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/sci/ - Science & Math

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10248549 No.10248549 [Reply] [Original]

Hi /sci/. I have a master's degree in optics and have been working as an optical engineer for 2 years. Industry is biomedical. I have advice on everything from undergrad to industry.

>> No.10248551

>>10248549
How much relevant qm do you actually need? I'm interested in a general direction towards optics, but I'm an absolute fucking brainlet regarding anything with qm.
I used to think Griffiths sucked, but then I realized it was probably me instead.

>> No.10248572

>>10248551
It depends on what you do. For example a laser engineer is gonna have to know a lot of qm to make OPO's/OPA's or spectral frequency combs. On the other hand, someone doing a lot of fiber optics might not need to know much. If you know the general quantum phenomena (quantum efficiency, spectra, energy levels, rate equations of excited states) you know enough to work in the industry. Unless you're designing the next generation of Bloch wave biosensors in an academic environment you're not gonna need a lot of qm

>> No.10248725

>>10248549
Would you say optics play an important role in molecular and cell biology research? I believe they use spectroscopy quite a lot. Do you make use of electrical engineering knowledge like signal processing in your field?

>> No.10248901
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10248901

>>10248549
I'm a prospective PhD student looking to study optical physics. Based optics anon, did you happen to attend Rochester, Arizona, or UCF?

>> No.10248930

>>10248549
YES
Okay, what type of work do you do in the biomed industry? What's your pay and cost of living? what does the future of your career look like? What did you do in uni that helped you in industry? How did your undergrad play a role in where you are now? How much debt do you have? Do you still do research?

>> No.10248939

>>10248549
widefield VR headsets when? tired of this 100 degree shit

>> No.10249144

>>10248549
you guys actually exist? lol
what do you engineer? glasses nigga?

>> No.10249235
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10249235

>>10248725
Optics and cell/molecular bio are inextricably linked. Fluorescent detection, spectroscopy, biosensors, etc. All involve optical devices. It's pretty rare for biologists/biochemists to assemble these devices or really understand how they work on a deep level, but they can interpret data. I personally dont make use of any EE knowledge, and any signal processing I've done up to now has been self taught.

>>10248901
I did not but those are killer schools for optics.

>>10248930
>engineering r&d
>pay is 1.8x the median household income for the city I live in, 3x the individual income
>cost of living is average
>future looks bright, tech innovations drive cost and footprint down and the exploding bio knowledge constantly generates new ideas for assays/instruments
>number one thing that helped in uni was getting a master's and working in a lab
>maybe a little, not much
>I have no debt
>I do r&d so yes

>>10248939
There are tons of people working on it, but I think most efforts are going toward developing hi-speed AR headsets before working on wide angle.

>>10249144
Anything that uses or senses light.

>> No.10249387

How much money do u make?

>> No.10249423
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10249423

>>10248549
Why can't you see the source(s) of light in space ie sun stars

>> No.10249468

>>10248901
Optics PhD student here

Would not recommend Rochester. The well-known professors like Boyd and Agrawal are dinosaurs and the newer professors aren't doing much. Rochester invested too heavily in the LLE and its academic prowess has deteriorated over the past couple decades. The future of funding for the LLE is uncertain. I applied there just for lulz and they were bragging about how they only admit 6-10 new Optics PHD students a year as if that was really prestigious. It just made it obvious that their department is not growing and has little funding. All of this advice about rochester is not my own, but was given to me by multiple scientists and profs in national labs and universities, some of whom were rochester grads.

Arizona is a great place to study optical design. if you want to get into lens design or telescope stuff, that's one of the best places. I can't give a lot of details b/c my expertise is not in optical design.

UCF has a sort of strange mixed bag of specialties. I turned down two fellowships from UCF for a PhD program because I didn't think that there was enough expertise in the area I wanted to study (laser development). They have interesting work going on in fiber design in the groups led by Rodrigo Amezcua-Correa and Axel Schulzgen. Rodrigo and I have collaborated and working in his group could lead to a lot of interesting opportunities either in telecomms or fiber design, industries which are growing a lot after finally shaking off the hangover of the telecomms bust. When I interviewed there I was told by profs that the school is desperate for American students b/c they have so much military funding, and also that UCF is pushing the department to focus more on biophotonics in the future, because saying that your technology might cure cancer or alzheimers is a quick way to get donations and grants.

>> No.10249511

>>10248549
I want to take an EE/Optics course next year, what would you recommend as core reading? Were any bits especially research paper based?

>> No.10249515

>>10249468
>Arizona is a great place to study optical design. if you want to get into lens design or telescope stuff, that's one of the best places. I can't give a lot of details b/c my expertise is not in optical design.
They have the Vatican's telescope thing there, they tend to fund v well I hear. However, the Church in general has been rolling back some of its other international academic schools and groups.

>> No.10249516

>>10249387
I could comfortably support a spouse and child on my income alone.

>> No.10249536

>>10249511
Depends on the content of the course but for pure optics I'd recommend Optics by Hecht.

>> No.10249555

>>10248549
I have a BSc in chemistry, doing a MSc in pchem, and I love optics, should I go for a phd in it? I find quantum optics interesting

>> No.10249561

>>10249555
Whst do you find interesting about it? What's your current research?

>> No.10249580

>>10249561
I'm interested in QM and spectroscopy, and lasers just give me a chubby. As for research, I'm currently on a break, but I'll try to get an internship in a spectroscopy lab, they work with solar cells/energy transfer

>> No.10249590

>>10249580
This is really general and broad. It would be easier if you were more specific. Sounds like chemical physics would be more up your alley.

>> No.10249599

>>10249590
I know that's always been the problem, I like a lot of shit, and I've done research in pchem with gels/colloids and I also liked that, but yea I get what you mean

>> No.10249647

>>10249516
damn that's good. i'm glad you're comfortable :D I'm really interested in optics but i'll only be able to take the class next year (im taking e&m 2 this upcoming semester) Got any books that I can read just to learn a little bit?

>> No.10249655

>>10249647
Optics by Hecht is good but it's pretty dry.

>> No.10249704

>>10249468
Thanks for the advice

>> No.10249821

Should i switch from solid state physics to optics?

>> No.10249868

>>10249511
I just completed an EE/Optics grad course last semester. It was on nonlinear optics and, of course, we used Boyd. Very well-written book.

>> No.10249873

>>10249647
I recommend Fowles' book, Introduction to Modern Optics. It's also rather dry, like
>>10249655

>> No.10249951

>>10249868
>>10249536
Thanks dudes.

>> No.10250059

>>10249821
I don't know anon. Tell me a bit about yourself and I can answer better.

>> No.10250589

Another question: How much did networking play a role in getting your job? Why did you do a masters in optics/what made you interested in it?
What would you recommend an undergrad student major in if they're interested in optics but still want to keep some options open if it doesn't work out? An optical engineering degree doesn't seem like the best use of my time if I could major in something like CS or bio and do research during undergrad and have a useful undergrad degree if things don't work out in optics.

>> No.10250593

>>10249468
>the school is desperate for American students b/c they have so much military funding
can you explain how this works? Do they get a set amount per american graduate student? would the move towards biophotonics in anyway affect the undergraduate experience?

>> No.10250621

>>10248549
what's a good way to estimate light incident on a pixel in different lighting conditions? Are there standard lighting conditions or radiometric scenes I can use?

>> No.10250895

>>10250593
The professors or the department as a whole are given grants to investigate areas of technology that are of interest to the military. Note that this is not simply "build better weapons to kill more foreigners." The technological advancement and the resulting economic prosperity of the country is also a matter of national security and thus is a significant objective of military funded research (e.g. ARPANET giving rise to the internet). Anyway, the grad students are often partially or fully supported by these grants through the prof and will be conducting the research. It is not usually a strict requirement for the research to be completed by American citizens, but the various DoD sponsors (USAF, Darpa, Army, Navy, etc) certainly prefer that the knowledge gained is achieved by citizens who are more likely to continue researching in the US. In some cases there are ITAR restricted labs and experiments conducted by grad students who must be citizens, but this is not usually the case. One of the roles of the US military is to inject funding into American institutions to educate US citizens who will go on to maintain the nation's scientific repertoire. If a school has a very low proportion of US citizens, it immediately gets questions like "why are there so few US citizens?" and "why should we spend so much money if these students will return to their home countries after we've funded their education and early career development?"

The move to biophotonics will probably not affect undergrad very much. The curriculum will be no different, bc the basics will still be the same. The topics available for undergrad research will change and that will be a about it.

>> No.10250938

>>10248549
What do I need to make a home photospectrometer?

>> No.10251142

>>10250589
>networking is king
>unironically got a master's because of rick and morty, building cool shit was the motivator
>it's a good field to be a specialist in right now because no one understands it but everyone needs it

Obviously there are other fields that can end in happiness. This one is mine.

>> No.10251144

>>10250621
Given the photon flux, spot size, wavelength, and pixel size it would be trivial.

>> No.10251146

>>10250589
P.S. if you're interested in optics and want to keep your options open I would suggest EE. It's the same material in a different frequency

>> No.10251149

this system sounds out right disgusting. and you actually think any advancements paid for via the tax payers will ever come from these places? lol of course not, theyre all focused on how to kill humans not help humans lol. darpa funded. usaf funded. lol lol LOL humans are retard. fact.

>> No.10251204

>>10249468
What is LLE?

>> No.10251854

>>10251204
Laboratory for Laser Energetics

>> No.10251937

Do you like eyes?

>> No.10251956

Cs or maths? Cant doble major

>> No.10252254

>>10251956
CS