The Huffington Post – Yannis C. Yortsos
“Today, approximately 650 middle school and high school science students will come to USC to take part in a laser and optics interactive fair. Sounds wonky? It isn’t. Optics and laser technologies are the technologies on our smartphone screens and smartphone cameras and are influencing the future of self-driving cars. According to the industry organization SPIE, the size of the photonics and laser industry is expected to grow to over $650 billion by 2020. The question is how many of the young girls who will attend this laser event will continue to pursue their love of science and technology? As reported by the Huffington Post, many are confronted by the old engineering stereotypes and deterred by obsolete, pre-conceived, outdated and plainly wrong ideas about who pursues scientific careers. Regrettably, according to the article, young women in engineering have to spend too much time defending their interest in the field. This is unacceptable, it should never be the case; and it is ultimately against the prosperity of our nation.”(more)