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Extreme optics with zero-index metamaterials,, at Bertman Lecture, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, Thursday, April 30, 2020
Nanotechnology has enabled the development of nanostructured composite materials (metamaterials) with exotic optical properties not found in nature. In the most extreme case, we can create materials which support light waves that propagate with infinite phase velocity, corresponding to a refractive index of zero. We have developed a variety of in-plane metamaterial designs that permit obtaining a refractive index of zero in the optical regime. We will report on some of the exotic physics of zero-index metamaterials, including strong enhancement of nonlinear optical phenomena
Active Learning and Interactive Teaching: Peer Instruction, at 2020 Pedagogy Buffet, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, Tuesday, January 21, 2020:
pi_workshop_wesleyan.pdf
The basic goals of Peer Instruction are to encourage and make use of student interaction during lectures, while focusing students' attention on underlying concepts and techniques. The method has been assessed in many studies using standardized, diagnostic tests and shown to be considerably more effective than the conventional lecture approach to teaching. In this workshop, participants will learn about Peer Instruction, serve as the "class" in which Peer Instruction is demonstrated, discuss several models for implementing the technique into the classroom,... Read more about Active Learning and Interactive Teaching: Peer Instruction
Extreme optics with zero-index metamaterials, at PQE 2020, Snowbird, UT, Tuesday, January 7, 2020:
pqe2020.pdf
Nanotechnology has enabled the development of nanostructured composite materials (metamaterials) with exotic optical properties not found in nature. In the most extreme case, we can create materials which support light waves that propagate with infinite phase velocity, corresponding to a refractive index of zero. We have developed a variety of in-plane metamaterial designs that permit obtaining a refractive index of zero in the optical regime. We will report on some of the exotic physics of zero-index metamaterials, including strong enhancement of nonlinear optical phenomena
Tools for Peer Instruction — a workshop, at Congreso Internacional de Innovación Educativa Tecnológico de Monterrey (Monterrey, Mexico), Monday, December 16, 2019:
monterrey_workshop.pdf

 It has been suggested the lack of interaction in large lecture courses is to blame for the many problems facing these courses: declining enrollments, low attendance, poor evaluations, and disappointing retention. We offer a way of redesigning the classroom so interaction is introduced in many aspects of the course. This approach has shown to be effective by many instructors in a broad variety of environments. I will demonstrate some of the tools we have developed to foster this interaction.

Educating the innovators of the 21st century , at Congreso Internacional de Innovación Educativa Tecnológico de Monterrey (Monterrey, Mexico), Monday, December 16, 2019:
innovating_education_tec_de_monterrey.pdf

Can we teach innovation? Innovation requires whole-brain thinking — right- brain thinking for creativity and imagination, and left-brain thinking for planning and execution. Our current approach to education in science and technology, focuses on the transfer of information, developing mostly right-brain thinking by stressing copying and reproducing existing ideas rather than generating new ones. I will show how shifting the focus in lectures from delivering information to team work and creative thinking greatly improves the learning that takes place in the classroom and promotes...

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Getting every student ready for every class, at Webinar, Mercy College (Cambridge, MA), Thursday, November 2, 2017
Over the past decades there has been a concerted push away from passive lecturing to active engagement in the classroom. A successful implementation of the so-called flipped classroom requires students to come to class prepared, either by reading the textbook or watching a pre-recorded video. A variety approaches have been devised to get students to take responsibility for this information transfer, but none manage to get all students to participate, compromising the in-class activities. I will present a new approach to get every student to prepare for every class using a new social learning... Read more about Getting every student ready for every class
Zero-index nanophotonics, nonlinear optics, and quantum entanglement, at Nano-optics: Principles enabling basic research and applications, Centro Ettore Majorana (Erice), Saturday, July 22, 2017
In these interactive lectures we explore how light can be manipulated at the nanoscale. We begin by describing optical propagation in ordinary materials and then show how materials can be engineered to achieve a refractive index of zero. These zero-index materials have remarkable properties and can be integrated in photonic circuits. We also give an introduction to nonlinear optics and discuss how zero-index materials can be used to accomplish phase matching in nonlinear optics and to obtain longer coherence times and lengths among entangled emitters or qubits.

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The surprising world of nanostructured composites with zero refractive index, at 10th International Conference on Nanophotonics (Recife, Brazil), Sunday, July 2, 2017
Nanotechnology has enabled the development of nanostructured composite materials (metamaterials) with exotic optical properties not found in nature. In the most extreme case, we can create materials which support light waves that propagate with infinite phase velocity, corresponding to a refractive index of zero. This zero index can only be achieved by simultaneously controlling the electric and magnetic resonances of the nanostructure. We present an in-plane metamaterial design consisting of silicon pillar arrays, embedded within a polymer matrix and sandwiched between gold layers. Using an... Read more about The surprising world of nanostructured composites with zero refractive index
Less is More: Extreme Optics with Zero Refractive Index, at CLEO/Europe EQEC 2017 (Munich, Germany), Tuesday, June 27, 2017
By simultaneously controlling the electric and magnetic properties of a nanostructured composite material (metamaterial), we can create materials with a refractive index of zero. We present a novel on-chip platform to explore zero-index metamaterials.
Innovating Education to Educate Innovators, at International School on Light Sciences and Technologies (Santander, Spain), Friday, June 23, 2017
Can we teach innovation? Innovation requires whole-brain thinking — right-brain thinking for creativity and imagination, and left-brain thinking for planning and execution. Our current approach to education in science and technology, focuses on the transfer of information, developing mostly right-brain thinking by stressing copying and reproducing existing ideas rather than generating new ones. I will show how shifting the focus in lectures from delivering information to team work and creative thinking greatly improves the learning that takes place in the classroom and promotes independent... Read more about Innovating Education to Educate Innovators

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