2.997 Optical Engineering - Fall '99

Information and policies

 

Instructors

Prof. George Barbastathis, Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT Room 3-461c, x3-1960, gbarb@mit.edu

Dr. Stephen D. Fantone, Optikos Corp. 286 Cardinal Madeiros Ave., Cambridge, MA 02141

Administrative Assistant

Kate Melvin Room 3-461, x3-6236, kmelvin@mit.edu

 

Class location and hours

1-379; Mondays and Wednesdays 9:00-10:30am.

 

Office hours

Tuesdays 3-5pm at 3-461c or by appointment.

 

Communication

E-mail is the preferred method of communication. Please refrain from phone calls except in extraordinary circumstances (we mean it!).

To broadcast a message to the class, use one of the following lists:

2.997-admin@petrosian.mit.edu for class instructors and the admin. secretary;

2.997-students@petrosian.mit.edu for students and listeners attending the class;

2.997@petrosian.mit.edu for both of the above.

(By the way, Tigran Petrosian was World Chess Champion between 1963-1969, in case you were wondering).

 

Textbooks

W. Smith, Modern Optical Engineering,

J. W. Goodman, Introduction to Fourier Optics (2nd edition, 1996).

 

Grading policies

10% quiz (10 minutes, in-class, unannounced, 2-3 during the semester);

30% homeworks;

30% midterm exam;

30% final exam.

 

Homework & exam policies

All homeworks will be available in the website on the dates indicated in the syllabus, and must be turned in class at the beginning of the lecture (9am) on the date they are due (except homework #3 should be delivered to Kate on 9/27 between 9am-10am). Alternatively, you may submit homeworks by e-mail (the date and time stamp must be before the due date) in PDF format only (scans converted to PDF are acceptable too). For most homeworks you have at least 9 days to work on (you only have one week for the 12QQ's). 20% of the grade will be subtracted for every day that the homework is overdue. Overdue homeworks should be delivered to Kate. You may request extensions if you have a serious reason such as sickness. The extension must be requested in person, at the latest during the office hours the day before the homework is due. Don’t consider the extension granted unless one of the instructors says explicitly so.

You are allowed to discuss the homework assignments with your peers, but you should write the solutions on your own and without consultation. Homework solutions will not be distributed, but the most interesting problems will be discussed in class on the Monday after each homework is due.

You may use textbooks, tables of formulas, and calculators in the exams. Quizes will be without aids, though. Quiz and exam solutions will be made available in the website.

 

Labs and site visits

There will be two (possibly more) lab demonstrations during the semester. They will both take place at the location of Optikos. There will also be one or two site visits at other nearby companies. Times, dates, and contents will be announced later.

 

Syllabus

The syllabus is in the website; any changes will be announced in class and/or broadcast to the mailing list with sufficient warning. Note that there will be no class on Wednesday, September 29.

 

Website, mailing lists, announcements, etc.

We will make fairly heavy use of the website for notes, homeworks, and other distributions. Occasionally demos and cool links will be added so make sure to check it out often.