Crowded people at “Miracle of Light” Dome

Hidden test tube immersed in vegetable oil compared to one in water

Light flowers made from optical fibers

During Aug. 23-28 of this year, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) in Thailand organized the National Science Week Fair in Nonthaburi province nearby Bangkok, Thailand with the theme “Science has Answer” in order to promote the use of science in everyday life and to celebrate the World Year of Physics. This Science Fair open to the public 12 hours a day from 9.00am to 9.00pm. Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn also presided the open ceremony on Tuesday Aug. 23, 2005. There were totally unexpected 817,095 attendees including 326,581 students and 490,514 from general publics, implying a crowded 136,183 people a day.
As part of the MOST, our research institute also involved in this activity. We had collaborated with three local sections, the Society for Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineer (SPIE), the IEEE-Lasers and Electro-Optics Society (LEOS), and the Optical Society of America (OSA) Thailand Chapters, as well as four companies (Zugo Photonics, Thai Fiber Optics, Keyence, Delcam) to come up with a variety of demo stands of basic optics and applications fitting in an area of ~100 m2. Demonstrations covered refraction, reflection, total internal reflection, interference, diffraction, absorption, holography, color of light, optical illusion, an optical fingerprint scanning system, a laser leveling system, an optical design software, optical communications, photo- and electro-luminescent products, optical microscopy, organic-based optoelectronic lightsources and photodetectors, and a three dimensional optical scanning system. Undergraduate students majoring Physics, Electrical Engineering, and Computer Engineering volunteered to run all demos everyday.
Some of the photos taken during this activity are shown

Light in waterfall

Spining LED display, He-Ne laser cavity, tunable LED light source, and electroluminescent wire.

Non-contact opthalmic lens thickness measurement system using optical microscopy concept

Acknowledgment
We would like to thank Mr. Armote Somboonkaew and Mr. Ratthasart Amarit for helping in electronics, transport, and setting up all demo sets. We also appreciate Dr. Uthai Chareonwong and Ms. Lanjana Nitayapat for organizing the “Miracle of Light” dome as well as NECTEC for providing financial support of this well-accepted activity.