ORA's Optical Design Competition Renamed in Honor of Robert S. Hilbert; 2009 Winners Announced
August 2009 -Optical Research Associates (ORA®) is pleased to announce that its annual student optical design competition has been renamed in honor of Robert S. Hilbert (1941-2008), former President and Chief Executive Officer of ORA. The Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition recognizes excellence in optical design projects completed by post-secondary students, using ORA’s CODE V® or LightTools® software products. Each year awards totaling $4,000 are granted.
Hilbert was a dynamic and respected leader who was actively involved in all aspects of ORA business, from shaping important CODE V and LightTools software features to supporting key optical design and engineering initiatives. Some of the most recent software advances he championed were CODE V parallel processing and the LightTools optimization module, which was the first ever fully integrated illumination system optimization tool. Hilbert had served ORA since 1975, and was deeply committed throughout his career to fostering technical innovation in optics, enabling customer success, mentoring staff, and supporting optics education. Hilbert received B.S. and M.S. Degrees in Optics from the University of Rochester, was an SPIE Fellow, and held seven U.S. Patents in the field of optics.
"Bob devoted more than 50 years to the field of optical design," said Thomas Harris, Founder and former CEO of ORA. "He was passionate about researching and solving technical challenges, and helping colleagues do the same. It is our privilege to recognize Bob’s achievements and contributions to the optics community by dedicating this competition to him."
ORA is also pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition:
Dewen Cheng
Design of an Ultra Light and Compact Free-Form Shaped Prism Head Mounted Display
Ph.D. Candidate, University of ArizonaYuhong Yao
Telecentric Zoom Lens Design for DLP Projection
M.S. Candidate, University of Rochester
ORA congratulates this year’s competition winners and wishes them continued success. For more details about the winning projects, visit www.opticalres.com.
