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Learner Reviews & Feedback for First Order Optical System Design by University of Colorado Boulder

4.3
stars
304 ratings

About the Course

This course can also be taken for academic credit as ECEA 5600, part of CU Boulder’s Master of Science in Electrical Engineering degree. Optical instruments are how we see the world, from corrective eyewear to medical endoscopes to cell phone cameras to orbiting telescopes. When you finish this course, you will be able to design, to first order, such optical systems with simple mathematical and graphical techniques. This first order design will allow you to develop the foundation needed to begin all optical design as well as the intuition needed to quickly address the feasibility of complicated designs during brainstorming meetings. You will learn how to enter these designs into an industry-standard design tool, OpticStudio by Zemax, to analyze and improve performance with powerful automatic optimization methods....

Top reviews

JA

Aug 8, 2022

I enjoyed very much this course! It gives a detailed (yet understandable for a broader audience) introduction to several methodologies to understand optical systems, mostly lenses, and their design.

RG

Aug 25, 2019

Really nice course with very clear explanations of the principles of optical engineering and learn how to use ZEMAX Opticstudio to simulate your optical system

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26 - 50 of 106 Reviews for First Order Optical System Design

By Roberto M F L R

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Oct 7, 2020

This course is by far the best I have followed in Coursera. The material is highly interesting and, contrary to many others, the quizzes require you to think and take a little time to work out the solution. Disregard comments about the grading system being flawed. There are very few cases where there is ambiguity on the question and you can resubmit your answer immediately, so that will not delay your progress in any way. All the information you need to solve the problems is contained in the videos, and for the very few occasions when an external source is needed you are directly pointed to it. It's all pretty much self-contained. If you are looking for a quick certificate with no thinking or effort required, go somewhere else. On the other hand, if you really want to learn you can't go wrong with this course.

By Charles K

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May 2, 2022

This is an excellent course, clearly one of the best that I have taken through Coursera. Professor McLeod quickly summarizes the salient aspects of optical system design and you will learn what is necessary to get started designing optical systems. Of course you won't learn everything that you need to know but it is a great first step and you will be able to continue that learning through textbooks and internet resources. I'd recommend the Optics text by Hecht as well as his Schaum's Outline of Optics. The free fully-featured professional Zeemax OpticStudio software is a major plus since ii doesn't expire for 9 months as well as the free SPIE class on the use of the software.

By Ilse J M

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Jan 28, 2019

This course is an excellent and concise way to get acquainted with basic (paraxial, paper-based) optical design. I've been on a quest to self-study to becoming an optical designer and I've been looking for something like this - this is the course that addresses the gap in many an optical engineering text book. The assignments also necessitate some critical thinking and further study. The course is more involved than the overview would have one believe!

By Alexis D

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Jul 5, 2022

Positive:

- The course gives a good basic understanding of the optics phenomena in a few weeks only

- The course stucture is logical and the information is adapted

- Quiz difficulty is a bit higher than the videos. It pushes to think further

Negative:

- I was expecting more Zemax tutorials

- The automatic corrector is sometimes a bit to strict

By osama r

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Mar 25, 2019

A unique and very well designed online applied optics course which provides insight to optics designing and helps in understanding the optical systems. After this course, i feel enriched with the optics knowledge. Anxiously looking forward for more courses in this specialization.

By Eric J

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Apr 27, 2021

Great setup from question to question on the homeworks. Some inference is needed from question to question, but this is building skills to think as an optical engineer. Questions are hard but being able to submit answers many times allows you to check your work as you go.

By Nathan H

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Jan 20, 2021

The course gave a really nice introduction to Geometrical Optics, with lectures that are easy to understand. It also allows you to download a demo version of Zemax OpticStudio as part of the course, which I don't believe you can do anywhere else.

By Chris P

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Jul 6, 2021

Great course. I liked that the problem sets felt well thought out. A lot of the problems seemed standard at first, but then when you finish them you realize they were leading you to a meaningful conclusion about that type of optical system.

By önder S

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Jul 20, 2020

Pretty much intuitive and quite sort of pushing up was involved throughout the course. I tried hard to get the most as much as possible out of it. Practices and tasks, all assignments, are well preparing one for the optical design industry

By Nadir S

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Aug 23, 2020

Very well delivered lectures - explanation of concepts are done methodically. Recording of and presentation of lab experiments were good and to the point. Assignments were challenging but well within the grasp of subject taught.

By Aydin A B

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Apr 2, 2020

Thank Professors for the informative course that forces us to deal with some practical design systems. Some problems needed extra knowledge that not taught here and we should search for them in more detail.

By Juan A

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Aug 9, 2022

I enjoyed very much this course! It gives a detailed (yet understandable for a broader audience) introduction to several methodologies to understand optical systems, mostly lenses, and their design.

By You-Chia C

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Apr 3, 2020

Wonderful course! I have learned a lot. This course not only covers the knowledge but also the actual approach to design a working optical system.

By Xiao C

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Oct 1, 2021

well-organized course. The obvious benefit of online course is that you don't need to struggle to read professors' often messy handwritings.

By Melvin K J

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Sep 21, 2020

The course is well structured. it would have been much better if there was more zemax design model in the weekly quiz.

By Dan M

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Nov 14, 2022

Very useful as a refresher course in geometric optics, and as an introduction to optical modelling in Zemax.

By Dirk V

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Jun 25, 2020

Good lectures and presentations in this course. A sound and systematic basis for the next courses to follow.

By Pragati

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Jun 14, 2020

Clear conceptual explanation of optical design concepts. Very helpful forf understanding ZEMAX operation.

By Rafae H

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Sep 21, 2020

This course covers the basic and gives an introduction good design tools. It is a challenging course

By Feng-Kuo H

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Apr 13, 2019

This is a good course for those people wanting to start their learning in optical system design.

By Naresh K

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Oct 14, 2019

Instructor explains the basics of optics very well. Practical example exrecise are very good

By SHAN Z K

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Apr 6, 2021

the professors explain very clearly and go from thin to thick. It is easy to understand.

By Camila M C

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Mar 30, 2022

Gostei muito, acho que todo principiante deveria cursa-lo, recomendo com certeza!

By Jakka H K

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Nov 30, 2021

It is very good course and good examples to solve. Thank you for providing this

By Seunghyun L

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Aug 22, 2022

Thanks for giving me a great opportunity to learn best optics lecture ever !