Feed Editor 17 Jun 2009 23:33:19 GMT The latest news from Optical Research Associates, now part of Synopsys, including news about CODE V, LightTools, ORA Engineering, and company news. http://www.opticalres.com/ en Kevin blogs about the concept of how fast the speed of light, and includes a link to a video about MIT's new, impressive, and super-fast camera that can take images at intervals of a trillionth of a second. . 14 Dec 2011 10:06:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com Kevin blogs about deciding between TV technologies, which is the feature in the latest Information Display magazine. 12 Dec 2011 10:21:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com Congratulations to Sergio Carbajo of the Colorado State University, and Ying Geng of the University of Rochester, who were the recipients of the 2011 FiO Hilbert Memorial Student Travel Grants. 29 Nov 2011 08:00:00 PST http://www.osa.org/About_Osa/Newsroom/News_Releases/Releases/11.2011/OSA-Foundation-Recognizes-Student-Researchers.aspx Kevin blogs about the Lytro, Super Photoshop, and Looxcie. Are they revolutionary, or are they clutter? 27 Oct 2011 15:45:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com Kevin blogs about dinosaurs, asteroids, and infrared light. 18 Oct 2011 12:45:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com CODE V 10.4 delivers enhancements to its Beam Synthesis Propagation (BSP) tool that enable optical designers to model and analyze diffraction effects in an optical system with increased flexibility, speed and accuracy. 28 Sep 2011 12:00:00 PST http://synopsys.mediaroom.com Read about declassified US spy satellites. Kevin also blogs about similarities between Hubble and the huge KH-9 HEXAGON reconnaissance satellite. 26 Sep 2011 17:00:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com Check out our new CODE V brochure. 01 Sep 2011 09:06:00 PST http://www.opticalres.com/cv/literature.html Check out our new LightTools brochure. 01 Sep 2011 09:05:00 PST http://www.opticalres.com/lt/literature.html University of Rochester students Bin Ma and Dustin Moore are the winners of the 2011 Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition. 23 Aug 2011 13:20:00 PST http://synopsys.mediaroom.com/index.php LightTools 7.2 delivers features that will help users graphically analyze simulation results, compute important metrics when designing for the lighting industry, iteratively design with CAD software and improve the efficiency of luminaire and solar designs. These capabilities enable lighting designers to more easily explore design alternatives, study light behavior and improve product quality early in the design process. 26 Jul 2011 08:00:00 PST http://synopsys.mediaroom.com/index.php Available from Synopsys as part of its acquisition of Optical Research Associates, CODE V 10.3 is now generally available. Highlights: Support for Q-type aspheric surfaces that deliver superior cost control and manufacturing benefits, Enhanced surface conversion capabilities, Efficient new algorithm for automatic determination of optimum locations for aspheric surfaces in the lens system, Built-in aspheric constraints to control slope and sag during design optimization. 15 Mar 2011 10:30:00 PST http://synopsys.mediaroom.com/index.php William J. Cassarly, senior scientist of illumination engineering in the Optical Solutions Group at Synopsys, has been promoted to Fellow by the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). 28 Jan 2011 14:20:00 PST http://synopsys.mediaroom.com/index.php Kevin blogs about nodal aberration theory and why a particular book called A History of Vector Analysis by Michael J. Crowe. is fascinating--and related to this topic. 07 Jan 2011 07:50:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com Kevin blogs about his trip to Beijing for SPIE's Photonics Asia. Part 3 of 3. 16 Dec 2010 12:49:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com Kevin blogs about his trip to Seoul, South Korea. Part 2 of 3. 13 Dec 2010 11:31:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com Kevin blogs about his trip to Sao Paulo. Part 1 of 3. 07 Dec 2010 02:41:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com LightTools version 7.1 delivers new analytical capabilities that speed the development of luminaires, particularly for general lighting and automotive applications. In addition, new user interface features maximize working area and flexibility to help boost designers' productivity throughout the design and verification process. 18 Nov 2010 12:57:00 PST http://www.synopsys.com/Company/pages/news.aspx Acquisition extends Synopsys’ engineering software capability into optical design and analysis. 07 Oct 2010 12:30:00 PST http://synopsys.mediaroom.com Kevin blogs about the paradigm change in glass selection and optimization in optical design. 24 Sep 2010 15:24:25 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com Kevin blogs about three books on the making of optical glass, all available on the Web. 21 Sep 2010 07:47:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com Kevin blogs about a fascinating book he discovered during the summer by Marcia Bartusiak,"The Day We Found the Universe." He highly recommends it if you have any interest in astronomy. 07 Sep 2010 10:36:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com Kevin blogs about head-worn personal displays and ORA's prototype of one. 23 Aug 2010 11:01:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com Watch a video of the ORA Engineering Services team demonstrate a prototype head-worn personal display. 23 Aug 2010 08:42:00 PST http://www.optoiq.com/index/photonics-technologies-applications/lfw-display/lfw-article-display/2945681371/articles/optoiq2/photonics-technologies/news/business-news/2010/8/ORA-head-worn-display-VIDEO.html On a recent business trip to Toulouse, France, Bruce had a few hours free to visit a space museum called Cité de l’Espace. Also, 3D IMAX presents a film on the Hubble Space Telescope. 09 Aug 2010 15:49:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com 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. ORA is also pleased to announce the winners of the 2010 Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition: Jesse McMullen, Joshua Kim, Kyle Fuerschbach, and Ying Geng. ORA congratulates this year’s competition winners and wishes them continued success. 30 Jul 2010 16:00:00 PST http://www.opticalres.com/student/optical_design_competition_f.html ORA is pleased to announce the completion of its newly redesigned Web site, www.opticalres.com. This is the first in a series of ongoing improvements to the company’s Web resources, in order to help our prospective and current customers more easily find the information they need. 19 Jul 2010 09:00:00 PST http://www.opticalres.com Bruce writes about spacecraft optical systems and the COROT. 06 Jul 2010 14:29:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com The OSA Foundation (OSAF) and Optical Research Associates (ORA) are pleased to announce the establishment of the Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Travel Grant. 17 Jun 2010 10:38:00 PST http://www.opticalres.com/news/RobertHilbertGrant2010Recipients.html Announcing an address change for our Tucson, Arizona office. 20 May 2010 16:38:00 PST http://www.opticalres.com/news/ORAT_relocation_May2010.htm ORA and QED Technologies (QED), provider of Magnetorheological Finishing (MRF) polishing and Subaperture Stitching Interferometry (SSI®) metrology platforms for the precision optics industry, today announced a cooperative agreement that will facilitate a complete design, tolerancing and manufacturing solution for lens systems incorporating aspheric surfaces. 11 Jun 2010 18:13:00 PST http://www.opticalres.com/news/ORAQEDAgreement.html Announcing the launch of the Rolland-Thompson Collection of Antiquarian Books in Early Optics and Related Sciences at IODC 2010, and Observations from SID 2010 about TVs, airplane cockpits, and cell phones. 11 Jun 2010 15:57:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com Be sure to stop by the ORA Engineering booth at The International Optical Design Conference (IODC) in two weeks. ORA will be giving away a flash drive containing papers and patents of David Shafer. 01 Jun 2010 10:01:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com/kevin/2010/06/a-second-important-collection-the-works-of-david-shafer.html The International Optical Design Conference (IODC) is nearing,and Kevin makes a special announcement about an optics-related web site. He also blogs about book collecting and a special giveaway at the ORA Engineering booth at IODC. 25 May 2010 04:29:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com/kevin/2010/05/an-important-event-to-be-announced-at-iodc-the-rollandthompson-collection-of-antiquarian-books-in-op.html Sign up for our LightTools training in the Fall. Introduction to Illumination Design Using LightTools is from October 11-14 and COM Macro Programming is on October 15. Reserve your spot today! 22 Apr 2010 07:21:00 PST http://www.opticalres.com/seminar/training.html Kevin shares an interesting web-link where you can call up regions of the sky/universe and dial in the wavelength bands you would like to see, but can't normally with your eyes. 14 Apr 2010 08:14:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com/ Kevin finds that using Google's Scholar search yields some unexpected but interesting article results. 09 Apr 2010 16:02:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com/ Sign up for our Fall CODE V training. Introduction to CODE V is from September 13-17 and Advanced Topics in CODE V starts September 20-24. Reserve your spot today! 31 Mar 2010 08:51:00 PST http://www.opticalres.com/seminar/training.html ERCO used LightTools to design their sophisticated Spherolit reflectors for accent lighting, washlighting, and wallwashing applications. Read our newest case study. 26 Mar 2010 09:13:00 PST http://www.opticalres.com/lt/casestudy/ERCO.html Kevin blogs about the the rise of global and personal communications. And he explains his distraction at the end. 23 Mar 2010 20:20:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com/ This travel grant was established as part of the OSA Foundation to support research excellence of students in the areas of optical engineering, lens design and illumination design. Application deadline for students attending the 2010 International Optical Design Conference is March 24. If interested, please immediately apply. 22 Mar 2010 09:14:00 PST http://www.opticalres.com/news/RobertHilbertTravelGrant.html "NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)" by guest blogger Mark Kahan and "Connections: before optical glass there was ...a furnace?" by Kevin Thompson. Read all about it on ORA's blog, Idle Diffractions. 16 Mar 2010 8:00:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com/ LightTools® 7.0 is the new release of the popular world-class illumination design and analysis software from Optical Research Associates (ORA®). LightTools 7.0 supports Windows 7 and delivers expanded capabilities for both model construction and system analysis. 15 Feb 2010 10:15:00 PST http://www.opticalres.com/news/lt70.html Kevin blogs about Google's Search Image function upon finding many polarization images. 2 Feb 2010 09:50:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com/kevin/2010/02/yet-again-something-new-from-google-search-images.html Introduction to Illumination Design Using LightTools is now a 4-day course from April 19-22, 2010. LightTools COM Macro Programming (formerly Advanced Topics in LightTools) is now a 1-day course on April 23, 2010. Space fills up quickly, so register today. 28 Jan 2010 12:00:00 PST http://www.opticalres.com/seminar/training.html#lt Kevin researches famous contributors to science based on a neighbor's photo from 1927. 26 Jan 2010 14:51:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com/kevin/2010/01/one-of-the-most-significant-collections-of-scientists-in-history.html The New England Section of the Optical Society of America (NES/OSA) has awarded Mark Kahan, ORA’s Director of Electro-Optical Systems Engineering, the Steve Benton Memorial Award for his contributions to the optics community. 25 Jan 2010 10:15:00 PST http://www.opticalres.com/news/MKahan_SteveBentonAward.html Check out the new ORA Engineering Services Web site, which was just launched today. 22 Jan 2010 01:45:00 PST http://www.opticalres.com/engr/engineering.html Kevin blogged: Some Really Old Photons were recently collected by the newly refurbished Hubble Space Telescope. See a picture of it in Kevin's blog. 21 Jan 2010 04:52:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com/kevin/2010/01/some-really-old-photons.html Kevin blogged: In case you missed it, as many have been saying, there is a new, significant telescope now operational in space. The “first light” photos have been posted at ... 18 Jan 2010 09:40:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com/kevin/2010/01/another-exciting-new-telescope-is-operational-in-space-wise.html Kevin blogged about an informative website about unemployment. There's a link in my blog that's worth clicking on. 15 Jan 2010 08:44:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com/kevin/2010/01/and-now-back-to-business.html Kevin blogs: It seems that the night of January 7, 1610, is recorded in the journal of Galileo as the night that he first saw the moons of Jupiter. There's a link in my blog that's worth clicking on. 11 Jan 2010 14:05:00 PST http://www.ora-blogs.com/kevin/2010/01/400-years-ago-on-january-7-1610.html CODE V® 10.2, the newest release of the premier optical design software from Optical Research Associates (ORA®), delivers a number of enhancements that simplify its use and provide greater flexibility for users. 05 Jan 2010 08:40:00 PST http://www.opticalres.com/news/cv10.1.html Kevin blogs: The Proceedings of THE Royal Society are coming on-line, and they are even free, so far. I can’t think of a more significant event. 07 Dec 2009 22:45:04 GMT http://www.ora-blogs.com/kevin/2009/11/wfpc2-and-costar-on-display.html Guest blog by Bruce Irving. In a May service mission, the systems WFPC2 and COSTAR were brought back to Earth. Both are on display in the main space gallery at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. 30 Nov 2009 23:36:56 GMT http://www.ora-blogs.com/kevin/2009/11/wfpc2-and-costar-on-display.html Updated images showcase LightTools' applications, features, and capabilities. 25 Nov 2009 16:45:00 GMT http://www.opticalres.com/image_gallery.html An innovative holographic imaging device that helps scientists study materials surfaces under shock-loaded conditions, designed with CODE V optical design software, has received a 2009 R&D 100 award. 18 Sep 2009 18:00:00 GMT http://www.opticalres.com/news/R&D100award_CV.html 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. ORA is also pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition: Dewen Cheng and Yuhong Yao. ORA congratulates this year’s competition winners and wishes them continued success. 4 Aug 2009 23:30:00 GMT http://www.opticalres.com/news/student2009.html Dr. Kevin P. Thompson has three decades of experience designing advanced optical systems and is a Fellow of SPIE and OSA. Join him as he spotlights emerging optical technologies, explores industry hot topics and events, and shares his knowledge of optics history. 3 Aug 2009 16:00:00 GMT http://www.ora-blogs.com CODE V® 10.1, the newest release of the premier optical design software from Optical Research Associates, delivers powerful tools that increase the accuracy and ease of use of the program's diffraction analysis capabilities. 15 Jul 2009 18:00:00 GMT http://www.opticalres.com/news/cv10.1.html Optical Research Associates (ORA®) has promoted Claude Thomas Walker, its current Vice President of Software Development, to the new position of Software Chief Technology Officer. 15 Jun 2009 23:33:19 GMT http://www.opticalres.com/news/walker.html LightTools® 6.3, the newest release of the popular world-class illumination design and analysis software from Optical Research Associates (ORA®), delivers an expanded, more powerful tool set for optical system modeling and optimization. 9 Jun 2009 23:33:19 GMT http://www.opticalres.com/news/lt63.html