OSA NEWS

May 17, 2004

UCF Becomes First Major University in U.S. to Designate Optics
Program as College

The University of Central Florida this month
became the first major U.S. university to designate its optics and
photonics program as a free-standing college.

The College of Optics and Photonics, which has 36 teaching and research
professors and about 150 graduate students, also houses the Center for
Research and Education in Optics and Lasers (CREOL) and the Florida
Photonics Center for Excellence (FPCE).

Under the new structure, undergraduate degrees in optics could be
offered within the next several years, said Eric Van Stryland, who was
promoted to dean of the college. He had been director of the School of
Optics.

Van Stryland said the college designation will make it easier for
optics faculty to work closely with professors from other colleges at
UCF. He also said the new structure should help with faculty and student
recruiting.

"It will be regarded nationally as a step up," Van Stryland said.
"That's a rather distinctive honor, and it's recognition by our
administration of our worth to the university."

Van Stryland is vice president of the Optical Society of America, an
88-year-old society that counts many Nobel Prize winners and top
engineers, educators and scientists among its 15,000 members. Van
Stryland will be the society's president in 2006.

Fifteen of the college's teaching and research professors are Optical
Society of America fellows, and eight are SPIE-The International Society
for Optical Engineering fellows.

"The University of Central Florida and CREOL have always played a
pivotal role in the education, research and development that propel the
fields of optics and photonics forward," said Elizabeth A. Rogan,
executive director of the Optical Society of America. "The added
distinction of being recognized as a college, an entity unto itself,
further establishes the school's significant role within the
community. We are looking forward to the future innovations UCF's
College of Optics is certain to bring."

Van Stryland won the 2003 UCF Pegasus Professor Award, the top honor
that a faculty member at the university can receive. The award
recognizes excellence in teaching, research and service. Professor Kevin
Belfield, who teaches chemistry and optics, was named the university's
outstanding graduate teacher of the year in 2003.

The college's professors have received about $27 million in grants
for research this year, up from $9.3 million just three years ago. Among
ongoing research efforts are projects designed to prevent soldiers and
pilots from being blinded by lasers and to mass produce optical chips to
help manufacturers.

Last year, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush designated the school as the Florida
Photonics Center of Excellence, and the state provided $10 million in
funding to help the school work more closely with photonics companies.
Two of the center's top goals are to help local optics and photonics
companies flourish and to entice other companies to move to Central
Florida. Both of those scenarios lead to more job opportunities for UCF
graduates and allow students to work on research directly related to the
type of work they will do after they graduate.

The center provided $1.8 million this year to fund research by
professors at UCF, the University of Florida, Florida A&M University and
other schools. All of those professors are working with industry
partners, including Harris Corp. and Northrup Grumman.

CREOL, the other research center housed in the College of Optics, was
founded in 1985 to promote growth in optics in the region.

--UCF--

Contacts:

Eric Van Stryland, dean of the College of Optics and Photonics,
407-823-6835, director@creol.ucf.edu

James Pearson, associate director of the college, 407-823-6858,
jpearson@mail.ucf.edu

Chad Binette
University Writer
News and Information
University of Central Florida
P.O. Box 160091
Orlando, FL 32816-0091
(407) 823-6312
fax (407) 823-3403