Community Activities & Outreach

The Wyant College of Optical Sciences is dedicated to community outreach and STEM education efforts.

Student Outreach Efforts

Join our former and current students on a journey through an explanation of a variety of optics outreach demos. Looking for a specific demo? Click here to navigate the Wyant College of Optical Sciences Virtual Outreach Demos Playlist.

Teacher Video Resources

Wyant College of Optical Sciences is dedicated to reaching out to schools within our community and beyond, to provide resources to enhance teachers’ curriculums both at the grade school and high school levels. We offer a library of professionally recorded 15-minute videos on a wide variety of optics topics. Students will be introduced to various optics topics, followed by a demonstration.  

At Home Optics Projects

Download these one-page pamphlets with a quick explanation of an optics phenomenon followed by instructions for an optics project that can be done with household items. These are great resources for at-home use, youth group, and classroom use.

OPTI 489/589 – Optics Outreach Course

Wyant College of Optical Sciences offers an outreach class for upper-class undergraduates as well as graduate students. The class focuses on developing skills in public speaking and mastering hands-on optics demonstrations. The students engage with those at the K-12 levels, as well as the community at large. If you are a current Wyant College of Optical Sciences student, or looking to become one in the future consider taking the Optics Outreach Course. Interested in having someone from the class attend your classroom or event as a presenter? Contact us for a classroom visit here.

Student Groups

The Student Optics Chapter (SOCk) and Women in Optics (WiO) connect with people in the community of all ages at all types of events. If you would like to have some outreach experts visit your group or school please request a visit here.

Laser Fun Day

Laser Fun Day is the largest student-run optics event our college holds. It is organized and run by the SOCk student group in the Spring semester. To put on the event, the students take over the optical sciences building for a day and set up anywhere between 20 to 30 different optics demos. The fun fill day allows the students to showcase optical sciences, our college and all the great things they have learned here. The event is annual and open and free to the public.

Visit Our Student Groups' Websites

Greivenkamp Museum of Optics

The John E. Greivenkamp Museum of Optics at the Wyant College of Optical Sciences is a collection of antique and historic telescopes, microscopes, lenses and cameras from the 18th century to the present. The museum is open to the public Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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