/ Educators / K-12 Professional Development Workshop
Everything is happening very fast today because we are going through the Cyber Physical Industrial Revolution, that is changing the way we live, work, communicate and travel. Automation is happening everywhere: in manufacturing, banking, service and distribution, healthcare, entertainment and more. Internet high-speed fiber optic connectivity, cloud computing, 5G cellular communications, WI-FI and smart devices with embedded computing systems, have fueled this revolution.
LASER-TEC offers a professional development workshop “The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Cyber Physical Systems and the New Workforce Skill Sets”, which covers a range of topics from the latest developments in high technologies, the need to prepare the future workforce, and resources available through LASER-TEC to accomplish this task.
This one-day workshop is designed for middle school and high school educators teaching math, science, technology, and engineering. It consist of two parts:
- During part one, we provide an overview of the technical workforce skills needed for Industry 4.0 and guide the discussion on how to embed the new curricula in existing programs.
- During part two, the workshop participants conduct demonstrations and lab experiments using LASER-TEC’s Light and Optics Exploration Kit
- Describe how laser light is generated & used in manufacturing applications
- Identify safety equipment & accessories required to protect personnel from laser radiation
- List & describe the applications of lasers in welding, drilling, brazing, cladding, marking, etching & additive manufacturing
- Identify applications of optical sensors in integrated industrial manufacturing systems
- Identify areas of current curriculum where the infusion of laser & fiber optics technologies would be beneficial
- Add a new module or course in lasers & their applications in manufacturing
- Laser Safety
- Law of Reflection
- Law of Refraction
- Finding the Speed of Light in Acrylic Block
- Optical Filters
- Primary and Secondary Reflections
- Care and Cleaning of High Grade Optical Components
- Measuring Laser Beam Diameter & Divergence
- Prisms and Lenses
- Measuring Focal Length of Bi-Convex Lens
- Measuring Focal Length of Bi-Concave Lens
- Measuring Focal Length of Fresnel Lens
- Total Internal Reflection
- Beam Expanding Collimators
- Determining Laser Wavelength using Grating
- Spectrum of White Light
- Measuring Diameter of Human Hair Using Diffraction
- Laser Basics
Request the workshop PowerPoint presentation using the form below:
“Dear Dr. Panayiotou,
This is to let you know that I am so grateful to you and your great team for the knowledge and information you have provided to us during the workshop which took place on Thursday, April 10th and Friday, April 11th, from 3 pm to 6 pm at Indian River State College. Your expertise and sharing have opened my eyes to the amazing Fiber Optics and laser technology. Special thanks to Mrs. Natalia Chekhovskaya and Ms. Lauren Hays.”
William Hanna
“I enjoyed every minute of it. I do appreciate your knowledge and expertise and the setting of the laser and fiber optics lab. Thank you.”
“Thank you for a wonderful professional development. The presentation provided succinct information to clarify light …and the uncomplicated demonstrations will hit the mark for middle school students. The provided detailed book and supply kit will become a valuable teaching resource that I will share with my science department.
I really hope that anyone teaching light… (grade 7 science) will attend one of your presentations before trying to teach the material to students. It truly simplifies a complicated topic!”
Laura B. Woodworth
Northport K-8
“I ♥ the hands-on with explicit instruction of each activity. I loved that the experiments were short, to the point, yet full of science and math concepts.”
“I liked everything about the workshop, especially the hands-on and support offered to my class.”
“I recently attended the teacher workshop and absolutely loved it! I learned so much and can’t wait to start trying a few of the experiments with my students.”
“I teach a class called Intro to Info Tech and we cover a wide range of information about technology. I always have a hard time explaining how the video subsystem of a computer works. I used your lesson on the Electromagnetic Spectrum and colors to explain how a video monitor uses the additive property of color to create the images we see on our screens. Then I also used it to explain how a printer uses the subtractive process of color mixing. It was very helpful to be able to provide students with the background knowledge. Now they know it does not just happen by magic. J I will also be using the lessons in my A+ Certification and Networking classes to explain video, printing and fiber optic properties. Thank you for the valuable workshop.”