Scientific glassblowing is a specialty field of lampworking used in industry, science, art and design used in research and production. Scientific glassblowing has been used in chemical, pharmaceutical, electronic and physics research including Galileo's thermometer, Thomas Edison's light bulb, and vacuum tubes used in early radio, TV and computers. More recently, the field has helped advance fiber optics, lasers, atomic and subatomic particle research, advanced communications development and semiconductors. The field combined hand skills using lathes and torches with modern computer assisted furnaces, diamond grinding and lapping machines, lasers and ultra-sonic mills.
Salem Community College in Carney's Point, New Jersey offers the only degree program in the United States, an Associate in Applied Science, with a focus on the construction of scientific glass apparatus. Students come from throughout the United States and from around the world to develop this specialized skill at Salem Community College. [1] [2]
Alfred University offers a masters program in glass science and a PhD with a blend of theoretical and applied studies similar to degree programs in materials science and engineering. [3]
The following is the list of recognized universities that provide courses in scientific glassblowing[ citation needed ]:
The American Scientific Glassblowers Society (ASGS) is an association for scientific glassblowers and provides continuing education programs. [5] The community is relatively small, with approximately 650 members. [2]
Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble with the aid of a blowpipe. A person who blows glass is called a glassblower, glassmith, or gaffer. A lampworker manipulates glass with the use of a torch on a smaller scale, such as in producing precision laboratory glassware out of borosilicate glass.
Studio glass is the modern use of glass as an artistic medium to produce sculptures or three-dimensional artworks in the fine arts. The glass objects created are intended to make a sculptural or decorative statement, and typically serve no useful function. Though usage varies, the term is properly restricted to glass made as art in small workshops, typically with the personal involvement of the artist who designed the piece. This is in contrast to art glass, made by craftsmen in factories, and glass art, covering the whole range of glass with artistic interest made throughout history. Both art glass and studio glass originate in the 19th century, and the terms compare with studio pottery and art pottery, but in glass the term "studio glass" is mostly used for work made in the period beginning in the 1960s with a major revival in interest in artistic glassmaking.
Nicolaas Bloembergen was a Dutch-American physicist and Nobel laureate, recognized for his work in developing driving principles behind nonlinear optics for laser spectroscopy. During his career, he was a professor at Harvard University and later at the University of Arizona and at Leiden University in 1973.
Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Geißler was a skilled glassblower and physicist, famous for his invention of the hand pumped Geissler mercury vacuum pump in the mid-1850's and in 1857, the Geissler tube, made of glass and used as a low pressure gas-discharge tube; these two inventions were critical technologies leading to the discovery of the electron.
Ames National Laboratory, formerly Ames Laboratory, is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Ames, Iowa, and affiliated with Iowa State University. It is a top-level national laboratory for research on national security, energy, and the environment. The laboratory conducts research into areas of national concern, including the synthesis and study of new materials, energy resources, high-speed computer design, and environmental cleanup and restoration. It is located on the campus of Iowa State University.
Karl Taylor Compton was a prominent American physicist and president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1930 to 1948.
Chemistry education is the study of teaching and learning chemistry. It is one subset of STEM education or discipline-based education research (DBER). Topics in chemistry education include understanding how students learn chemistry and determining the most efficient methods to teach chemistry. There is a constant need to improve chemistry curricula and learning outcomes based on findings of chemistry education research (CER). Chemistry education can be improved by changing teaching methods and providing appropriate training to chemistry instructors, within many modes, including classroom lectures, demonstrations, and laboratory activities.
Salem Community College (SCC) is a public community college in Salem County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Salem Community College's main 11-acre (45,000 m2) campus is in Carneys Point Township. SCC is authorized to grant associate degrees, including Associate in Arts, Associate in Fine Arts, Associate in Science, and Associate in Applied Science certificates. SCC also offers the only degree program in the US for scientific glassblowing.
Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) is a consortium of American universities headquartered in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, with offices in Arvada, Colorado and Cincinnati, Ohio and staff at other locations across the country.
An engineering technician is a professional trained in skills and techniques related to a specific branch of technology, with a practical understanding of the relevant engineering concepts. Engineering technicians often assist in projects relating to research and development, or focus on post-development activities like implementation or operation.
The Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by IOP Publishing. It was established in 1968 from the division of the earlier title, Proceedings of the Physical Society. In 2006, the Journal of Optics B: Quantum and Semiclassical Optics was merged with the Journal of Physics B. The editor-in-chief is Marc Vrakking.
The American Ceramic Society (ACerS) is a nonprofit organization of professionals for the ceramics community, with a focus on scientific research, emerging technologies, and applications in which ceramic materials are an element. ACerS is located in Westerville, Ohio.
The University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences, considered the largest institute for optics education in the United States, is dedicated to research and education in optics with an emphasis on optical engineering. The college offers more than 90 courses in optical sciences, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Optical Sciences and Engineering, Masters and Doctoral degree programs in Optical Sciences, as well as a dual master's degree in Optical Sciences and Business Administration. The college also offers comprehensive distance learning courses leading to a Professional Graduate Certificate or a master's degree and markets non-credit short courses on DVD to optics professionals.
The Imam Hossein Comprehensive University is a public university located in Tehran, Iran.
Paul Joseph Stankard is an American artist, flameworker and author.
The Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), is a public research university located in Islamabad, Pakistan. The university is modelled on international standards with a strong focus on the scientific advancement of the nuclear science-related STEM fields.
Jörg C. Meyer is the official scientific glassblower of the University of California, Irvine.
The College of Science at the University of Utah is an academic college of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. The college offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in atmospheric science, biology, chemistry, geology and geophysics, mathematics, metallurgical engineering, mining engineering and physics and astronomy.
Blown Away is a Canadian reality glassblowing competition television series that premiered on the Canadian channel Makeful before a subsequent release on the streaming platform Netflix. The 10-episode first season was released on July 12, 2019. The series is filmed in Canada and is produced by Marblemedia.
Joseph "Joe" E. Greene, known in his professional writing as J. E. Greene was an American materials scientist, specializing in thin films, crystal growth, surface science, and advanced surface engineering. His research and scientific contributions in these areas have been described as "pioneering" and "seminal" and that his work "revolutionized the hard-coating industry".