Synopsys announces results of Robert S. Hilbert memorial optical design competition

SAN DIEGO, USA: Synopsys Inc. announced that University of Rochester students Bin Ma and Dustin Moore are the winners of the 2011 Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition. The competition was created in 2000 by Optical Research Associates (ORA), now the Optical Solutions Group at Synopsys, and was named in honor of ORA's former president and chief executive officer Robert S. Hilbert.

The annual competition is open to students in North America working toward a bachelor's, master's, or Ph.D. degree who utilize the company's CODE V or LightTools software to perform optical design and engineering research. Awards are granted to students who have submitted papers that demonstrate optical design excellence.

Bin Ma, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Rochester, was recognized for his work on aspheric lens design using CODE V in his paper titled, "Design of Lithographic Lenses with Slope Constrained Q-Polynomials." Applications of Ma's project include ultra-precise projector lenses used to make integrated circuits. Dustin Moore, also a Ph.D. student at the University of Rochester, was recognized for his work on a panoramic imaging system using CODE V in his paper titled, "A High Resolution Four-Pi Steradian Panoramic Video System." The goal of Moore's design is to improve the quality of systems providing 360-degree, interactive video.

"Each year we are impressed with the variety, scope and quality of projects that students submit to our design competition," said George Bayz, VP and GM, Optical Solutions Group at Synopsys. "This year, Bin Ma's and Dustin Moore's entries stood out for their effective communication of optical design principles and innovative use of CODE V for imaging systems design. I congratulate both of them for their outstanding work on these projects."

Samples of the two projects will be on display at Synopsys' booth 711 at SPIE Optics + Photonics, August 23-25, at the San Diego (Calif.) Convention Center.