Updates 2009-03

A College of Optical Sciences Newsletter for our Industrial Affiliate Partners

Dear Industrial Affiliate Member,

April brings campus-wide preparations for commencement -- an exciting time for us as many of our students are completing their degree requirements and preparing to graduate. Our mission is to give our students the world's best optics education and we are very proud of their accomplishments.

Four of our PhD candidates will be defending in April: (1) On April 2, Anthony Tanbakuchi will present A Surgical Confocal Microlaparoscope for Real-Time Optical Biopsies at 2:00 p.m. in the Radiology Research Building Room 101. (2) On April 10, Vrushali Korde will present Optical Imaging Modalities: From Design to Diagnosis of Skin Cancer. (3) On April 13, Christopher DeRose will present Electro-Optic Polymers: Materials and Devices at 11:00 a.m. in Meinel 821. (4) On April 17, Dong Yel Kang will present Partial Coherence and Aberration Effects on Speckle Characteristics at 9:30 a.m. in Meinel 701.

There is a very special milestone event coming up in early May that might interest you: UA's Engineering Design Day. This is the occasion when our seniors present their year-long, real-world capstone projects to the University of Arizona, the general public, teams of judges, and to you -- their industry sponsors. Many of you have already met our seniors and attended their planning and design presentations at our Fall and Spring workshops. Please join us on Engineering Design Day and see for yourself how their projects turned out. The date is Tuesday, May 5 and the location is UA's Student Union. For more information, please contact Allison Huff at 520-626-6737. There are also two Web sites that cover Engineering Design Day in detail: our own site at http://www.optics.arizona.edu/Affiliates/seniorcapstone.htm and a College of Engineering site at http://engr.arizona.edu/students/designday/index.html

Affiliates, thank you for your interest in our students and for your support.

CONTACT US

Affiliates, It's Always a Pleasure to Hear From You: Please feel free to contact Ms. Allison J. Huff, College of Optical Sciences Industrial Affiliates Coordinator at any time. She can be reached by telephone at 520-626-6737 or by email at allison@optics.arizona.edu

INDUSTRIAL AFFILIATES

Breault Research Organization: In mid-March Mary Turner, OSC MS 1990 and PhD 1993, met with our Women in Optics group and gave a brief overview of some of the issues and concerns women face while working in optics. The talk was followed by a lively Q&A session. Mary is Director of Training at Breault Research Organization. She has been involved with the development of optical software and has conducted training on optical design and the use of optical software for 12 years. She has contributed chapters to several optical reference encyclopedias covering various aspects of optical design and analysis and is a Fellow of SPIE. Thank you Mary -- it's always great to have you back at OSC.

Save the Dates for our Spring and Fall Workshops: Affiliates you are all invited to our next two Industrial Affiliates Workshops. Our Fall Workshop dates are October 27 and 28, 2009 and our Spring Workshop dates are March 2 and 3, 2010, with the company Showcase on the evening of the 2nd. We hope to see you all there.

Just Arrived -- OSC Caps and Shirts: For some time now, our students and faculty members have been wearing OSC polo shirts when they represent us at professional functions. The shirts are always a hit, so we decided to have a few extras made up along with some caps.

The Shirts: The shirts feature the University of Arizona's red and blue block A on the right sleeve, with OSC's signature rainbow diamond and the words College of Optical Sciences embroidered on the left chest. The shirts are exactly what you'd expect from the world's best optics school: they're made of high-performance 100% cotton pique, with a two-button placket, banded cuffs, a taped back neck seam, an even hem, and vented side seams. They are available in a variety of sizes for men and women and come in three colors: alumni red, UA blue, and sparkling white.

The Caps: These distinctive caps are the perfect complement to the shirts -- they're solid black with the OSC rainbow diamond embroidered over the bill in front and the words "Optical Sciences" arching across the back. Our high standards are reflected in the high quality of the cap: it's made of 100% cotton twill with six venting eyelets and an adjustable Velcro closing in back for a custom fit.

To Purchase: The prices are $12 for the cap and $25 for the shirt, with an additional charge for shipping. To purchase: please contact Luz Palomarez in the Dean's office by e-mail at luz@optics.arizona.edu or by telephone at 520-621-6997 ext. 1.

STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND STAFF

The Marathay Family Endows a Scholarship for Undergraduate Students: Professor Emeritus Arvind Marathay and his wife, Sunita, recently established a new endowed scholarship, the Marathay Family Endowed Scholarship, in support of undergraduate students at the College of Optical Sciences. When asked why he chose to establish an endowed scholarship Professor Marathay said, "Optical Sciences is a unique college where a wide variety of research areas are explored. I want to help OSC grow." Jim Wyant and the entire college thank Arvind and his family for their generosity and thoughtfulness. Photo: Sunita and Arvind Marathay.

Three TAs Receive Awards from Rolyn Optics Company: Three OSC students were selected to receive Rolyn Optics Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Assistant Awards for their work during the spring 2008 semester. Joshua Kim was nominated by Kathy Creath for TAing Opti 410 Optical Fabrication and Testing. Katie Schwertz was nominated by Stanley Pau for TAing Opti 380A Intermediate Optics Laboratory. Corrie Vandervlugt was nominated by Eustace Dereniak for TAing Kurt Thome's Opti 400 Radiometry Sources and Detectors. The awards recognize and reward Optical Sciences graduate students who have done outstanding work as teaching assistants. Faculty members nominate TAs for a variety of reasons including unusual dedication to student assistance, the design of innovative teaching labs, the launch and maintenance of course web sites, and excellence in substitute lecturing.

Roy Frieden Receives a Literati Network Award: The Emerald Literati Network has selected an article by Roy Frieden and colleagues -- Toward a Formal Theory of Socioculture: A Yin-Yang Information-Based Theory of Social Change -- as a Highly Commended Award Winner at the Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2009.

Alex Cronin Receives UA's Henry and Phyllis Koffler Prize: From Sumit Mazumdar, Department Head, Physics. "It gives me great pleasure to bring to you the news that Professor Alex Cronin [joint with Optical Sciences] has been selected for this year's Henry and Phyllis Koffler Prize for outstanding accomplishment in teaching. This is a very prestigious University-wide award. It comes with a serious one-time cash stipend [the magnitude of which is for Alex to disclose :)], a medallion and a certificate. The Prize will be presented at an Awards of Distinction luncheon which will be scheduled for late April or early May. FYI: This teaching award comes to Alex following a departmental and then a college teaching award. To us therefore, this brings joy but perhaps no great surprise. Please join me in congratulating Professor Cronin."

Three at OSC Honored for Technology Development: Last week brought us Innovation Day: a celebration of technology development and commercialization of research achievements of UA students, staff and faculty. This year's event showcased prominent University researchers who have demonstrated excellence in the areas of technology and innovation, and included two faculty members from OSC: Jennifer Barton and Charles Falco. Pouria Valley was selected to receive the 2009 Student Technology Award. The award recognizes innovation and entrepreneurship among University of Arizona students and honors a student who has excelled in a technology-related internship, independent study, or research position. The student's work may contribute to the development, enhancement or commercialization of a new technology. Under the guidance of Nasser Peyghambarian, Pouria's dissertation focuses on the design, fabrication, and testing of novel electro-active lenses for vision-care applications. He adapted the technology for use in a wide variety of new applications including auto-focus and optical zoom for camera phones, web-cams, and medical devices. With assistance from mentor Jim Jindrick at the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship, Pouria developed a business plan and is now in the process of finishing a prototype and securing intellectual properties with the help of UA's Office of Technology Transfer.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Distance Learning: We've added two more classes to our Fall lineup: a repeat of the well-received Opti 512L Mathematical Optics Lab and a brand-new course, Opti 410/510 Optical Fabrication and Testing. Classes start on August 24. For all the details please visit http://www.optics.arizona.edu/academics/distance.htm

Colloquium: Affiliates, we have five Colloquia scheduled for April and, as always, you are invited to attend:

April 2: Russell Chipman, University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences

April 9: Irving J. Bigio, Boston University

April 16: Jennifer Barton, University of Arizona College of Electrical and Computer Engineering

April 23: Aephraim Steinberg, University of Toronto

April 30: Anthony Siegman

All of our Colloquium begin at 3:45 p.m. in Room 307. Please plan to come 15 minutes early for refreshments with the speaker and our faculty members in the third-floor lobby adjacent to room 307. Dr. Siegman on April 30 is our last Colloquium speaker for the 2008-2009 Academic year. Colloquium will resume in late August or early September after the summer recess.

Monthly Updates

March 31, 2009