News From Student Sections

Sofia University
OSA Student Chapter

It has become a tradition for the Student Chapter, since 2000, to give stage to students to present, manifest and inspire.

The seminars keep the students from different research groups in the optics community up-to-date with one another's current research goals and achievements. They are a great opportunity for the student-lecturers to improve their presentation skills and what is more it has had impact on the future choice of specialization on the freshman and sophomore students.

The Granted Student Speakers for the summer semester are:

• Stoyan Yordanov - for his presentation and development of New Approach in Computation and Simulation of Wave Propagation .
• Martin Paskalev and Assia Dikova- granted jointly for their presentations on "Er:YAG lasers in medicine" and the "Contemporary high-power blue laser diodes"

Open House Day

16 March 2004

On March 16, Sofia University opens its gates, labs and chambers to the public. All attendees are welcomed to series of lectures, seminars and extracurricular activities.

The student chapter gave a presentation entitled; "Career through Physics", explain basics of holography art, and involved student into series of experimental works in the labs.

The lecture, given by the Chapter Advisor Prof. Ivan Bucharov, was followed by a showing of the OSA movie, "Career Encounters" (translated into Bulgarian).

CDs containing the OSA member benefits, "Career Encounters" documentary and the lecture "Careers in Physics" were given for free.

K-12 Optics Awards

Appliance for the Physics Lab

14 May 2004

To inspire the interest in the Natural Sciences and namely Physics via high school student educational programs, To recruit motivated students for the Sofia University, To gain publicity and recognition of OSA and OSA student chapter and To gain impact on the future career choice and field of studies of the school students, We co-organize with the Union of the Physicists in Bulgaria (UPB), for second year, a competition for designing and creating appliance for the local school physics' lab. The activity was originally initiated in the year of 2000 and supported and by the Ministry of Education.

The one-day session was divided into two age groups up and under 8 grade (14 years old).

The main idea: All appliances remain property of the High School physics laboratories.

There were Awards from the Mayor of Sofia City, the Dean of the Physics department, Awards from the Union of the Physicists in Bulgaria .

The OSA student chapter committee encouraged entertaining and informative presentation of the students' appliance.

Description of the OSA Awards: two prizes, $50 each given to:

Vihar Lachezarov - under 8 th grade

Kloyan Genkov - over 8 th grade

Celebrating 2005 Year of the Physics

23 June 2004

Our programs are focused on informing those students who are undecided about their career and on supporting the others, who have chosen the Optics and Photonics as their future. To commemorate the year of Physics, high school competition "Physics on the stage", was initiated. The organizers were: the Union of the Physicists in Bulgaria (UPB), Sofia University OSA Student Chapter, and Ministry of Education.

The two day even was held in the " Earth and Man National Museum " and in the Physics Department.

The OSA chapter committee Granted the following High School Student Speakers, for their noteworthy contributions in the field of physics and engineering sciences: Nora Veselinova Fezliiska, Joanna Pavlova Misheva and Joana Kirilova Arnautenka.