Tereza and David, pupils from Na Šutce Elementary School in Prague 8, also took part in the Competition for a day with a scientist, which took place as part of the autumn Open Days. They were most interested in the Fiber lasers and non-linear optics research team during the Open Days, so they came to spend their day with the scientist in one of its laboratories.
Tereza and David started their day with the scientist at 9 am, when the scientist Jan Aubrecht and his laboratory technician Bára Jiříčková took them to the bowels of the optical fiber technology laboratory. What could Tereza of David tried and seen?
During the day, our scientific colleagues showed them the basic activities that can be made with optical fibers, i.e. the mechanical behavior of fibers in tension, respectively in bending, removing the secondary polymer sheath from the optical fiber, perpendicular folding of the fiber using a fiber breaker, welding of the same and different types of fibers using a fiber welder, etc.
Tereza and David also tried everything themselves. They tried to create the most perfect and then the least perfect weld of the optical fiber, tested its strength, examined the fiber under a microscope or tried to determine the length of the fiber wound on the spool using the method of registration of backscattered light intensity due to Fresnel reflection. The demonstration of fiber conduction using a laser pointer or telephone and the demonstration of a fiber laser also aroused great interest. In short, it was a day full of great scientific experiences and new knowledge.
If you are as interested in science as Tereza and David are if you would also like to visit our workplace and spend a day with a scientist, come to the Open Days of IPE, where the Competiton for a day with a scientist traditionally takes place every year. All you have to do is fill in the competition ticket correctly and enter the draw. Follow our website and Facebook so that you do not miss any information. We look forward to seeing you!