The Physics Department will develop a new undergraduate program in optics for students in physics and engineering. The program will consist of a sequence of upper division courses. For electrical engineering majors, the program will be offered as an option. For physics majors, the entire uppper division program can be structured to provide a strong optics concentration. Initially, the program will be offered by the Physics Department. Ultimately, courses will be offered by both academic depart-ments and will be open to either group of students. A major portion of the program is the development of a modern undergrad- uate, two-semester Optics Laboratory course. The first semester will emphasize traditional optical experiments which illustrate the principles of geometric and physical optics. In the second semester, contemporary topics in optical science and engineering will be treated. In both semesters, microcomputers will be used to interact with the optical components in selected experiments.
