Competition recognises student achievement in optical design

This year's award winners are:

• Jacob Reimers of the University of Rochester, for his paper titled, Compact Offner-Chrisp Imaging Spectrometer using Freeform Surfaces. The paper describes the use of freeform optics to significantly improve the compactness of a high-performance Offner-Chrisp spectrometer in order to meet stringent size and weight requirements for aerospace and airborne optical systems. The design was developed using CODE V software.
• Yi Qin of the University of Arizona, for his paper titled, Design of a Multi-Resolution Foveated Laparoscope. Using CODE V, Qin developed a laparoscope design capable of providing both wide-angle and high-resolution views during surgery, with the goal of improving the field of view to make laparoscopic surgeries safer and more efficient.
• Scott Paine of the University of Rochester, for his paper titled, A View from the Top: Design of a Wide Field of View Climbing Camera. Paine designed a digital video camera with a large field of view specifically for rock climbing. The camera can be attached to a belay rope to provide a close view of climbers' movements over a wide area. Paine leveraged CODE V's optimisation capabilities to achieve good tolerances and a rugged system.
• Stephanie Guzman, Travis Sawyer, Nicholas Lyons, and Fabian Wildenstein, all of the University of Arizona, for their paper titled, Methane Submersed High-Resolution Imager. The paper describes a camera system designed to produce high-resolution images of the Kraken Mare seafloor on Titan, Saturn's largest moon. The system, developed in CODE V, incorporates a high-resolution camera, a CCD chip, and an illumination system that acts as the light source.

"It is a great honor to receive this award, which encourages me to pursue a career in optics," said Yi Qin. "I would like to thank Synopsys for providing CODE V to use in my work on a multi-resolution foveated laparoscope design, which has great potential to improve the efficiency and outcomes of laparoscopic surgery."

"The winning entries in this year's competition provided new ideas for a variety of challenging imaging optics applications, ranging from space-borne systems and medical devices to digital cameras," said George Bayz, Vice President and General Manager, Synopsys' Optical Solutions Group. "Congratulations to all the winners on their effective use of Synopsys' CODE V software."