LASER-TEC, Center for Laser and Fiber Optics Education
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Professional Development Workshops


LASER-TEC, the Center for Laser and Fiber Optics Education, offers a professional development workshop “Lasers and Fiber Optics”.  It is designed for middle school and high school educators teaching math, science, technology, and engineering and is offered at least two times a year at each partner college. 

The purpose of this workshop is to introduce cutting edge technologies of lasers and fiber optics to high and middle school educators, and help them integrate math and science applications into existing lesson plans.  

This workshop covers basic and advanced topics of light, lasers, and fiber optics and includes hands-on activities throughout the workshop.   Participants investigate the nature of light, its dual nature, colors, color addition and subtraction, electro-magnetic spectrum, spectroscopy, laws of reflection and refraction, imaging, critical angle and light propagation in optical fiber, interference, diffraction, polarization, and fundamentals of laser operation. 

Benefits of the LASER-TEC Workshop
  • Hands-on training in college laser and fiber optics laboratories
  • Free optics toolkit valued at $100.00
  • Free curriculum materials to integrate optics and photonics in STEM lesson plans
  • Best teaching practices in the field of lasers and fiber optics
  • Free supplementary outreach materials
  • In-service credits (varies by school)
Explore the Field Before the Workshop
To allot more time for demonstrations and hands–on during the workshop, we encourage our participants to refresh and hone their knowledge on basic concepts of light and lasers. To help you with this task we put together a list of helpful video and reading materials:

View materials 

Topics Covered at the Workshop

  • Laser Safety
  • Human Vision
  • Colors
  • Absorption and Reflection
  • Diffuse and Specular Reflection
  • The Law of Reflection
  • Total Internal Reflection
  • Measuring the Focal Distance of a Positive Lens
  • Measuring the Focal Distance of a Negative Lens
  • Fresnel Lens
  • Galilean Telescope
  • Beam Collimation
  • Infrared Radiation of a Laser Pointer
  • Polarization
  • Diffraction
  • Measuring the Diameter of a Human Hair

Lasers & Fiber Optics Workshop Learning Objectives

1. Identify different types of light sources
2. List the properties of laser light: single wavelength (monochromatic), directional, low divergence, and coherence
3. Differentiate between coherent and non-coherent light sources
4. Explain eye damage that may occur with improper use of lasers
5. Compare laser light absorption by optical filters used in safety goggles
6. Practice safe laser use

7. Define the electromagnetic nature of light
8. Describe visible light as a part of the electromagnetic spectrum
9. Identify white light and its components
10. Specify primary and secondary colors
11. Compare two different methods of mixing colors
12. Define white light and recognize its components
13. Describe color light as a wave of a specific frequency
14. Explain what happens to light when it strikes a surface
15. Identify selective absorption and reflection
16. understand how selective absorption and reflection of light is used in barcode scanning
17. Define a normal to the surface, angle of incidence, and angle of reflection
18. Use a protractor to measure angles
19. State and verify the law of reflection
20. List several modern applications of the law of reflection
21. Describe what happens to light as it strikes a surface
22. Reason the difference between specular and diffuse reflection
23. Apply the property of light diffusion to identify damage of a frosted light bulb filament
24. Define refraction of light


25. State and explain the law of refraction
26. Predict light behavior at the boundary of two different optical media
27. Define critical angle
28. Explain total internal reflection
29. List common applications of total internal reflection
30. Explain what a convex lens is
31. Trace light through a convex lens
32. Determine when light rays are considered parallel
33. Measure the focal length of a double convex lens (DCX)
34. List a few applications of DCX lenses
35. Explain what a concave lens is
36. Trace light through a concave lens
37. Measure the focal length of a double concave lens (DCV)
38. List a few applications of DCV lenses
39. Identify risks associated with infrared radiation
40. Identify which laser pointers have potential IR radiation
41. Understand how to properly protect their eyes
42. Define polarization
43. Differentiate between full and partial polarization
44. List the common polarization applications
45. Define and explain diffraction of light
46. Explain conditions required to observe diffraction of light
47. Describe diffraction grating
48. Reason the results of white and monochromatic light propagation through a diffraction grating

    The Guide is accompanied with the Instructor power point presentation available to download for free. Just sign up for a LASER-TEC account using the form provided below and you will have unrestricted access to educational e-resources developed by our Center.  

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See what other STEM teachers say about LASER-TEC workshop:
“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, DPM, 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 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.” -Lynn Krieger, Information Technology Instructor
“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.”

View some of the photos from our previous workshops:

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