Foreword

Preface

Prologue 1

Prologue 2

Perspectives

The Power of Kindness – Jennifer Barton

Telling the Story of Optics – Hans Zappe

One Small Optics Lab Can Bring Light into the World – Ashley N. Blackwell, Atiyya Davis, and Thomas A. Searles

Teaching. You Mean Learning! How Online Education May Help Carve an Effective Pathway – Jannick P. Rolland

University Teaching and Research: Transferring Knowledge to the Next Generation – María J. Yzuel

Optics Outreach with the International Day of Light – John M. Dudley

Teaching Optical Design – José Sasián

Education in Medical Physics as an Entry to an Academic Career in the Optics and AI of Medical Imaging – Maryellen Giger

Optics Informed by History and Nature – Joseph A. Shaw

Is Optics Easy to Learn and Master? – Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop

You're on Mute – Alexis Vogt

Resources for Effective Approaches – Stephen M. Pompea

Teaching Optics: A Tribute to John Greivenkamp – Zeev Zalevsky

Balancing Perfection and Achievement: Life Lessons & Optics – Cather Simpson

Debug Your Hardware as You Would Your Software – Kathy Creath

Optics Education: Engaging the Next Generation – Adam P. Wax

Teaching (Optical Design) Students to Learn from Their Mistakes – Julie L. Bentley

Education in an International Community Is a Solution: A Journey Inspired by Researchers on Different Continents – Samuel Otalvaro Serna

On Hyperlinked Teaching and Learning – Bahaa Salehv

The Importance of Students' Cross-Cultural Mobility – Małgorzata Kujawińska

The Importance of Hands-On Learning – James C. Wyant

Teaching Methodologies and Paradigms

Teaching Laser Engineering to Undergraduates: A Practical Approach – Peter J. Delfyett

Design, Fab, and Test – Glenn Boreman

What Do Holiday Lights and Solar Panels Have in Common? – Fatima Toor

Teaching Wave Mechanics with a Modern Digital Toolkit – Andrew Forbes

Tips, Tricks, and Tactics for Terrific Teaching – William Wolfe

The Art of Insight in Optical Science and Engineering – Keith J. Kasunic

There is More to Teaching Optics and Photonics Than Science and Engineering – Anne-Sophie Poulin-Girard

Re-inventing the Lecture – Rick Trebino

From Ray Geometrical to Wave Diffraction Imaging – Virendra N. Mahajan

Teaching Optics Outside the Discipline – MJ Soileau

Tissue Optics: Student Lab in the Kitchen with First Aid Kid and Smartphone – Valery V. Tuchin

The Importance of Learning Both the Great Potential of Optics and the Significant Practical Challenges of Meeting It – Wolfgang Osten

Specific Lessons

Could Our Eye Be a Single Sphere? – Yobani Mejía

Teaching Optics by Analogy and Association – Mitsuo Takeda

Six Myopic Engineers and the ?? System – Shanti Bhattacharya

Bent Seesaw – Jim Schweigerling

Phase Measurement: Simplicity, Beauty, and Uncertainty – Qian Kemao and Yuchi Chen

Writing a Good Scientific Paper – Chris Mack

Exciplexes and Excimers and the Importance of Calling Them by Their Proper Names – Uzodinma Okoroanyanwu

Advances in 3D Human Face Imaging and Automated Facial Expression Analysis – Megan A. Witherow and Khan M. Iftekharuddin

Notes on Photonic Concepts and Ideas vs. Algebra – Brian Culshaw

A Classical Approach to Teaching Light–Matter Interaction – Eric Van Stryland and David Hagan

Laboratory Courses as the Foundation / Pillars of Optomechanical Engineering – Jonathan Ellis

Reminiscences

Education in Optics–John's Way – Toyohiko Yatagai

A Shared Passion for Optics Education: John Greivenkamp and Harrison Barrett – Kyle Myers

Chamblant Lenses, Astigmatism, and Cylindrical Lenses – Vasudevan Lakshminarayanan

Remembering John Greivenkamp – Larry C. Andrews

Getting the Word Out – Daniel Vukobratovich

Optics at ICTP: Bringing Light to Students from the Developing World – Joseph Niemela

Guided-Wave Photonics – Bishnu P. Pal

Reminiscences – Rajpal Sirohi

Appendix: Reviewer Memories

Remembering John Greivenkamp – S. Craig Olson

Tribute to John Greivenkamp: A Respect for the Fundamentals – Katie Schwertz

The Power of a Brief Exchange – Matthew Jungwirth

List of Contributors

Sponsors

In January 2022 SPIE and the optics profession at large lost a giant of our community, Prof. John E. Greivenkamp of the Wyant College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona. John had a long and distinguished career in optics, but his most impactful contribution was as an educator. He directly impacted hundreds, if not thousands, of students as the instructor for the introductory geometric optics courses in the undergraduate and graduate programs at the University of Arizona, and many more through the short courses he taught through SPIE and other venues. He indirectly impacted a host of students and professionals through his Field Guide to Geometric Optics book. John also served SPIE in just about every manner imaginable. In 2020 he was President of the Society. He served multiple terms as a member of the SPIE Board of Directors, and was committee chair, conference chair, and short course instructor many times over. He was always available to fulfil any duty—formal or informal—professional or personal.

While John's contributions to SPIE were myriad, his most unique and probably most enduring legacy was the creation of the Field Guide book series. He served as founding Series Editor until 2020, and his Field Guide to Geometric Optics is the archetype of the genre. It remains to this day the most popular technical book in SPIE's catalog. SPIE has now published more than 50 Field Guides and has initiated subseries to extend coverage into other important fields such as fundamental physics. John's impact through the Field Guide series will continue for decades...

Upon learning of John's untimely passing, SPIE wanted to find an appropriate way to honor his unique and lasting legacy. An obvious choice was this Field Guide to Optics Education: A Tribute to John Greivenkamp because it ties together John's passions for education and service to the optics community.

In planning this Field Guide, we asked a number of educators and industry leaders, many of whom were John's colleagues and collaborators, to reflect on the importance of education in their careers and to provide insights into their approaches to teaching and mentoring students and young professionals. We gave the contributors very few constraints, and the result was an incredibly diverse range of essays.

These essays are organized into four broad categories that reflect the varied nature of the contributions: Perspectives; Teaching Methodologies and Paradigms; Specific Lessons; and Reminiscences. We hope that you, the reader, find something in this book that takes you a step further on your own journey in optics education as a teacher, student, or both. For those of you who did not know John personally, we hope that you gain some insight into the value he placed on education. And for those of you who were lucky enough to count John among your friends and colleagues, we hope these stories bring a tear to your eye and remind you of the passion John brought to his work.

J. Scott Tyo, SPIE Field Guide Series Editor
Eric Pepper, Guest Editor
Patrick Franzen, SPIE Director of Publications