University of Arizona May 2019 39 (Meinel Optical Sciences)

The University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences, considered the largest institute for

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...

education in the United States, is dedicated to research and education in optics with an emphasis on

optical engineering Optical engineering is the field of science and engineering encompassing the physical phenomena and technologies associated with the generation, transmission, manipulation, detection, and utilization of light. Optical engineers use optics to solve ...

. 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.

History

The creation of the Optical Sciences Center, as the college was formerly known, was proposed by the

Air Force Institute of Technology The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) is a graduate school and provider of professional and continuing education for the United States Armed Forces and is part of the United States Air Force. It is in Ohio at Wright-Patterson Air Forc ...

, together with the needs in Optics Committee of the

Optical Society of America Optica (formerly known as The Optical Society (OSA) and before that as the Optical Society of America) is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals and organizes conference ...

and Dr.

Aden Meinel Aden B. Meinel (November 25, 1922 – October 3, 2011) was an American astronomer. He retired in 1993 as a distinguished scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He also held the rank of professor emeritus at the University of Arizona College ...

, Director of

Steward Observatory Steward Observatory is the research arm of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Arizona (UArizona). Its offices are located on the UArizona campus in Tucson, Arizona (US). Established in 1916, the first telescope and building were f ...

at the University of Arizona in the early 1960s. The center was established in 1964 thanks to the financial support of the University of Arizona Foundation with Dr. Aden Meinel as its first director. The first research contracts given to the college came from the United States Air Force. Today, the college has partnerships with more than 40 corporations.

Notable faculty

The College of Optical Sciences faculty include many of the leaders in optics, photonics, and applied physics. * Professor James C. Wyant: Leader in the field of

optical metrology Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...

, founder of several optics companies, former president of Optica. * Professor

Nicolaas Bloembergen Nicolaas Bloembergen (March 11, 1920 – September 5, 2017) 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 p ...

: 1981 Physics Nobel Laureate, pioneered the field of non-linear optics. * Professor Micheal Marcellin: Regents Professor, co-leader of the

JPEG2000 JPEG 2000 (JP2) is an image compression standard and coding system. It was developed from 1997 to 2000 by a Joint Photographic Experts Group committee chaired by Touradj Ebrahimi (later the JPEG president), with the intention of superseding thei ...

group, paved the way for modern developments in image and video compression techniques. * Professor Hyatt M. Gibbs: Leader in the field of semi-conductor quantum optics. *Professor Peter Franken: First experimental demonstrator of second-harmonic generation. * Professor

Willis Lamb Willis Eugene Lamb Jr. (; July 12, 1913 – May 15, 2008) was an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1955 "for his discoveries concerning the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum." The Nobel Committee that year awarded hal ...

: 1955 Nobel Laureate in Physics (former faculty) discoverer of

Lamb shift In physics, the Lamb shift, named after Willis Lamb, is a difference in energy between two energy levels 2''S''1/2 and 2''P''1/2 (in term symbol notation) of the hydrogen atom which was not predicted by the Dirac equation, according to which the ...

. * Professor Harrison Barrett: National Academy of Engineering. Published several advances in the field of imaging.

Notable alumni

*Jack Jewell (Ph.D.) Inventor of vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (

VCSEL The vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser, or VCSEL , is a type of semiconductor laser diode with laser beam emission perpendicular from the top surface, contrary to conventional edge-emitting semiconductor lasers (also ''in-plane'' lasers) which ...

) *Eustace L. Dereniak (Ph.D.) Professor of Optical Sciences at The University of Arizona; Fellow of Optica and

SPIE SPIE (formerly the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers, later the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers) is an international not-for-profit professional society for optics and photonics technology, founded in 1955. It ...

, Former president of

, OSA Esther Hoffman Beller Medal. *C.

Lee Giles Clyde Lee Giles is an American computer scientist and the David Reese Professor at the College of Information Sciences and Technology at the Pennsylvania State University. He is also Graduate Faculty Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, ...

, (Ph.D.) David Reese Professor of Information Sciences and Technology, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, Professor of Supply Chain and Information Systems,

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

; Fellow of the ACM, IEEE and INNS; Gabor Award from the International Neural Network Society (INNS). *Arthur F. Gmitro, (Ph.D.) Professor of Radiology and Optical Sciences at The University of Arizona; SPIE Rudolph Kingslake award and the IPMI Francois Erbsmann prize.

Research

The college offers research College of Optical Sciences: Research opportunities in many areas including

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arizona College Of Optical Sciences, University Of Universities and colleges established in 1964

University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences 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 ...

University subdivisions in Arizona 1964 establishments in Arizona