At left (from left to right) are Facilities Services employees Juan Ramirez,
Rey Gonzales and Henry Rubalcava. At right are UTSA alumnus Robert Belanos
and former co-worker Landon Allen.
Local optical equipment owner donates to UTSA laser lab
(April 22, 2003)--The University of Texas at San Antonio College of Sciences is the recipient of a $150,000 gift from Landon Allen, a local optical equipment service owner.
The gift, in the form of optical equipment, will assist in the development of the UTSA laser laboratory, which will enrich learning opportunities for physics students. Included in the donation are three lasers, a granite table and hundreds of optical devices and components.
"I was really interested in finding a place where the equipment would be used in an optical arena in the future and I was able to find that with the UTSA Laser Laboratory," said Allen.
Allen learned of the UTSA laser lab while working at Sony Semiconductors in San Antonio with UTSA alumnus Robert Belanos. Belanos spoke highly of UTSA after completing an optics course taught by physics professor Dhiraj Sardar.
"This donation of optical components, lenses and microscopes is of great importance to our physics teaching lab,” said Sardar. "The students will benefit tremendously using the equipment which otherwise would have been an expensive cost to the university."
Sardar's efforts are part of a nationwide partnership to develop a research
center for biophotonics, the use of light and other energies to better understand
and work with biological materials such as cells and tissues.
The University of Texas at San Antonio is one of 10 institutions funded by
a $40 million, 10-year National Science Foundation grant. The Center for Biophotonics
Science and Technology partnership includes Stanford University and University
of California components at Berkeley and San Francisco.
For more information, visit the Center for Biophotonics Web site and click on "News."
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© The University of Texas at San Antonio, 2003