Those of us who live and breathe optics know its massive impact on society at large, but for the majority of the student population, the field is not even on their radar. I was fortunate to have become engaged with optics from an early part of my education, but it took dedication and perseverance to identify a university program that could support me. In fact, the BSc applied optics and lasers program at the Multimedia University of Kenya launched only a few short years ago, and I was in the very first graduating class. To this day, it remains the only university in Kenya to offer an optics and lasers degree program.

As you can imagine, being a groundbreaker in this new area of study at the university came with its challenges. For instance, to graduate, we have to execute a three-month engagement with an industry partner, which is usually conducted from April to August. Having to forge a path for this  brand new program, my peers and I spent months identifying companies willing to work with us to fulfill graduation requirements. It wasn’t until mid-July that we were successful, and it delayed our academic trajectory.

This experience made me passionate about ensuring others don’t face those same obstacles. It became my responsibility to do everything in my power to help companies and potential students recognize the possibilities with optics and simplify the road to graduation.

Enter the optics community

However, to fuel the student pipeline, the university must go out into the community and drive program visibility, emphasizing the career potential of optics and photonics. So, a group of us decided to embark on specific outreach activities. We applied to become a student chapter of Optica to gain broad optics community support for our efforts in the form of resources and funding. Thus, the Multimedia University of Kenya Optical Society was born. With the Optica Foundation providing grants, we are able to pay for transport to schools and tools and supplies for outreach activities, ultimately enabling us to make a greater impact.

For instance, earlier this year, we were able to take the Optics Suitcase, donated by the Optica Foundation, to support outreach to high school students. Each Optics Suitcase includes a teaching guide and materials for demonstrations on topics including polarization, diffraction and selective reflection. These "theme packets” contain individual experiments, and their hands-on nature creates an interactive, exhilarating experience. We were fortunate to have upwards of 50 student participants at our session, taking turns as observer and actor in the experiments. Overall, the experience helped refine optics concepts for students by making them both academic and practical.

In addition, the Optica Foundation has enabled Multimedia University of Kenya students to grow not just locally but globally. Events like Student Leadership and the Amplify Program make such an impact in helping students at our university see the full spectrum of opportunities that await. In fact, five of our students who have attended these programs have gone on to pursue master’s and Ph.D. degrees outside of Kenya, due in large part to connections they made through Optica.

The laser effect and the International Day of Light

It’s stories like these that demonstrate how important it is for us to continue to provide for the next generation of optics and photonics scientists and engineers, and our work needs to lead with laser light. As our chapter continues its outreach to high school students, we’ve learned that lasers pique their interest. In this part of the world, the majority of people have only seen lasers in the movies. So, when you tell somebody, “You can learn about lasers,” they are interested.

During the International Day of Light, the Multimedia University of Kenya Optical Society welcomed attendees from four high schools to a structured optics and photonics day. We had about 180 students from diverse backgrounds participating in lab practicals, IoT experiments, and more. In addition, they attended talks by industry leaders, including local companies working in our space like Vilcom Networks, Westlands Laser Eye Center and Nia Fiber Group. Our goal was to show these students the link between the study of optics and career potential. We wanted them to know that they could come to our campus, take these courses, and immediately find gainful employment with companies in the area. It was designed to be a full-circle event, showing clearly the path from high school through to campus and finally employment.

Furthering connection

Beyond educational outreach, we also have built opportunities for the Multimedia University of Kenya Optical Society chapter members. For instance, we conducted two industry visits over the past year: one to Vilcom Networks and another to Nia Fiber Group. Vilcom Networks is an ISP company, and when we visited, they demonstrated their work with fiber communications supplying networks. Nia Fiber Group is the only fiber manufacturer in East and Central Africa, and they do much of the groundwork to develop fiber infrastructure and shared more about that experience.

Visiting both of these companies provided a greater appreciation of what they do, shed light on opportunities existing for those in our field and demonstrated that there is a youthful, vibrant workforce that welcomes our community. In fact, from the two visits we made, we had three students become part of the team at Nia Fiber Group, and another six students have taken roles at Vilcom Networks. It’s a testament to the strength of this program.

What's next

We are in the process of planning additional school outreach and industry visits to keep this momentum going. Additionally, as we graduate students from the university, we’re looking to continue this community commitment by establishing a local section—we don’t have one within sub-Saharan Africa. Within the next five years, we want to move into a local section so that we can bring together those within optics and photonics: lecturers, R&D specialists, industry leaders and other students who may be interested in a new field. We see the local section as a way to encourage collaboration and professional interest and engagement in optics, photonics, and lasers.

As we consider the future, we are grateful to the Optica Foundation for all of its support. We have had such a profound impact on the lives of many students because we’ve been a part of Optica and received aid from the Optica Foundation. In fact, just last year, we had only nine students taking up applied optics and lasers. This year, we’ve already seen that number jump to 15. What’s more, I've had four students reach out to me directly and say, “You did an outreach activity in our school, and I'm joining your program because of it,” and hearing that makes all the difference. We are driving change, thanks to the support of the Optica Foundation, and helping to advance the science of light to better the world around us.

Optics is the next frontier, and with the massive growth in AI, quantum optics, quantum mechanics, and quantum computing, our work has taken center stage. Tomorrow’s technology requires optics to function, and there’s never been a better time to be in this field.

Kipkemoi Elvis Samuel is president of the Multimedia University of Kenya Optical Society (MUKOS) and a laboratory technologist at the National Institute for Optics and Lasers (NIOL). He is pursuing his master’s in applied optics at the Multimedia University of Kenya.