2.3 My Major

What kinds of public debates and arguments are taking place in my field / major / discipline?

In the article "Amid controversy, construction of telescope in Hawaii halted", the Thirty Meter Telescope is stopping construction at Mauna Kea due to the native people in Hawaii protesting the construction. The construction site is a sacred ground to the natives.On the other hand this would be the best site for the largest ground based telescope that would be capable of viewing into the earliest parts of the universe.

Caleb Jones. "Protester arrested for blocking road to building site" via phys.org. 04/07/2015. All rights reserved. 

1. What do students in your program learn how to do?
1. The  B.S. in Optical Sciences and Engineering aims to educate the students of the basic principles of optics and the mathematics and physics needed to understand the behavior of optical systems while providing students with experience in applying optical principles to engineering problems and in developing the laboratory and computer skills needed for a career in optical engineering. The program also teaches students the design process and provides them with experience doing team projects.

1. What do people who get degrees in this field usually go on to do for work?
1. The  students graduating with a B.S. in Optics usually go on to work in optical design, optical fabrication and testing, lasers, optical detectors, optical instrumentation, optical fiber communications, and some graduates choose to pursue higher degrees.
2. What drew you to this field?
1.  After going back to school in the fall of 2010, I took a career counseling class to figure out my plans for the future and, in that class, I was recommended optical engineering as a career path. I didn’t know what it was at the time and when I read the description, I thought it sounded boring. The description stated things such as, “… designs lenses, photo-detectors, optical fibers …,” and then the last part of the description said “… designs lasers,” and that made me excited to learn more. The following semester I began my new academic journey. I also took my first ever physics course in the spring of 2011 with a professor who also worked as an electro-optical engineer at JPL. He became my mentor and I took 3 more physics courses with him. Last year I was selected to participate in an educational program at JPL and got to take a tour of his lab. I am still hooked on lasers and aspire to conduct space-related research after earning a Ph.D in laser science.
3. Who are the leaders/most exciting people involved in your field right now? Why? These could be individual people or specific companies, organizations, businesses or non-profits.

"Crane moves the National Ignition Facility's target chamber" via Wikipedia 06/1999.  Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported.

1. 
   National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore has 192 laser with 1.8 megajoules at peak power.
2. OMEGA Laser Facility at the University of Rochester with 40 kilojoules at peak power.
3. GEKKO XII at the Osaka University with 10 kilojoules at peak power.
4. Laser Mégajoule at CILAS in France has 240 laser beams with designed 1.8 megajoules at peak power is about to finish construction.
5. High Power laser Energy Research facility in the United Kingdom is the next-gen laser inertial confinement facility.
1. What are the leading academic/scholarly journals in your field? Where are they published? Give us the names and locations of at least 3.
1. Advances in Optics and Photonics: OSA, United States.
2. Light: Science & Applications: Nature, United Kingdom.
3. Optics Express: OSA, United States.

After reading Deborah's and Scott's blog I learned that choosing a major is no easy task to many students. Being proactive and finding the undying motivation behind your efforts to earn an education is essential to living a healthy lifetime with a rewarding career that meets the individuals needs.