Polymer Optics in Optical Design: Keys to Effective Communication

Optical designers and manufacturers of polymer optical components have the same goal, namely, to produce quality parts and systems that satisfy the needs of the customer. However, each partner can speak a unique language, and this can lead to inadvertent miscommunication and unwanted delays.

Buralli highlights some of the steps that can be taken to facilitate effective communication between designer and vendor. Examples will be shown that illustrate ways to reduce the gap between optical design and polymer optics design for manufacturing. The more that the optical designer can be aware of both the features and the boundaries formed by manufacturing realities, and the more that manufacturers know about the requirements of the optical design, the faster and more efficiently mutually acceptable parts can be made.

About the presenter
Since January 2003, Dale Buralli, Ph.D., has served as chief scientist at Apollo Optical Systems Inc. There, he is responsible for the design and optical modeling of a wide variety of optical systems — for example, virtual/augmented reality, ophthalmic, and other imaging and illumination systems. In addition, Buralli provides support for the optical tooling of lens molds and prototypes, including the development of custom software for both production and metrology. He is an adjunct associate professor of optics at the University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics, where he teaches a required graduate course in geometrical optics.