ADOPSYS: ADvanced OPtical SYStem Design

Partners: Technische Universiteit Delft

There is a severe shortage in the European photonics industry of graduates and PhDs with broad expertise in modelling and design of industrially relevant optical systems and components. This shortage is aggravated because most applied design methodologies are strongly based on previous experience of the designer. In general, these methods also have a limited efficiency because they heavily rely on trial and error. The project has therefore two objectives of equal importance:

1. The development of disruptive new optical design tools that are broadly applicable to optical design problems and that significantly increase design productivity and efficiency;

2. Advanced training through research and hands-on practice of highly skilled optical scientists given by leading European universities and European optical industries.

European academic and industrial partners that are leading in the research on new optical design methodologies and in designing advanced optical systems and components for modern industrial applications will work together in ADOPSYS. We will develop for the inverse problem of optical design new strategies that reduce the amount of human trial-and-error effort significantly, and will apply them to a wide variety of industrially relevant design problems including energy efficient lighting systems, high resolution systems and machine vision, inspection and safety.The ADOPSYS partners together cover the complete modern field of optical modelling and design and its applications, a coverage which no single European group or institute can provide alone. Therefore, the ADOPSYS team is ideally prepared for high level education and training during collaborative multi-disciplinary research, research workshops in optical modelling and design, trainings in transferable skills and on-the-job training during secondments provided by the industrial partners, so that the ESR fellows will be optimally prepared as optical scientists for a successful career.