IGERT: Graduate Training in Optical Sciences and Engineering

校园内三个系和一个研究所的教员获得了新的IGERT投资，通过多学科光学科学与工程项目（OSEP）实施一种新的研究生培训。光学既是一门科学也是一项技术，它本质上是跨学科的——这一事实在科罗拉多大学（CU）自己的教师和其他跨越几个系和研究所的研究人员身上得到了很好的反映。事实上，许多技术领域越来越依赖于光技术的通信，测量，娱乐，显示和生产，仅举几例，因此，全球的动机在光学多学科培训计划。此外，光学领域也是中大自然要培育的领域。从JILA的玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚，到电气和计算机工程（ECE）液晶显示器的发展，到物理学中的光学信息处理，再到化学中的受控化学反应，光学渗透到CU的研究和技术中。在研究生培训方面的协调努力加强了这一跨越多个部门的优势。在IGERT培训计划的设计从一个自下而上的理念：给学生一个非常扎实的科学和技术培训，在光学，他们将在各种学科和行业的后续就业做好准备。OSEP招收来自三个家庭部门的学生，化学，ECE和物理，并通过严格的光学科学和工程基础来增强他们的传统训练。OSEP包括三个主要的研究重点：(1)光学控制和操纵，其中包括，例如玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚（BEC）， CU物理学家（也是该提案的参与者）最近被授予诺贝尔物理学奖；(2)光学计量学，一方面由于超快激光器的进步，另一方面由于结构化光纤的进步，正在经历一场技术革命；和(3)光学处理,结合微波和光学全息技术已经导致了新的范式进行处理无线通信、天文和雷达信号。这些研究追求的智力价值反映在它们已经对科学和工程的最新趋势产生的重大影响上，更反映在它们对未来技术的潜在影响上。例如，BEC被认为是激光的原子模拟物。粗略地说，我们的激光研究在20世纪60年代发明后不久，但是这个项目的研究已经把集成原子光学作为一种技术，它可以为原子光学做集成光学技术已经为传统光学做的事情。OSEP寻求更广泛的影响，其重点是学生作为国家和国际公民：其目标是不仅为学生提供深入的技术培训，而且提供职业意识和科学与社会的全球视野。他们的培训包括三个实验室轮转，其中一个不能在他们的国内部门，他们可以选择在国外的实验室进行轮转，以获得国际视野。学生还将进行为期三个月的行业实习，实习可以在本地、国内或国外进行。该项目包括一个工业咨询委员会，其成员与学生互动，招募实习和未来就业，并向项目管理部门提供反馈。OSEP还包括每周由学术界和工业界成员以及学生自己贡献的研讨会。技能和技术课程辅以道德、沟通和商业课程，提供均衡的培训，使学生成为负责任和有效的社会贡献者。OSEP为学生在工业领域的工作做了非常好的准备；此外，拥有OSEP提供的广泛教育的博士正是我们希望看到的下一代教师。这些人可以改变我们大学的文化：他们把自己的科学视为更大社会的一部分，他们推倒象牙塔的墙壁，消除跨学科教育的障碍。IGERT是一项nsf范围内的计划，旨在满足教育美国博士科学家和工程师的挑战，他们具有跨学科背景，所选学科的深厚知识，以及未来职业需求所需的技术，专业和个人技能。该计划旨在通过建立创新的研究生教育和培训模式，在一个超越传统学科界限的合作研究的肥沃环境中，促进研究生教育的文化变革。在该计划的第六年，奖项将颁发给那些由NSF支持的科学和工程领域的项目的机构。

Faculty in three departments and one institute on campus have received a renewed IGERT investment to implement a new kind of graduate training through a multidisciplinary optical science and engineering program (OSEP). Optics is both a science and a technology, and it is inherently interdisciplinary-a fact that is well reflected by the University of Colorado's (CU's) own faculty and other researchers who span several departments and institutes. Indeed many technical fields are increasingly dependent on optical technology for communication, measurement, entertainment, displays and production, to name a few, hence the global motivation for a multidisciplinary training program in optics. The field of optics is furthermore a natural one for CU to cultivate. From Bose-Einstein condensation in JILA, to the development of liquid crystal displays in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), to optical information processing in Physics, to controlled chemical reactions in Chemistry, optics permeates CU's research and technology. This strength spanning several departments has been enhanced by this coordinated effort in graduate training. The IGERT training program is designed from a bottom-up philosophy: Give students a very solid scientific and technical training in optics and they will be well prepared for subsequent employment in a wide variety of disciplines and industries. OSEP takes students from three home departments, Chemistry, ECE, and Physics, and augments their traditional training with a rigorous foundation in optical science and engineering. OSEP encompasses three major research thrusts: (1) Optical control and manipulation, which includes, for example Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC) for which CU physicists (who are also participants in this proposal) were recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics; (2) Optical metrology, which is undergoing a technical revolution thanks to advances in ultrafast lasers on the one hand and structured optical fibers on the other; and (3) Optical processing, in which combined microwave and optical holographic techniques have led to a new paradigm for processing wireless communications, astronomical, and radar signals. The intellectual merits of these research pursuits are reflected in the substantial impact that they have already had on the recent trends in science and engineering and more so in their potential impact on future technology. BEC, for example, is recognized as the atom analog of the laser. Roughly speaking we are where laser research was in the 1960's shortly after its invention, yet research within this program has already targeted integrated atom optics as a technology that can do for atom optics what integrated optical technology has already done for conventional light optics. OSEP seeks a broader impact with its focus on the student as national and international citizen: its goal is to provide students not only with in-depth technical training, but also to provide career awareness and a global perspective of science and society. Their training includes three laboratory rotations, one of which must not be in their home department, and they may choose to carry out a rotation in a laboratory abroad to gain an international perspective. Students also undergo a three-month industrial internship, which can be carried out locally, nationally or abroad. The program includes an Industrial Advisory Board whose members interact with the students, recruit for internships and future employment, and provide feedback to the program administration. OSEP also incorporates a weekly seminar with contributions by members of academia and industry as well as by the students themselves. Skills and technical courses are complemented by courses on ethics, communication, and business to provide a balanced training to prepare students as responsible and effective contributors to society. OSEP prepares students exceptionally well for jobs in industry; moreover, Ph.D.s with the broad education provided by OSEP are precisely the kind of individuals we hope to see as next-generation faculty. These are the individuals that can change the culture of our universities: those who see their science as part of the greater society, who raze the walls of the ivory tower and level the barriers to interdisciplinary education. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. In this sixth year of the program, awards are being made to institutions for programs that collectively span the areas of science and engineering supported by NSF.