr. Tom Koch, dean, Wyant College of Optical Sciences and Dr. Bob Shannon, professor emeritus and former director of OSC. Speakers from Jim’s alma maters were Dr. Eric Kaler, President, Case Western Reserve University and Dr. Tom Brown, Director, The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester.

The new year began with the 2024 Optical Sciences Winter School running from January 3 - 6 at the Wyant College of Optical Sciences. More than 45 undergraduates from across the country as well as approximately 20 optics professionals and faculty from other universities attended.

The Wyant College (previously, Optical Sciences Center "OSC") Annual Group photo has been a tradition going back to the first group photo in 1967. In this photo album, you'll find the photos taken throughout the years to capture the Optical Sciences family at the Wyant College.