ICO coordinates the advancement and dissemination of scientific and technical knowledge in optics and photonics. Its Education Committee plans to survey, cross-reference and provide web links for syllabi, curricula, course materials, laboratory experiments and textbooks for K-12 through professional educational programs. We invite discussion and comment on near-term and long-term goals.

How can you best prepare yourself for a career in Optics in an uncertain and exciting world? First, I would say - you must find your passion - the thing that truly gets you excited. You should make sure that you get a solid, broad education in fundamentals, with lots of lab experience, and prepare yourself to be flexible. Then, as your career progresses, wherever you are, you should continuously ask yourself - "what do I really want to be doing in 5 or 10 years?" And then, ask yourself "are the things that I am doing now consistent with what I want to be doing in 5 or 10 years?"

In the last year, three very different new undergraduate degrees in photonics have started to develop in Ontario where none was available before. One is an Honours B.Sc. in Photonics, one is a Photonics Engineering degree and another is a Bachelor of Applied Technology in Photonics. This paper presents these programs.

With the creation of a new school of engineers which is part of the French system of the "Grandes Ecoles" a deep reflection based on the experience of three schools, which are merging, has been led. The objective is to prepare highly selected students to meet the need for highly qualified scientists who can become highly qualified managers. The program of education is made of general courses in mathematics and sciences with deepening fields chosen by the students. Optics and photonics are very important parts of the proposed syllabus.

The B.S., M.S., Ph.D., and distance learning programs at the University of Arizona's Optical Sciences Center have all undergone significant changes during the last two years. The rationale behind these program and curriculum changes are discussed, particularly for the undergraduate program, which recently received ABET accreditation.

The optics educational programs at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology have progressed and evolved over the past twenty years. Beginning with a modest undergraduate area minor in applied optics we now offer bachelors and masters degree programs in optical engineering. Distinctive elements of the current optical engineering programs including courses and curricula will be discussed.

Recently, one of us (DH) observed that certain drawings and paintings from as early as the Renaissance seemed almost "photographic" in detail. An extensive visual investigation of western art of the past 1000 years resulted in the revolutionary claim that artists even of the prominence of van Eyck and Bellini must have used optical aids. However, art historians insisted there was no supporting evidence for such a remarkable assertion. This paper presents some of the optical evidence we subsequently discovered that convincingly demonstrates optical instruments were in use - by artists, not scientists - nearly 200 years earlier than widely thought possible, and that accounts for the remarkable transformation in the reality of portraits that occurred early in the 15th century.

It is well known that computer simulations can aid the understanding of complex devices and systems, particularly if they allow the students to modify parameters and see the results on laboratory-like virtual instrumentation. However, a drawback of commercial simulation tools is that they cannot be distributed freely to students, for 'take-home' assignments. To address this problem, VPI has developed VPIplayer^™, which has the full simulation capabilities of VPItransmissionMaker^™ and VPIcomponentMaker^™, including exactly the same numerical models as the full commercial tools. VPIplayer can illustrate basic concepts through to complex systems designs, and is distributed freely to anyone with a PC. This paper discusses the advantages of using commercial software in education, introduces VPIplayer and how to create Virtual Laboratories, charts the range of possible experiments, and provides some illustrations of virtual 'take home' laboratories.

Uncertainty principle forms a crucial part of quantum theory and wave optics. By using the propagation of a scalar, 3-D wave packet with and without dispersion as a heuristic device, we examine different aspects of the principle as it applies to transverse and longitudinal dispersion, and to time-dependent and stationary states.

Very simple visual aids can be designed to convey sophisticated concepts in optics to students ranging from 5^th grade to first year graduate students. In this talk I will outline several specific classroom experiments illustrating concepts in wave optics that can be performed with computer generated holograms.

Three Rivers Community College (TRCC) is a public, associate degree-granting college located in southeastern Connecticut.. Formed in 1992 by the merger of Thames Valley State Technical College and Mohegan Community College, TRCC is a comprehensive multi-campus college with a full range of programs in technology and engineering technology. Although Connecticut is located in what has been called "Photonics Valley", stretching from Virginia to Massachusetts, eastern Connecticut has few optics related companies and is mainly known for two large Indian gaming casinos and the submarines built at General Dynamics Electric Boat Division in Groton. Yet TRCC has created a two-year associate degree program in Photonics Engineering Technology which continues to grow. This paper describes the development of a photonics technician program at a distance (in Connecticut terms) from supporting industries and explains strategies used to keep the program current with industry and student expectations.

The place of Albuquerque TVI Community College in the ladder of photonics education in New Mexico is presented. TVI has offered photonics courses since the late 70s. These courses formed the first rung of what has developed into a ladder of photonics educational opportunities in New Mexico, ranging from middle and high school initiatives to university programs. Details of how TVI established its current Photonics Technology Program and a description of this program are presented. Two key elements of success in photonics education are emphasized - excellence in teaching traditional and non-traditional students of diverse educational backgrounds, and involvement and feedback from industry in shaping educational and training programs in photonics.

The University of Waterloo, partnered with key industry players, Photonics Research Ontario and the Ontario government, has launched Ontario’s first diploma-level photonics program to re-skill scientists and engineers. The Education Program for Photonics Professionals (EP3) offers the basics of a university level Optics education, but in a manageable timeframe and format for the working professional.

For the first time in Taiwan, we have established an undergraduate training program for optical glass melting and applications. Incorporated with e-learning, we try to make the learning process and hands-on practice in preparation of optical materials more happy and efficient. Some ideas for course design, revised facilities and teaching tools have been proposed.

A fiber-optic communications course requires a deep understanding of the physical processes of the components and systems. Unfortunately, many students in engineering technology programs lack the scientific background for such a course. Another challenge is that these students need to be trained as maintenance and control personnel. To resolve these problems, we focus our teaching on the use of corporate technical documentation.

As the world gets smaller through globalization and telecommunication, it also gets richer in possibilities. Empowering the educators to exchange ideas on successes and mistakes continually on the global stage while working to improve the education on their local stages can galvanize those potential richness. Our goal is to enhance this global inter-connectedness by facilitating the local intra-connectedness among the regional educators and their organizations, which can form local education clusters.

Advances in optics and photonics technology requires the development of 'life long learning' techniques to maintain well trained technical (and management) staff. Such training may not be provided by 'traditional' lecture programmes. Distance learning allows study from home or the work place providing flexibility to both employer and employee.

webMathematica provides a good mathematical and graphical mechanism for using a web browser to study optics problems over the internet. Techniques for using webMathematica to study interference, Fraunhofer and Fresnel diffraction, polarization, and Seidel and Zernike aberration will be described and illustrated. (See http://wyant.optics.arizona.edu/math.htm).

WebTOP is a three-dimensional, interactive computer graphics system developed at Mississippi State University to help students learn about waves and optics. It has been used to help teach undergraduate introductory physics and upper-level optics classes. Currently, it is comprised of sixteen modules spanning eight different subject areas. The subject areas are waves, geometrical optics, reflection and refraction, polarization, interference, diffraction, lasers, and scattering. WebTOP simulations have the following characteristics. First, they are three dimensional, i.e., they have navigation controls that allow the user to rotate the scene, pan, or zoom, in order to view it from any desired orientation. Secondly, they are interactive. The user can change the parameters either by typing in the desired values into the appropriate text entry box, or by using the mouse cursor to move the appropriate widget in the scene. Thirdly, the simulations are animated, for those phenomena for which animation is appropriate. Furthermore, the simulations include VCR-type controls that allow the user to record his/her interactions with the simulation for later retrieval, viewing, and editing. Finally, these modules run inside a web browser. They can be run from our website, http://webtop.msstate.edu, or they can be downloaded from this website and run on the user’s local machine. This paper provides an overview of WebTOP and a description of each of the modules.

A simulation program to study various laser dynamics has been written. It explore all main equations of laser physics. The students, playing around with the laser parameters such as pump power, cavity losses and population dynamics can visualize the different behaviors of the laser output power, spectrum and time evolution.

We discuss the design considerations of Internet Assisted Laboratories (Ilabs), their educational use for teachers and students in the classroom and for homework, and the results of several pedagogical evaluations at Stanford University of remote optics Ilabs we have used since 1998.

A graduate student level curriculum has been developed for teaching the basic principles of how lasers and light interact with biological tissues and materials. The field of Photomedicine can be divided into two topic areas: (1) where tissue affects photons, used for diagnostic sensing, imaging, and spectroscopy of tissues and biomaterials, and (2) where photons affect tissue, used for surgical and therapeutic cutting, dissecting, machining, processing, coagulating, welding, and oxidizing tissues and biomaterials. The courses teach basic principles of tissue optical properties and light transport in tissues, and interaction of lasers and conventional light sources with tissues via photochemical, photothermal and photomechanical mechanisms.

Rensselaer is establishing an educational program, THz Science and Technology, with an interdisciplinary faculty team from Departments of Physics, Biology, and Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering. Doctoral level students are trained in THz electronics, THz spectroscopy, THz imaging, and THz data transfer and networking. We present examples of focus research and studio based education.

We discuss optics education within the context of an Optometric professional program leading to a degree of Doctor of Optometry (O.D.). Basic course work in Geometric, Physical, Ophthalmic and Visual Optics will be described and we will discuss how basic optical phenomena can be made relevant to the Optometric student with different academic backgrounds.

MentorNet (www.MentorNet.net), the e-mentoring network for women in engineering and science, matches undergraduate and graduate students with professionals working in industry for year-long, structured, one-on-one, email-based mentoring relationships, to advance professional development and encourage retention. Collaborating with higher education, industry, government, and professional societies, MentorNet paired nearly 20,000 individuals 1998-2002.

A critical factor for realizing the steady and sustainable growth of the optics industry in Singapore is an adequate and steady supply of qualified personnel at all levels. In this paper, the formation of the National Alliance for Photonics Education and Training (NAPET) is reported. The main goal of NAPET is to develop an integrated system for photonics education and training in Singapore. The important role of global networking and cooperation will also be discussed.

Organizational diversity has arrived at an important crossroads in our history. Over the past year, a somewhat novel approach to diversity based on organizational effectiveness has enabled many people from various backgrounds and levels of experience to better understand how diversity works and be able to assess both collective and individual progress.

Subsurface imaging is a new discipline encompassing optical, electromagnetic, and ultrasonic tools for underwater, underground, or under tissue imaging. We have developed a new senior-level engineering course covering waves and their interaction with various media, inverse scattering methods, and image reconstruction techniques for localized and multiview tomographic imaging.

A method for introducing undergraduates to graduate-level research in electrical engineering is presented. The three-phase, year-long program involves extension of analytical theory from core and elective courses to a specialized research problem, construction and validation of numerical simulation techniques, and conduct of the experiment, with emphasis on analysis of results.

The Wigner distribution function is viewed as an important tool in the analysis of wave progation and image formation. We discuss why it should be taught in optics courses relating to these topics.

Three levels of NPMT: (A) NPMT training for the first-and-second-year students; (B) NPMT training for higher level student; (C) NPMT training for postgraduate students.

The patent literature has captured a wealth of optical component developments targeted for telecommunications applications. During the telecom bubble there was no incentive to communicate these advancements. Yet today, such information must be absorbed and disseminated to recalibrate the baseline knowledge of students and professionals.

A new approach to senior-level fiber optics and photonics curricula is presented. The approach shifts the education goals' focus from device construction and physics to system level integration and performance. A revised curriculum is presented, and feedback from students in the initial offering is provided.

Classes in fiber-optic communications, presented at Arizona State University (ASU) for four decades, have evolved in both content and delivery. Content updates followed the development of new components and network strategies, while delivery methods changed from blackboard-to-television-to-Internet. Evolution, evaluation, and future direction of these classes are described.

To explore the need for a graduate level engineering course in optical networking, a needs assessment consisting of (i) an investigation of 14 existing optical networking courses, (ii) an analysis of online surveys among the networking community and the ASU electrical engineering department, (iii) faculty interviews, and (iv) focus groups was conducted. Survey responses from a total of 61 respondents were received and analyzed. The results support the need for a graduate level course in optical networking. Our analyses indicate that a graduate course in optical networking should (i) focus on the basic mechanisms and current trends in optical networking, (ii) be based on a text book and instructor slides combined with collections of examples and problems. Regarding the optimal delivery method it was found that current students and faculty strongly prefer face-to-face delivery complemented by on-line readings and assignments, whereas working engineering professionals are more open to the idea of online courses.

We will describe several education programs that serve the growing optics industry in the Central Florida region, including the School of Optics' graduate programs and two-year and four-year programs in Photonics Technology taught by collaboration between the University of Central Florida and local community colleges.

A unique graduate program in optical engineering by combining optical and microwave courses has been developed in the University of Nevada, Reno. The advantage of such a hybrid program is better job opportunities in a tight job market as these students are suitable for both RF/microwaves and Optical industries.

The year 2003 marks the 20^th anniversary of introducing interdisciplinary graduate optics education at the University of New Mexico. The Ph.D. program in Optical Sciences has produced over 75 graduates. A new M.S. program in Optical Science and Engineering, introduced in Fall 2002, is rapidly gaining popularity. This paper reviews both programs, focusing on their unique features.

The experience of joint work of Tomsk and Novosibirsk academic institutes and universities on the education of students and professional training of young specialists for scientific and industrial enterprises is generalized.

The educational and research facilities in optics provided by the Research and educational center "Plasma" are described. Students study traditional, laser and correlation spectroscopy; interference and holography; image processing; nonlinear optics as well as methods of automated optical data acquisition and processing. The main attention in lectures, laboratory training and student's individual research works is attracted to optical methods applied to plasma diagnostics.

Under funding from NSF's ATE program, the national nonprofit R&D organization CORD recently developed and published the second edition of The National Photonics Skill Standards for Technicians (NPSST), which provides an employer-driven specification for the development of photonics education programs and supporting instructional materials, particularly at the two-year postsecondary level. This paper explains the need for NPSST and overviews its main components - specifications for what photonics technicians should know and be able to do in six broad photonics specialty areas, secondary and postsecondary curriculum outlines, a sample 4+2 photonics technology course sequence, and foundational knowledge components for two-year photonics technician programs.

In a situation where curricula did not adjust at the required pace and many students are getting attracted out of science and technology, the shortage of skilled workers at the technician and engineer level is known to be a threat to development. In spite of a serious crisis in 2001, the trend of an increased presence of optical technologies remains unchanged and is bound to remain part of the landscape for decades. The level of investment required and the markets make Europe the best scale to plan for unified curricula and a global analysis of the human resources needs. There is no agreement on the definition of a trained optician, and European countries differ in the way they educate opticians, source of a lack of clarity and visibility which is detrimental to attracting good students and to the job market. Through its closely work with companies, OPTRANET will propose measures to enhance the adequacy and the visibility of the training offer.

The Connecticut Business and Industry Association and Three Rivers Community College have partnered with Connecticut’s photonics industry to provide innovative training programs in optics, lasers and fiber optics. A Certificate in Fiber Optics is being delivered by distance learning with assistance by company mentors. This approach was developed to meet training objectives and company goals.

Optics plays a large role in the National Optical Astronomy Observatory's Teacher Leaders in Research Based Science Education program by emphasizing optics and optical technology in preparation for an authentic research experience for teachers at Kitt Peak National Observatory. The goals and methodology of incorporating optics in this program will be discussed.

OPETA regroups all parties interested in the supply of highly-qualified photonics personnel in Ontario. The association counts more than 60 members from Ontario’s universities, community colleges, grade/mid/high schools, government agencies, private curriculum developers/providers and industry. In its third year, with a list-serv, webpage, regular meetings and coming off distributing to its members ~$3-million in donated equipment, OPETA is a key element in local networking, helping photonics education flourish in Ontario at all levels.

The article is devoted to the problems of internationalization of education in optics. The importance and specific character of internationalization for optical education including its main problems are analyzed. The ways of international integration on the university level are presented through the model of "step by step" solution of education comparability. The importance of international university networks in optics is showed.

The Young Spectroscopist Symposium is held annually for young scientists to present spectroscopic research projects. All ethnic groups are represented. Ratings are on merit alone without ethnic/gender considerations. The event is widely supported, with 80-85% attendance by previously disadvantaged population groups. Future developments are to extend support to young spectroscopists.

Facing great challenge in the optical and photonic fileds, the department of optical science and engineering at Fudan university has carried out unique research training and education programs with multiple levels to have students obtain broad knowledge and research training experience by attending the class studies and active research projects.

An overview of educational, training , and research activities as well as the capacity building of Brazilian institutions in the Optics and Photonics area is presented. Data collected from active research and teaching groups allow a detailed evaluation of the present situation.

Optics in Mexico has had a fast growth for the last two decades, sustained basically by academic goals on education and research, and for a large electronic engineering students enrollment. The current socioeconomical demands creates conditions where more applied optical skills are favored.

“Lasers in Use,” winner of the 2002 National Association for Gifted Children's exemplary curriculum award, captivates the interest of primary grade students. The abstract and complex concepts, interesting and unique applications, and exciting potential of lasers motivates the author's students to “think like scientists” as they experiment, question, and discover.

An ad-hoc group of has "self-assembled" in the Silicon Valley for the purpose of generating the wonder and excitement of science in young people, via optics. A systematic approach to science outreach is presented, and sample projects will be described, such as the Science NanoGrant project.

A new classroom-tested software package provides an innovative curriculum for teaching elementary concepts in spectrum and color. Students explore the construction of natural and infrared color composites of Earth scenes to determine the unique spectral characteristics of terrestrial plants and apply this knowledge to a search for life on Mars.

The optical mouse is an inexpensive and easily available device that interfaces directly to a computer. Here, the viability of this device in optical metrology is demonstrated. Application in a wide range of student experiments is anticipated.

The Optics Institute of Southern California is organizing the local educational outreach effort. Working with local optics businesses, society chapters, science discovery centers, K-12, community college and university educators, and others from the global optics education and training community, the OISC is becoming a one-stop clearing house for a wide range of educational outreach activities.

In order to change the way that school children view physics, OSA's University of Southampton Student Chapter has developed an optic roadshow. By taking simple optics experiments and demonstrations to primary schools we aim to dispel the negative image of classroom science and help teachers to convey the fascination of physics.

A project seeking to improve capacities in teaching Optics and Photonics in university introductory physics courses and benefit teachers in developing countries will be implemented by international collaboration. Active learning modules in Optics will be based on available resources and inexpensive materials. Most workshop facilitators will come from developing countries.

By shifting the focus in lectures from delivering information to helping students synthesize information remarkable improvements in understanding can be achieved. The method to accomplish this improvement, Peer Instruction, is easily adapted and implemented.

The Physics Education Group at the University of Washington has been investigating student understanding of geometrical and physical optics. The results of this research have guided the design of two curricula. Examples will be given of serious student difficulties and how they are addressed through these research-based curricula.

Abstract concepts can challenge the most confident and able students. Add the technology specific terminology used to describe these concepts and one can have a recipe for frustration and failure. This paper discusses the creative techniques used by a primary grades teacher that allow students to communicate like laser professionals.

In response to a need for interactive learning, we designed a physical optics course that incorporates writing-to-learn principles and allows students to meld in-class theory with real-world practice. Students "published" their papers on the open-access web. This exercise necessitated that students understand principles sufficiently to simplify complex topics for a broad general audience.

Over the last two decades, there has been substantial effort by scientists on understanding how students learn science. Systematic research shows that effective instruction builds specifically on students' prior knowledge and provides multiple opportunities for meaningful feedback in novel settings.

In direct response to the needs of the local optics and photonics sector, Albuquerque has established a comprehensive optics education program from middle school to post graduate. Individuals may enter and return to the workforce routinely as they ascend the degree chain. Quantitative details and progress will be presented as well as curricula.

University of New Mexico has developed a comprehensive plan for a new B.S. degree in Optical Science and Engineering, accompanied by teacher training and enhancement of K-12 optics education. The plan incorporates curriculum development, creation of new laboratories, development of optics courses for teachers, creation of outreach programs, and involvement of industry and government laboratories.

The Photonics Academy offers high-schoolers courses to prepare them for high-tech work in optics and photonics. Students achieve sufficient math and science proficiency to attend university or community college. Internship opportunities, tours, guest lecturers, articulated curriculum are popular program components. Enrollment is close to 200 students, 48% female and 65% Hispanic.

We present a simple experiment to visualize water cluster formation by light scattering during an adiabatic expansion. Undergraduate students can easily perform the experiment and learn about cluster formation, cloud creation, and adiabatic expansions.

A set of demonstrations suitable for use in classrooms at the secondary, undergraduate and graduate level, and for public use in museums and science centers were developed to exhibit basic optics principles, vision science, and adaptive optics techniques. This paper will exhibit these demonstrations, and how they can be used to promote understanding of optics principles in a wide range of applicable areas. Demonstrations include units showing image formation, orientation, and scale; a unit showing 3-dimensional ray tracing through optical systems using a scattering medium and laser diodes; a unit allowing users to directly observe the color sensitivity of their eyes; and a demonstration directly demonstrating wavefront errors, image distortion, and a Shack-Hartmann sensor for wavefront measurement. Together, these bring real-world optical principles into the hands-on regime, and demystify optics principles that are difficult to visualize in three dimensions. These demonstrations are currently in use at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, at Nauticus in Virginia, at the Yerkes Observatory and at Carthage College in Wisconsin, as well as at several middle and high schools in Illinois and Wisconsin. They have also been integrated into a unit in the Hands on Universe program published by the Lawrence Hall of Science. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation through the Center for Adaptive Optics.

In order to attract more high school students in the scientific and technical universities, we develop an " itinerary class room in laser technology". Based on laser hardware that fits within few small suitcases, a general and illustrated talk on laser basics is followed by various experiments by the students themselves.

Project PHOTON has developed a set of instructional materials suitable for a onesemester laboratory based introduction to photonics course. The textbook, laboratory experiment kit and laboratory manual have been thoroughly field tested by participating high schools and two year colleges. All materials have been aligned to national Math, Science, Technology and Language Arts standards.

The Columbia Career Center High School SPIE Chapter has created an educational CD-ROM to teach holography to students on the threshold of a career path in Optics and Photonics. Holography is a National Photonics Skill Standard for Technicians and is an excellent educational tool. As of yet, the market lacks a product of this kind.

We demonstrate a pair of 90-45-45 prisms from binoculars appropriately attached to serve as Fresnel rhomb, i.e. achromatic quarter-wave plate. One and two Dove prisms with metallic reflection instead of TIR can work as half-wave plate and polarization rotator, respectively; both achromatic.

Teaching optical phenomena with the use of analogies to the motion of bi-frequency pendulum on a rotary platform is described. Adiabatic following in liquid crystals and in quantum mechanics is visualized. Particular examples include also diffraction by an edge and Fourier properties of a step function.

Three-dimensional, animated electric field simulations of the transverse electric (TE) modes of a planar dielectric waveguide are presented.

Hands-On Optics (HOO) is a collaborative three-year program to create and sustain a unique, national, informal science education program to excite students about science by actively engaging them in optics activities. It will reach underrepresented middle school cohorts in science and technology, and connect with their parents, teachers, school districts and communities.

The Laser Applications in Science Education and the Laser Sciences and Optics in the Classroom programs both involve hands-on teacher workshops featuring optics experiments utilizing laser pointers. This presentation describes several of these classroom-proven activities that may be easily incorporated into existing optics curricula of middle and high school science programs.

A new teacher's guide in the Great Exploration in Math and Science series, titled “Invisible Universe” addresses teaching approaches for the subject area of the electromagnetic spectrum and the sources and detectors needed for different wavelengths. This guide contains inquiry-oriented activities about waves, different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the astronomical discoveries that can be made at each wavelength. As such it represents an integrated approach for this important optics subject matter area. Although the guide is written for teachers teaching grades 6-8 the activities can be used for high school and even college students.

We describe an experiment that allows students to measure the Sagnac effect with a fibergyro linked to a rotating plate. The Sagnac signal is compared to an independant measurement that uses an optical encoder. The Sagnac law can be verified and the speed of Earth rotation can be estimated experimentaly.

A practical method was developed by a production engineer and a technician to measure the pointing angle of laser diode using a circular aperture. The method provided qualitative measurement only. A theoretical analysis using a mathematical software such as Mathcad shows that the method can provide quantitative measurement as well.

Microsoft PowerPoint XP adds many animation features not present in earlier versions of the software. The purpose of this paper is to call attention to how this software can be used to construct powerful, easy-to-understand animations of simple and complex optical effects. Several examples will be presented.

We focus at CAD/CAM for optomechatronics. We have developed a kind of CAD/CAM, which is not only for mechanics but also for optics and electronic. The software can be used for training and education. We introduce mechanical CAD, optical CAD and electrical CAD, we show how to draw a circuit diagram, mechanical diagram and luminous transmission diagram, from 2D drawing to 3D drawing. We introduce how to create 2D and 3D parts for optomechatronics, how to edit tool paths, how to select parameters for process, how to run the post processor, dynamic show the tool path and generate the CNC programming. We introduce the joint application of CAD&CAM. We aim at how to match the requirement of optical, mechanical and electronics.

"Project LITE: Light Inquiry Through Experiments" is a software, materials and curriculum development project. Its goal is to help undergraduates learn from direct eyes-on experience about light, optics, color and visual perception.

The Rochester Section of the Optical Society of America offers a middle school outreach program called the Optics Suitcase. Contents include re-usable demos and give-away experiments that illustrate color in white light. Over 40 suitcases have been shipped, free of charge, to groups in the USA, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Australia and South Africa.

The burgeoning growth of the worldwide photonics and optical communications industry has imposed ever increasing demands on the supply of suitably skilled engineers and scientists who can design, install and operate modern photonics systems. In recognition of this need OptoSci, in collaboration with university academics, has commercially developed a series of hardware based teaching packages in optics, optoelectronics and optical communications. Each educator kit is fully self-contained, including all of the optoelectronic hardware and comprehensive literature support. This saves the academic tutor considerable development time and enables the kits to be immediately installed in the photonics teaching laboratory to support accompanying lecture courses. A fundamental design objective of our educator kits is to provide students with hands-on practical experience of photonics components, instruments and systems and allow them to investigate essential physical principles and key technical issues relevant to their lecture courses. This paper will outline the design philosophy behind the products to meet the desired educational aims, and then examine the specific educational objectives and topics investigated in each educator kit.

Significant research is conducted during the school year and over summer months at the Center for Optics Manufacturing (COM) by undergraduates. Projects are designed with short- and long-term goals, to be carried out by students using advanced CNC machines and sophisticated metrology tools. Five activities are described with emphasis on the individuals doing the work.

The ABCD matrix formalism, the Collins formula and the complex amplitude distributions on two spherical surfaces of given curvature and spacing are adapted to the mathematical expression of fractional order Fourier transform. This result provides a general expression as a tool for analyzing complicated systems involving several lenses and mirrors separated by arbitrary distances; for this class of system it is sufficient to specify the ray transfer matrix and the order of fractional Fourier transform to characterize the system completely.

Rose-Hulman has a history of meeting the need for optical engineers via the Applied Optics Programs since 1983. We have changed our degree program to Optical Engineering and will seek ABET accreditation. The present paper will deal with the step taken to accomplish this and define the mission of the degree program.

Computer training program was developed to learn the students, studying plasma diagnostics methods, the principles of computer tomography and some algorithms of reconstruction of 3D plasma parameter distributions. The program allows to simulate some spatial distribution of plasma emission, to calculate projections of non-uniform plasma objects and to demonstrate visually the result of restoration of axially symmetric and asymmetric objects at the chosen number of projections. The software allows to simulate the noise distortion of projections and thus to show the dependence of reconstruction accuracy on the number of projections, noise level and reconstruction algorithm.

Study of fiber optics allows us easy visualization of many physical concepts like normal modes and super modes, polarization dependent phenomena, nonlinear phenomena like solitons etc. Indeed fiber optics also allows us easy elucidation of quantum mechanical phenomena like quantization and tunneling.

An undergraduate experiment to investigate the optical properties of liquid crystals (LC) is described. The target students are final-year undergraduates pursuing an advanced optoelectronics course at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of the National University of Singapore. In the first part of the experiment, the retardation of light by a LC cell is determined by analyzing the polarization state of light passing through the cell. In the second part, the time response of the LC molecules is obtained by applying a time -varying voltage to the LC cell. The objectives of the experiment are to i) provide a hands-on experience of an optical source-modulator-detector system, in response to the needs of industry, ii) illustrate a practical application of Jones matrix analysis, iii) establish a link between the molecular properties of an LC medium and their optical properties and iv) show how the material properties of a LC material may influence its use in display devices.

Three optical design courses are taught at the junior-senior undergraduate level at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. This paper will discuss a lens design course which utilizes complimentary keys to Code V provided by ORA and two design courses in which students work on projects motivated by commercial industry.

An elective course on optoelectronic materials and devices offered at the University of San Diego is described. Main topics include band structure, semiconductor alloys, optical processes, photodetectors, light emitting diodes, laser diodes, fiber optics, and quantum wells. Laboratory projects and innovative pedagogical aspects of the course are also discussed.

We propose in this work the use a diffraction grating to calculate the wavelength inside a transparent material of parallel plane faces, with the purpose of measuring the magnitude of their refractive index. The errors of this method and the precision are discussed.

After each laboratory session, students must answer individually three random multiple choice questions. The corresponding software has been developed by us. This self-evaluation test motivates students before and during sessions performance, and provides objective information to the teacher. The estimated students’ mean satisfaction with this system is 8.1/10.

The principle of superposition plays critical roles in both classical and quantum physics. This paper will underscore the conceptual continuities and divergences in the process of successfully using Fourier transforms as a classical superposition tool to quantify Fraunhofer diffractions, far-field space and temporal coherence, Fourier transform spectroscopy and dispersive broadening of a short pulse.

Spatial energy re-distribution as interference fringes are recorded when two spatially and temporally coherent beams intersect. We show simple experiments with different recording materials to explain this energy re-distribution process. Interference effects are manifest in materials as dictated by their quantum properties because optical fields do not interfere with (or operate on) each other.

We discuss how we introduce Wigner optics to students of different backgrounds, what sub-topics we find most appropriate, what difficulties we have encountered, and how we motivate an appreciation of the subject by means of suitable examples.

In this work we show an education experimental setup for a single-mode fiber interferometric temperature sensor based on an Mach-Zehnder array. The used fiber has a refractive index core of 1.456 for wavelength of 633 nm. The sensor calibration was done by using ice and phase change was measured by counting of the fringes.

Over the past four years, 2000-2003, undergraduates have participated in summer research at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (RHIT) carrying out a wide range of optics projects.

Here I describe the way in which a significant design and project component has been incorporated into a graduate level course on optical engineering in such a way as to be suitable for both novices in optics and also those with significant background. The course makes use of commercial optical ray tracing software.

We have experienced an Associated Degree on Engineering and a subsequent Bs on Electronic Engineering that uses Optics as the essential introduction to Modern Ondulatory Physics. This first experience in Mexico is important because the popular origin of Mexican Engineering Students, that represents the 27% of the National enrollment.

Optical fiber networks began in Costa Rica in 1989 for Telco and Datcom applications. One job at LAFTLA is to give education and training for technical and engineer community that require this technology, including courses at university level. We present how we do that task and what problems we have.