Kevin Rolland-Thompson is University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences Alumnus of the Year

SPIE Fellow Kevin Rolland-Thompson, group director of research and development in optics at Synopsys, Inc., has been named University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences' Alumnus of the Year for his contributions to the field of optical sciences and engineering, particularly in optical systems development. He will be presented with his award in Arizona in October.

Thompson has earned a reputation in optics and photonics for being a world-leading optical designer. "For many decades, Kevin has put the spotlight on emerging technologies, avidly explored industry hot topics and readily shared his vast knowledge of optics history," said Thomas Koch, dean of College of Optical Sciences at University of Arizona.

Thompson holds four patents and has published 41 refereed scientific articles. He was also recipient of the 2013 SPIE A.E. Conrady Award for his efforts to discover and develop nodal aberration theory, a complete aberration theory for imaging optical systems that applies to rotationally nonsymmetric optical systems.

He is a coauthor on a paper to be presented at SPIE Optical Systems Design 2015 on 10 September on the theory, optical design, and performance measurements for Ring-Field Three Mirror Anastigmat.

For more information:

College of Optical Sciences Alumnus of Year press release