By
La Monica Everett-Haynes
Arizona Daily Wildcat
UA separates optics program from electrical engineering
The UA's Optical Sciences Center is shedding light on the next technological spark to shower into daily life - the optics industry.
Growing interest in the industry has led the University of Arizona to make the undergraduate program in optics separate from the electrical engineering program this semester.
The products that derive from optical technology are widely used but rarely noticed, said John Greivenkamp, optical sciences professor.
"In many instances, optics is buried in the product, and it's not even known that it is a strong component," Greivenkamp said.
Optics is used in computer chips, compact and digital video disks, cameras, holograms, telescopes and lasers - to name a few.
"One of the things we are beginning to recognize is that optics is an enabling technology, and we are finding it in more and more products," he said.
The center is driven by several factors - more technological dependency, the recent boom in optical sciences, Tucson's reputation for being a scope for optics and the University of Arizona's reputation for being one of the industry's founding educational institutions, Greivenkamp said.
While the center only has about 220 students, it is helping to set the stage for a national inclination toward embracing the use of optics, he said.
"When I was a student in the 70s, the number of optics companies was low, but now that number is quite a bit larger," Greivenkamp said. "The U of A is servicing a national need - it's probably the leading optical institution in the country."
Greivenkamp added that when he was a UA undergraduate, there was only one other institution in the United States that provided an optics degree - the University of Rochester in Massachusetts.
For that matter, the UA's optics program is an "internationally prominent program," said James Wyant, Optical Science Center director.
The program works with other UA departments, such as the medical school, and the chemistry, physics and astronomy departments, he said.
Inventions and products that students and professors create are a national benefit in telecommunication, biomedicine, metrology, the medical field, environmental services, the Internet and the military, he said.
"We are, without a doubt, the nation's top when it comes to the number of graduates, the number of papers published and the number of companies started," Wyant said.
Some of the more popular optical-related Tucson companies with ties to the UA are Breault Research Organization, Veeco Process Metrology and Etec Systems Incorporated, he said.
Knowing the program's reputation and Tucson's acquisition of the "Optics Valley" nickname, Jochen Straub said he made a trans-Atlantic trip from Germany to the United States two years ago so he could be submerged in Tucson's optics industry.
While there are more institutions that provide a broader educational base for students interested in optics, other countries are still catching the wave.
"As far as I know, there is no program comparable to the one here that would give me a career in optics," said Straub, an optical sciences graduate student.
"I don't think that Germany has as many different companies as in the United States," he said. "I know there are a few and they are very good, but it's not that wide a field there as it is here."
Now that optical sciences and electrical engineering are separate, students have an increased number of courses - from both programs - to choose from.
"There's a number of companies, both locally and nationally, who said they'd like to see the students study both," said Richard Shoemaker, associate director of academic programs in optical sciences.
Heidi Hall, an optical sciences graduate student, said she also noticed the companies' increased interest now.
"Most people have gotten job offers before they graduate, and if they haven't, they've been living in a shell," Hall said. "The companies go to the center of knowledge - like the Bay Area in northern California."
Hall is currently developing an instrument that will detect astigmatism quickly, easily and at an earlier age. Hall said most often, the eye disease is not detected until children first see an optometrist - in elementary school when it's too late.
Such developments are what perpetuates Tucson's notoriety, Greivenkamp said.
"The companies that hire our students come from all over the country, specifically for our students," he said. "We've grown because there is a recognized need for people educated in optics - and we offer high quality students."
