Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Lasers, LEDs, andfiber optics — oh my! These technological innovations are just a small sampleof what optical engineers can develop within their discipline. These threedevelopments are some of the biggest and most well-known accomplishmentsoptical engineering has provided the world with, but, there are otherinnovations that the field of study has helped create. While you may bescratching your head with what these developments are, you’d be interested toknow how often you use these devices.
To put it briefly,optical engineering is the study that focuses on optics and its applications. Whatdo those applications cover? You’d be surprised to know how often you use anitem that has been developed because of optical engineering. Peruse the listbelow to see how frequently your life is affected by optics.
• Lasers
Mentioned above, the advancement ofthis tool over the decades has expanded the applications in which it is used. Noteveryone carries a simple laser pointer on a daily basis, but lasers have moreversatility than that. As most of the names imply, laser printers, bloodlesssurgery, laser eye surgery and laser hair removal all require the use oflasers. Since optics deals with lights, there has to be some form of lightinvolved with lasers, right? The acronym laser denotes that by standing for“Light Amplification by Stimulate Emission of Radiation.” The amplified lightdescribed in its name can be seen in the narrow beam that light lasers emit. Theapplications of lasers doesn’t end with these few; they are used in welding,latent fingerprint detection, spectroscopy and the next application on our list…
• Opticaldisc systems
Back when VHS players and cassettes were the norm, peopleprobably didn’t use a laser in a daily routine. But now, with DVD players, CDplayers and the rise of Blu-ray players, you’re using technology from opticalengineering more often than you may have thought. While disc systems are stilla fairly new convenience to homes, the first optical disc was invented in 1958.This disc was different than ones used in video players, but was an importantmilestone. The first disc considered to be an early DVD was registered to theU.S. Patent Office in 1961 and 1969 by David Paul Gregg. Both DVD players andBlu-ray players require a laser to read the discs. But did you know that manyvideo games too use this same technology? As old as the Nintendo GameCubesystem, video game systems use lasers to read the game discs. The discs for theWii and Wii U both also use modern optical engineering technology to function.So next time the kids think they don’t have the newest video game system, theycan learn how modern they really are!
• Lenses
Opticsinvolves light, and how else do humans see light than through our eyes? Whetheryou wear contact lenses or opt for glasses, optical engineers have developedthose lenses. Lenses work through refraction: the beam of light is focusedthrough refraction within a lens. Depending on what needs to be focused, lensescan be concave or convex. There are also simple lenses and complex lenses (forexample, bifocals) and many aren’t just used to help people see better. Microscopes,magnifying glasses, cameras, projectors, binoculars and telescopes all requirelenses in order to work.
Next time you’rewatching “The Shawshank Redemption” on Blu-ray, put on your glasses or justwant your cat to catch the red dot from a laser pointer, you’ll have a betterunderstanding of how engineers’ work on these items helps better them to makepeople’s lives operate more smoothly.
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