June 11, 2019
Being officially accepted as a national node for the UNESCO global initiative “International Day of Light 2019″ from Armenia, on the 7th of June, CANDLE Institute organized an Open Day “Illumination of the Unknown” devoted to the memory of CANDLE founder and first president, a great philanthropist Mr. Jirair Hovnanian.
Visitors from Ayb School, “The Little Prince” Educational Complex, Anania Shirakatsy Lyceum, Yerevan Alexander Myasnikyan Basic School №66, Yerevan Hrant Dink Basic School №44, Yerevan Secondary School №99 and others were welcomed by CANDLE Staff and participated in a scientific tour organized in the labs and experimental stations. During the tour the guests were explained the mysteries of accelerator-based light sources and were introduced the experimental laboratories of the Institute. Several introductory talks were given presenting the nature of light and its impact on life. A special emphasis was given to Synchrotrons and Free Electron Lasers as the most advanced and powerful tools for exploiting the mysteries of Nano World.
Having previously announced a competition (“Life and Light”), CANDLE team was really excited with the number (over 40) of paintings submitted. All in all, 6 winners were announced who were granted presents during the awarding ceremony. Still, none of our guests was left without a present; all the visitors were given the “I love Science” bags for their active and enthusiastic participation.
Afterwards, a presentation was given by V. Tsakanov about the establishment of CANDLE, the AREAL project, near and future highlights of the Institute, emphasizing the AREAL Free Electron Laser as the best tribute to the memory of Mr. J. Hovnanian who once stated, “It is our vision and desire that CANDLE will provide an opportunity for the scientists in the region and beyond to have access to a user-friendly, world-class light source Laboratory.”