This course can also be taken for academic credit as ECEA 5600, part of CU Boulder’s Master of Science in Electrical Engineering degree.
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About this Course
Learner Career Outcomes
20%
20%
12%
What you will learn
be able to design, to first order, such optical systems with simple mathematical and graphical techniques
Learner Career Outcomes
20%
20%
12%
Offered by

University of Colorado Boulder
CU-Boulder is a dynamic community of scholars and learners on one of the most spectacular college campuses in the country. As one of 34 U.S. public institutions in the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU), we have a proud tradition of academic excellence, with five Nobel laureates and more than 50 members of prestigious academic academies.
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Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Introduction to Geometrical Optics
This module introduces rays, which we use to describe the motion of light through air and materials. The course overview describes the goals of this course and gives tips on how to make the best use of the course materials to be successful. The lectures introduce the material. The in-video questions, lab demonstrations, PhET interactive demonstration, practice problems, and homework assignment allow you to get actively involved in learning the material.
Optical System Design in OpticStudio
In this module, you will learn how to enter the description of an optical system into OpticStudio, analyze the performance of that system using various calculations and plots, and finally optimize that design by defining a merit function and search variables.
First Order Ray Tracing
This module applies Snell's Laws to the curved interfaces of lenses and mirrors. You will learn the graphical and mathematical tools you need to calculate image size and location for thin lens and mirror systems. This foundation is essential to build more complex optical systems.
Thick Optics and Mirrors
This module extends the analysis of the previous module to include the effects of real, thick lenses. You will learn how to input this factor into your optical system analysis and design.
Reviews
TOP REVIEWS FROM FIRST ORDER OPTICAL SYSTEM DESIGN
Great content but the provided learning resources are limited to the video lectures and exercises. There is no staff helping in the discussion forums. Question hang there without answers for months.
Great course, but the tool (Demo version Zemax) is not very useful because of the removal of several important features (e.g. save, undo and limited precision).
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
An excellent course that teaches you geometric optics and gets you started with ZEMAX. Some of the quizzes have typos/bugs in them, but this is a minor gripe.
About the Optical Engineering Specialization
The courses in this specialization can also be taken for academic credit as ECEA 5600-5602, part of CU Boulder’s Master of Science in Electrical Engineering degree. Enroll here.

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