LILLINGTON - Eighteen Central Carolina area students recently participated in Central Carolina Community College's High Tech - High Touch Weekend Workshop on Lasers. The students visited the Laser & Photonics program at the CCCC Harnett County Campus on Saturday, Feb. 27.

Students visited the Electronics Lab with CCCC students Ruth Gietzen and Trevor Phillips, who demonstrated how electrical components are used to conduct light; the Argon-Kryton Laser Lab with CCCC students Jeremiah Roberts and Christopher Martin, who gave a colorful light show and showed students different images that can be created with lasers; and the Fiber Laser Lab with CCCC students Katie Hall and Dustin Kromback, where measuring the power of the fiber laser was demonstrated, along with watching a fiber laser video.

Students also visited the Nd:YAG Laser Lab with Gary Beasley (Lead Instructor) & Curtis Paul (graduate from Laser program) to see how a high-power laser beam can melt a brick; the Fiber Optics Lab with John Kizis (graduate from Laser program), who explained how crystals and fiber are incorporated into the technology used every day, and the CO2 Laser Lab with CCCC student David Pope, as he demonstrated a laser that was able to create name tags for each of the students.

Students participating in the workshop were Zachary Bush, Abbi Capps, William Capps, Amanda Cooke, Ian Cooke, Olivia Cooke, Cad DeSorbo, Colin Gaines, Brayden Jackson, Agape' Lofton, Preston Matthews, Israel McDonald, Nicholas Schnarr, Richard Stump, Calvin Vasquez, Emma R. Williams, Nathan Wilson, and Kendall Woods.

For more information about Central Carolina Community College's Laser & Photonics program, visit the college's website at www.cccc.edu or contact Gary Beasley, Lead Instructor, at gbeasley@cccc.edu.

For more information on CCCC's High Tech - High Touch Weekend Workshops series, visit www.cccc.edu/hightechhightouch or contact Wrenn L. Crowe, Student Outreach & Recruitment Coordinator, at wcrowe@cccc.edu.