Laser Lab

Sam had a requirement for his Cub Scout Scientist badge that was to visit a Scientist at his lab.  Dad's friend Brian was gracious enough to take Sam and Dad (and Patti) on a fun tour of his lab in Herndon where they make custom lasers for government projects.  It was a Saturday, and there were a lot of people working but the labs were pretty quiet.

Sam and Dad stopped at Taco Bell on the way to the lab, where they saw a sign spinner who had participated in the 2013 Sign Spinning Championships in Las Vegas.

At his office, Brian showed them some of the historical lasers that his company had built.

Then they visited two labs.  The second one was a clean area so they had to scrub their shoes in the shoe machine:

And then wear special clothes into the lab:

Sam got to wear Brian's' goggles, that protected him against any color laser except orange:

Then they experimented a bit with the thermal camera.  Can you see Sam's handprints on the wall?  The camera can:

It was a fun and educational experience.  Thanks Brian!

Dad told Pete that he could get a job as a laser technician in Brian's lab with 0-2 years of college.  He thought this idea would be well-received.  However, Pete said he was not interested since he does not like lasers.