San Diego, California
August 2011

Courtney Peck promoted the spectrograph competition and the importance of spectroscopy at the SPIE Optics and Photonics Conference in San Diego, California. This was done in two different ways at the conference. The first way was through the Student Leadership Conference where she participated as a presenter at the 12th annual Optics Outreach Olympics. At this event, attendees built their own spectrographs provided by MSGC using a piece of paper with an outline and an inexpensive grating. Attendees were then able to view the spectra of various light sources around the room to determine whether a light source was continuous or composed of discrete wavelengths. The video from this presentation is shown below under the video title "Montana State University Chapter - Optical Spectrum Explorers":

Video: Paper Spectrograph Outreach

The second way was through the Optics for a Better World section of the Optics and Photonics Exhibit Hall where, with Randy Larimer, she promoted the competition to attendees who were also able to build the same spectrograph used at the Outreach Olympics. The video showing Courtney and Randy promoting the competition on the podcast show "Light Matters" is shown below in the link under the title "8/25/11 - SPIE Optics & Photonics Special Edition - LIGHT MATTERS"

Video: Courtney and Randy Make 'Light' of the Situation

Weber State University
March 30, 2012

This image shows Courtney Peck presenting the spectrograph at a conference poster session at NCUR. The poster highlights the team's spectrograph design, the importance of spectroscopy, and its endless potential. She also spoke to other students at the conference about the competition and its annual occurrence in the years to come.

Bozeman, MT
April 12, 2012

On Thursday, April 12th, the local chapter of Pi Tau Sigma arranged a series of engineering presentations at the local high school. Team Dark Star took this opportunity to talk about spectrographs with young folks interested in science and engineering. Rather than explaining the specific applications of their design, the team talked about light science and the modern uses of spectrographs.

Montana State University
April 26, 2012

Since Team Dark Star is using this spectrograph as their senior design project, they are required to present the completed spectrograph to their professors, peers, and the general public on Thursday, April 26th at the Montana State University Spring Design Fair. In the morning, the team will have to demonstrate a working spectrograph to a faculty member unfamiliar with the project. Afterwards, the spectrograph with be on display throughout the rest of the day for fellow students and the local community to view; during the time of general viewing, the team is responsible for ensuring that passersby are able to understand what the project is and why it was chosen.