CACT 120 Lens Design:
This
course is intended for students who took the “CACT 21 Fundamentals of
Optics” course or who have a good working knowledge of geometric optics
(Hecht’s Optics or Jenkins and White’s Fundamentals of
Optics). This is an introductory “nuts and bolts”, hands-on
oriented lens design course. Lens design was once a skill reserved for a
few professionals; today with readily available commercial lens design
software and powerful personal computers, lens design is accessible to the
general optical engineering community. Consequently some skill in lens
design is now expected by a wide range of employers who utilize optics in
their products. Lens design is, therefore, a strong component of a
well-rounded education in optics, and a skill valued by companies employing
optical engineers and technicians.
This
course will provide you with the tree basic skills: manual,
design code, and design philosophy. The
manual skill will include first and third order hand calculations and thin
lens pre-design. The code skill will include prescription entry,
variable selection, merit function construction and optimization, and design
analysis. The design philosophy is about understanding specifications,
selecting a starting point and developing a plan of the design.
ZEMAX
and OSLO optical design software will be used in the class.
There
is no charge for
OSLO software (while the student is taking the class) and it is easy to use
and has many similarities to ZEMAX. Some students may not have access to ZEMAX
and this program may allow them to take the class and learn much about lens
design.
By
taking this course you will enhance your employment perspectives. There is a
high demand on professionals with the skills offered in this class and two
other following classes:
Optical Systems Design and
Analysis in the Summer and Opto-mechanical System Design in the Winter.
