LILLINGTON - Eighteen students recently participated in the 2014 Laser & Photonics Workshop on Central Carolina Community College's Harnett County Campus.

The students, from Coats-Erwin, Dunn, Fuquay-Varina, Harnett Central, Overhills, and SanLee middle schools, and Lafayette Elementary School, joined CCCC Laser & Photonics Lead Instructor Gary Beasley for the Fun with Lasers workshop on Saturday, Nov. 22.

The Laser & Photonics workshop is one of a series of workshops that are part of the college's High Tech/High Touch Engineering Weekend Workshops Program. The workshops are designed to show students new technical concepts and to challenge them to make use of those concepts.

Students observed demonstrations and participated in mini-sessions with Chris Baggett in the Electronic Lab, where he demonstrated how electrical components are used to conduct light. In the Nd: YAG Laser Lab, Kaitlyn Camp and Gary Beasley melted a brick using a high-powered laser beam. Students experienced a fascinating light display with an Argon-Krypton Laser with Al Delong. Students were intrigued to learn and see how crystals and fiber are incorporated into the technology they use every day with Colt Dudley. Each student, under the direction of Jeremy Knoll, watched as his or her name appeared on a nametag with the use of the CO2 Engraving Laser.

Jonathan Murdock, parent of one of the attendees, extended his gratitude in an email to Gary Beasley and his students. "My wife and I are doing our very best to expose [our children] to every source of science that we can to encourage them to make good decisions in their choices of academics and college majors in the future," wrote Murdock. "Opportunities like the Laser & Photonics workshops are very valuable, and I, for one, am thankful for the instructors who are willing to help inspire our youth."

For more information about CCCC's Laser & Photonics degree, visit the college's website, www.cccc.edu, or contact Lead Instructor Gary Beasley at gbeasley@cccc.edu. For more information of the CCCC spring 2015 High Touch/High Tech workshops series, contact Wrenn L. Crowe at wcrowe@cccc.edu.