Optical Materials, Fabrication and Testing for the Optical Engineer

Level: Introductory Length: 4 hours Format: In-Person Lecture Intended Audience: Optical engineers, lens designers, or managers who wish to learn more about how optical materials, fabrication and testing affect the optical designer. Undergraduate training in engineering or science is assumed. Description: This course is designed to give the optical engineer or lens designer an introduction to the technologies and techniques of optical materials, fabrication and testing. This knowledge will help the optical engineer understand how the choice of optical specifications and tolerances can either lead to more cost effective optical components, or can excessively drive the price up. Topics covered include optical materials, traditional, CNC and novel optical fabrication technologies, surface testing and fabrication tolerances. Learning Outcomes: This course will enable you to: - identify key mechanical, chemical and thermal properties of optical materials (glass, crystals and ceramics) and how they affect the optical system performance and cost of optical components - describe the basic processes of optical fabrication - define meaningful surface and dimensional tolerances - communicate effectively with optical fabricators - design optical components that are able to be manufactured and measured using state of the art optical fabrication technologies - choose the optimum specifications and tolerances for your next project Instructor(s): Jessica DeGroote Nelson is the Senior Director of Optical Product Development at Edmund Optics. She is an adjunct faculty member at The Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester teaching both an undergraduate and graduate course on Optical Fabrication and Testing, and has given several guest lectures on optical fabrication and metrology methods. She earned a Ph.D. in Optics at The Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester. Dr. Nelson is a member of both SPIE and Optica. Event: SPIE Photonics West 2025 Course Held: 29 January 2025