Happy Birthday LASER

June 17th, 2010

Do you know how many times a day lasers are used? When you check out at a store a laser reads the bar code on your purchase; your DVDs, iPods and computers all make use of them; and many surgeries are now done using the pinpoint precision of lasers.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the invention of the laser, an acronym developed based on the name of the process, Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. In order to mark the occasion, West Virginia University Society of Physics Students and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers Student Branch created LaserFest, a traveling laser show.

LaserFest is funded by a Physics Sponsored Research Grant in the amount of $8,000. This grant celebrates the 50th anniversary and encourages innovative ideas and experiments using lasers.

The grant funded the traveling laser show, which will be presented in schools in rural West Virginia and the inner cities of Charleston, W.Va., and Pittsburgh, Pa. The goal of the project is to increase younger students’ interest in science and laser technology.

At the shows, WVU students display different uses of lasers, how they work and why they are practical for everyday life.

For more information, contact James Lewis at 304-291-7425 or james.lewis@mail.wvu.edu.

-WVU-

jh/6/17/10

CONTACT: Rebecca Herod, Marketing and Communications Coordinator
304-293-7405, ext. 5251, Rebecca.Herod@mail.wvu.edu

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