Plenary Event
Optical Engineering Plenary
20 August 2024 • 3:30 PM - 5:35 PM PDT | Conv. Ctr. Room 6A
Session Chairs: Alexander M. J. van Eijk, TNO Defence, Security and Safety (Netherlands) and Jeremy P. Bos, Michigan Technological Univ. (United States)
3:30 PM - 3:35 PM:
Welcome and Opening Remarks
3:35 PM - 4:15 PM:
Lessons in lens design from Rudolf Kingslake: in the modern computing era can we learn anything new from the past?
Rudolf Kingslake is widely regarded as one of the founders of modern optical design. When educating his students at The Institute of Optics, Professor Kingslake championed the importance of lens design fundamentals as a complement to computer-aided design. At that time, ray tracing speed was a major bottleneck in the lens design process. Now that lens designers can trace rays in fractions of a second and have access to powerful computational tools like global optimization and AI are these same fundamentals needed? Should we keep teaching them? One of Kingslake’s biggest fears was that we would forget “our laboriously acquired knowledge of geometrical optics and substitute for it the mathematical problem of optimizing a merit function”.
There is no question that computers have done wonders for lens design and have enabled far more advanced designs than thought possible. The issue at hand is if mastery of both lens design fundamentals and computer software is required for success. Unfortunately, the current educational landscape places much more emphasis on the latter than the former, and many of the fundamentals impressed by Kingslake have been lost. However, three boxes of index cards belonging to Rudolf Kingslake were recently uncovered. Included in the collection are 171 lens design exam problems which present a fascinating perspective on lens design as it was taught in the pre-computer age. In this talk we’ll take a closer look at several of these forgotten problems and discuss how their solutions are still relevant for modern lens design today.
Julie Bentley is a Professor at The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester and has been teaching undergraduate and graduate level courses in geometrical optics, optical design, and product design for more than 25 years. She received her B.S., M.S., and PhD in Optics from The Institute of Optics. She is a Fellow of both SPIE and OSA, a former president of the Rochester Optical Society, and was recently elected into the presidential chain of SPIE She has served as an SPIE board member, an associate editor for Optics Express, and the chair for the International Optical Design Conference (IODC) and SPIE’s optical fabrication conference (Optifab). She holds several U.S. patents and co-authored her first book, Field Guide to Lens Design, with S. Craig Olson (SPIE Press, 2012). Her expertise is in the optical design and tolerancing of precision optical assemblies. Prior to teaching full time, she managed a commercial technology team at Corning Tropel. She is also currently the president of an optical design consulting business, Bentley Optical Design, where she designs lens systems for a wide variety of applications, including medical devices, visible and infrared military optics, AR/VR systems, and other consumer optics.
4:15 PM - 4:55 PM:
Freeform optics: applications and challenges
Freeform optics, generally defined as optics without an axis of rotational symmetry, can be very useful for increasing performance while reducing size, weight, and element count in optical systems. Examples will be presented, ranging from one-off astronomical telescopes to optics for high-volume consumer devices. Although they can enable systems that would not otherwise be possible, freeform optics present significant challenges to designers and manufacturers. These challenges include finding a common language for design and fabrication, fabrication techniques, and especially metrology techniques. Potential solutions to some of these challenges will be discussed.
Dr. Nelson E. Claytor is president of Fresnel Technologies, Inc., a leading designer and manufacturer of precision molded plastic optics located in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. Dr. Claytor also serves as a director of Ascentia Imaging, Inc. of Boulder, Colorado, USA, and as the founding vice president of his local Optica chapter, The Optical Society of North Texas. Dr. Claytor received his BA in Physics from the University of California at Berkeley, and his MA and PhD degrees in Physics from the University of Notre Dame. He is an SPIE Fellow and a Senior Member of Optica. In 2017 Dr. Claytor received the inaugural Legacy Award for significant contributions to the Startup Realm, presented by TechFortWorth, a technology Accelerator and Incubator in Fort Worth. He is a 2019 recipient of the Fort Worth Business Press C-Suite Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Community as a C- Level Executive. When not working on optics, he is a Motorsport Safety Foundation Level 2 certified high performance track driving instructor.
4:55 PM - 5:35 PM:
The Roman Space Telescope Observatory build, test, and verification status
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (“Roman”) was prioritized by the 2010 Decadal Survey in Astronomy & Astrophysics and is NASA’s next astrophysics flagship observatory. Launching no earlier than 2026, it will conduct several wide field and time domain surveys, as well as conduct an exoplanet census. Roman’s large field of view, agile survey capabilities, and excellent stability enable these objectives, yet present unique engineering and test challenges. Roman comprises a Spacecraft and the Integrated Payload Assembly (IPA), the latter of which includes the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA), the primary science Wide Field Instrument, a technology demonstration Coronagraph Instrument, and the Instrument Carrier, which meters the OTA to each instrument. The Spacecraft supports the IPA and includes the Bus, Solar Array Sun Shield, Outer Barrel Assembly, and Deployable Aperture Cover. It provides all required power, attitude control, communications, data storage, and stable thermal control functions as well as shading and straylight protection across the entire field of regard. This paper presents the Observatory as it begins integration and test, as well as describes key test and verification activities.
Jeremy Perkins is an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center where he serves as the Observatory Integration and Test Scientist for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, NASA's next flagship observatory. He is also one of the co-chairs of the gamma-ray science interest group within the physics of the cosmos program at NASA. At NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Jeremy develops detector technologies for future gamma-ray space missions ranging from cubesats to flagship.
MENU: Coffee, decaf, and tea will be available outside the presentation room.
SETUP: Theater style seating.
3:30 PM - 3:35 PM:
Welcome and Opening Remarks
3:35 PM - 4:15 PM:
Lessons in lens design from Rudolf Kingslake: in the modern computing era can we learn anything new from the past?
![]() |
Julie Bentley
The Institute of Optics, Univ. of Rochester (United States) |
Rudolf Kingslake is widely regarded as one of the founders of modern optical design. When educating his students at The Institute of Optics, Professor Kingslake championed the importance of lens design fundamentals as a complement to computer-aided design. At that time, ray tracing speed was a major bottleneck in the lens design process. Now that lens designers can trace rays in fractions of a second and have access to powerful computational tools like global optimization and AI are these same fundamentals needed? Should we keep teaching them? One of Kingslake’s biggest fears was that we would forget “our laboriously acquired knowledge of geometrical optics and substitute for it the mathematical problem of optimizing a merit function”.
There is no question that computers have done wonders for lens design and have enabled far more advanced designs than thought possible. The issue at hand is if mastery of both lens design fundamentals and computer software is required for success. Unfortunately, the current educational landscape places much more emphasis on the latter than the former, and many of the fundamentals impressed by Kingslake have been lost. However, three boxes of index cards belonging to Rudolf Kingslake were recently uncovered. Included in the collection are 171 lens design exam problems which present a fascinating perspective on lens design as it was taught in the pre-computer age. In this talk we’ll take a closer look at several of these forgotten problems and discuss how their solutions are still relevant for modern lens design today.
Julie Bentley is a Professor at The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester and has been teaching undergraduate and graduate level courses in geometrical optics, optical design, and product design for more than 25 years. She received her B.S., M.S., and PhD in Optics from The Institute of Optics. She is a Fellow of both SPIE and OSA, a former president of the Rochester Optical Society, and was recently elected into the presidential chain of SPIE She has served as an SPIE board member, an associate editor for Optics Express, and the chair for the International Optical Design Conference (IODC) and SPIE’s optical fabrication conference (Optifab). She holds several U.S. patents and co-authored her first book, Field Guide to Lens Design, with S. Craig Olson (SPIE Press, 2012). Her expertise is in the optical design and tolerancing of precision optical assemblies. Prior to teaching full time, she managed a commercial technology team at Corning Tropel. She is also currently the president of an optical design consulting business, Bentley Optical Design, where she designs lens systems for a wide variety of applications, including medical devices, visible and infrared military optics, AR/VR systems, and other consumer optics.
4:15 PM - 4:55 PM:
Freeform optics: applications and challenges
![]() |
Nelson Claytor
Fresnel Technologies, Inc. (United States) |
Freeform optics, generally defined as optics without an axis of rotational symmetry, can be very useful for increasing performance while reducing size, weight, and element count in optical systems. Examples will be presented, ranging from one-off astronomical telescopes to optics for high-volume consumer devices. Although they can enable systems that would not otherwise be possible, freeform optics present significant challenges to designers and manufacturers. These challenges include finding a common language for design and fabrication, fabrication techniques, and especially metrology techniques. Potential solutions to some of these challenges will be discussed.
Dr. Nelson E. Claytor is president of Fresnel Technologies, Inc., a leading designer and manufacturer of precision molded plastic optics located in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. Dr. Claytor also serves as a director of Ascentia Imaging, Inc. of Boulder, Colorado, USA, and as the founding vice president of his local Optica chapter, The Optical Society of North Texas. Dr. Claytor received his BA in Physics from the University of California at Berkeley, and his MA and PhD degrees in Physics from the University of Notre Dame. He is an SPIE Fellow and a Senior Member of Optica. In 2017 Dr. Claytor received the inaugural Legacy Award for significant contributions to the Startup Realm, presented by TechFortWorth, a technology Accelerator and Incubator in Fort Worth. He is a 2019 recipient of the Fort Worth Business Press C-Suite Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Community as a C- Level Executive. When not working on optics, he is a Motorsport Safety Foundation Level 2 certified high performance track driving instructor.
4:55 PM - 5:35 PM:
The Roman Space Telescope Observatory build, test, and verification status
![]() |
Jeremy Perkins
NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr. (United States) |
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (“Roman”) was prioritized by the 2010 Decadal Survey in Astronomy & Astrophysics and is NASA’s next astrophysics flagship observatory. Launching no earlier than 2026, it will conduct several wide field and time domain surveys, as well as conduct an exoplanet census. Roman’s large field of view, agile survey capabilities, and excellent stability enable these objectives, yet present unique engineering and test challenges. Roman comprises a Spacecraft and the Integrated Payload Assembly (IPA), the latter of which includes the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA), the primary science Wide Field Instrument, a technology demonstration Coronagraph Instrument, and the Instrument Carrier, which meters the OTA to each instrument. The Spacecraft supports the IPA and includes the Bus, Solar Array Sun Shield, Outer Barrel Assembly, and Deployable Aperture Cover. It provides all required power, attitude control, communications, data storage, and stable thermal control functions as well as shading and straylight protection across the entire field of regard. This paper presents the Observatory as it begins integration and test, as well as describes key test and verification activities.
Jeremy Perkins is an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center where he serves as the Observatory Integration and Test Scientist for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, NASA's next flagship observatory. He is also one of the co-chairs of the gamma-ray science interest group within the physics of the cosmos program at NASA. At NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Jeremy develops detector technologies for future gamma-ray space missions ranging from cubesats to flagship.
Event Details
FORMAT: General session with live audience Q&A to follow presentations.MENU: Coffee, decaf, and tea will be available outside the presentation room.
SETUP: Theater style seating.