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Alexis Vogt is the endowed chair and professor of optics for the Optical Systems Technology program at Monroe Community College in Rochester, N.Y. This is the nation\u2019s only two-year degree program that trains technicians for work in the precision optics industry.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”56242″ mkd_css_animation=””][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
Bala Manian is an Indian-born Silicon Valley entrepreneur and a University life trustee. Career highlights include developing the first laser scanner for the supermarket industry, earning an Academy Award certificate for technical achievement in the film industry, and creating medical testing and instrumentation technology and products.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”56252″ mkd_css_animation=””][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
A native of Tunisia, Cherine Ghazouani is an optical design engineer at ASML, a semiconductor company in Connecticut. In college, she was a Student Alumni Ambassador, a peer advisor, an Ain Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation ambassador, and the recipient of an Alan and Jane Handler Scholarship, which is awarded to students based on their financial need, exceptional academic talent, and outstanding leadership potential[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_separator type=”normal” border_style=”solid” thickness=”2″][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text]The study of light has a profound impact on everyday life, especially for these three Institute of Optics alumni<\/p>\n
Optics is all about light: how it\u2019s propagated, generated, and detected. It\u2019s small, it\u2019s lightweight, and nothing in the world moves faster. It plays a central role in our daily lives, too, without most of us knowing it.<\/p>\n
The applications are vast\u2014from entertainment to science to medicine and beyond\u2014and its impact is huge. But meeting the growing demand for optics professionals is a challenge. \u201cBecause nearly everything is powered by optics, the field is growing at an incredible rate,\u201d says Tom Brown, director of the University\u2019s Institute of Optics and the Mercer Brugler Distinguished Teaching Professor. \u201cAnd, right now, there just aren\u2019t enough knowledgeable, skilled, and trained scholars, researchers, engineers, and technicians out there. We\u2014and the world\u2014need more of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
A recent gift from Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ life trustee James C. Wyant \u201967 (MS), \u201969 (PhD), \u201921 (Honorary) and his wife, Tammy Wyant, will help meet this demand. This fall, the couple established a $12 million, 10-year professorship challenge that will help the institute increase its faculty by 50 percent, graduate the next generation of optics professionals, and help the institute grow its preeminent status.<\/p>\n
CG: <\/strong>It\u2019s everywhere. Many people assume I\u2019m an optician or that I do something related to eye glasses. I want people to know that optics is all this and more. My work actually has to do with the semiconductor industry, a field that has broad applications related to energy, manufacturing, transportation, and medicine. There\u2019s so much potential with optics because, look around, everything is based on light and visuals. The challenge is to maximize practically unlimited potential. Think about it: optics plays a key role in everything from building self-driving cars to studying and understanding diseases to creating clean water systems for developing countries.<\/p>\n BM: <\/strong>Its broad application. When I came to the Institute of Optics in 1967, I was excited to see how optics was at the foundation and the intersection of many fields. As a graduate student, I was part of an ecosystem that inspired us to make a difference, to become entrepreneurs, and to solve real world problems. I was in a very distinctive cohort.<\/p>\n AV: <\/strong>Its potential. When I joined MCC six years ago, the optical technology program had just five students. Today, we have 115. The program is growing but doesn\u2019t graduate enough students to meet the regional and global demand for highly skilled optics technicians. I encourage anyone who is curious about our program to look into it. It attracts all types. For instance, I was at a fundraiser recently and met a DJ who is also an auto mechanic and a woodworker. I told him about this program, he came for a tour, and now he is enrolled as a student.<\/p>\n CG: <\/strong>Optics 101 with Professor Tom Brown. Within a few weeks, I was all in\u2014drawn to the field, the faculty, the institute, my cohort, everything. I also really enjoyed my geometric optics class with Professor Julie Bentley\u2014she\u2019s an icon in the field, a lens design expert, and a role model for all, especially for women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).<\/p>\n BM: <\/strong>Professor Bob Hopkins\u2019 optics design courses 240 and 241. Those classes showed me that what I was learning could immediately relate to something practical. Professor Hopkins became my role model and mentor.<\/p>\n AV: <\/strong>My first introductory optics class with Professor Turan Erdogan. He is the reason I am in this career. He had this remarkable way of distilling complex topics down in a way that I understood and that inspired me.<\/p>\n CG: <\/strong>There are many, including being a Handler Scholar. I wouldn\u2019t have been able to attend the University without it\u2014I owe so much to the Handler community. I\u2019m also very proud of my involvement with Industrial Associates, an all-day event in the fall and spring that immerses students in research, lectures, and discussions with optics professionals as well as a career fair. It\u2019s all come full circle, too\u2014I got my first internship from an IA event, and today I work for that company, and I attend IA events as a recruiter.<\/p>\n BM: <\/strong>I don\u2019t have just one. The whole experience as a graduate student and then later as an assistant professor and manager of an optical fabrication and testing facility at the institute were important parts of my professional development. Each step in my education and career helped lead to the next one.<\/p>\n AV: <\/strong>I did an honors research project with Dr. Tom Foster at the Medical Center, which showed me how much optics can do to serve the medical industry. I also had two summer internships at Corning. And, my PhD work with Professor Tom Brown was instrumental in laying the foundation for my career. These experiences introduced me to faculty, peers, business professionals, and friends with whom I still interact regularly.<\/p>\n CG: <\/strong>A lot of people tell me I don\u2019t \u201clook North African.\u201d I want to break down stereotypes like this, especially as a woman in science from a developing country. It also surprises people to know I speak four languages. In Tunisia, we all learn Arabic, French, and English. I also taught myself Turkish by watching television.<\/p>\n BM: <\/strong>Many people are surprised by my activity in optics because I have only one eye. I lost my left eye in an accident when I was three years old. More often than not, people assume I had an accident with an optical laser, but that is not the case.<\/p>\n AV: <\/strong>I\u2019ve played the violin since I was 5 years old. I was part of a number of musical groups in college and, up until the pandemic, still played in one of those ensembles. Another thing that surprises people: I have Pi memorized up to 82 digits.<\/p>\n CG: <\/strong>When I was in middle school, I saw the movie Iron Man<\/em>. I wanted to have a helmet and a lab just like Tony Stark\u2019s, the lead character. As an optics professional, I\u2019ve gotten pretty close to realizing that dream. A lot of my peers were inspired by that movie, too.<\/p>\n BM: <\/strong>My father was in business, and I knew from a young age that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I still do. At 77 years old, I continue to work, and I don\u2019t plan to retire. I love what I do.<\/p>\n AV: <\/strong>A kindergarten teacher. Teaching has always interested me, which is why I\u2019m doing what I do today.<\/p>\n CG: <\/strong>Graduating from the Institute of Optics. I made it through the pandemic with a degree in optical engineering from of the best\u2014if not the best\u2014schools in the world for it.<\/p>\n BM: <\/strong>Many people assume my proudest achievement is earning an Academy Certificate from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1999. I received that for developing the optical technology that made special effects possible in such movies as Return of the Jedi <\/em>and Indiana Jones<\/em>. Although that was a great honor, I have made the maximum contribution at the intersection between optics and life sciences. For instance, my companies developed the first laser film image recorder for medical imaging, protein and DNA analysis instrumentation, cell and gene therapy products, and blood-testing technology for AIDS and cancer patients.<\/p>\n AV: <\/strong>My family. My husband and three kids inspire me every day. So does my brother, Joe Spilman, who took my lead and graduated from the institute in 2003. Today, he\u2019s the president of Optimax, a local optics company. Professionally, I\u2019m proud of the students at MCC. It\u2019s incredibly rewarding to see them thrive. Many of them have changed their lives through this program.<\/p>\n CG: <\/strong>I love challenges and being in a fast-paced environment, and I want to be an entrepreneur someday. Today, I get to walk in the footsteps of the institute\u2019s legends, which is incredibly inspiring.<\/p>\n BM: <\/strong>I get excited about solving problems. I often tell people that you go to school to learn how to learn. Once you\u2019ve learned that, there is no science and no challenge beyond your capabilities.<\/p>\n AV: <\/strong>Knowing that the program at MCC can change lives, benefit our community, and affect the industry overall. It\u2019s inspiring to get calls from local businesses and from Google, Microsoft, and Amazon alike\u2014they all want and need our graduates. The Rochester area has been, and continues to be, such a great place for optics.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1668802269388{background-color: #00205b !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1668802300600{padding-right: 25px !important;padding-left: 25px !important;background-color: #00205b !important;}”]<\/p>\n Optics is at the core of many products, services, and technologies, including:<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1668804761848{padding-left: 25px !important;background-color: #00205b !important;}”]SmartphonesFavorite optics class?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Pivotal college experience?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
What would surprise people to know about you?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
What did you want to be when you grew up?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Proudest achievement?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
What motivates you?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Did you know?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\nCameras and telescopes
\nRemote controls and televisions
\nStreaming services<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1668804809368{background-color: #00205b !important;}”]Self-driving cars
\nLED light bulbs
\nTraffic lights<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_column_text]Barcode scanners
\nSurgical devices
\nMedical diagnostics and treatments<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1669215042790{padding-top: 25px !important;}”]<\/p>\nLearn about the Wyant Optics Challenge<\/u><\/a><\/h5>\n
Find out more about entrepreneurship<\/u><\/a><\/h5>\n
Explore the Institute of Optics<\/u><\/a><\/h5>\n