GER-9553475 Kowel UAH has created a multidisciplinary doctoral program in Optical Science and Engineering which admitted its first students in the Fall, 1993. This program addresses the growing national need for advance training in basic and applied optics. The trend of strong integration of optical components with electronics is the basis of a vast new technology. Our program was developed to prepare students to contribute across the broad boundaries of traditional optics including photonics. The unique strengths of our program derive from the support of the base disciplines, physics, electrical engineering, computer engineering, materials science, and mechanical engineering, as well as the strong technology transfer activities focused in the Center for Applied Optics. A common facility for research and teaching, together with the shared doctoral degree, provide an unusual concentration of resources for our students. We are working to strengthen the cooperative nature of the program, involving the University of Alabama at Birmingham, with particular focus on biomedical applications, as well as Alabama A&M University (a HBCU), with a focus on nonlinear optics and optical materials. We are requesting five NSF Graduate Research Traineeships to support students for the first two years of their studies in the program.
