The Rochester Museum and Science Center is getting a boost in its effort to get more young people interested in math and science, as well as look to a possible career in photonics.
With the Rochester area recently named a photonics hub, RMSC President Kate Bennett says the facility is trying to do more to encourage area students to consider pursuing employment in photonics as those companies expand in this region.
She says last year, the museum opened up an Illumination Gallery to talk about light and optics.
“There are a lot of photonics opportunities that are in middle skills areas that our places that kids need to learn on the job and in school together.”
To aid in this effort, the museum on Wednesday accepted a donation of 400 books from SPIE, an international society for optics and photonics. Those books are designed to explain photonics in an approachable way.
Peter Hallett is director of marketing and industry relations for that group, and he says the hope here is to encourage students to someday consider a career in photonics.
“What we’re trying to do is attract young people to go into science and maybe take a physics class and see how much opportunity there is to do cool things that range from telescopes to new lighting in automobiles, or how the heck does a cell phone work?”
Bennett says she hopes that the museum can work with area teachers to help students who may want to pursue a career that might start with a community college and end with a job in photonics.
