Kidger Optics Associates: Michael Kidger Memorial Scholarship: Awardees: Winner 2006

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Michael Kidger Memorial Scholarship:
2006 AWARDEE - BLAIR L. UNGER

Update 2010
Blair defended his dissertation on April 20, 2010 and is now working to build an optical design consulting business, BLU Optics, LLC. Blair's research focuses on a new type of lightguide concentrator: the dimpled lightguide. Light is focused by an array of lenslets onto an array of injection elements that turn light into a planar guide layer. Concentrated light is transported down the length of the dimpled lightguide to the far end of the guide. The primary advance of this research is the incorporation of bypass elements to control the angular distribution of light transported within the guide, increasing the potential concentration. The research develops models of the dimpled lightguide and presents results of fabricated proof-of-concept devices.

Blair received 2006 Award Certificate from David Williamson, Chairman Michael Kidger Memorial Scholarship Committee, at Vancouver, British Columbia, 7 June 2006. Blair also received a copy of Michael Kidger's book, Fundamental Optical Design.

Award Year 2006
Blair Unger, a graduate student at the Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, was selected as the 2006 Michael Kidger Memorial Scholarship awardee. Blair's doctoral advisor is Duncan Moore, Rudolph and Hilda Kingslake Professor of Optical Engineering. The award was presented at the International Optical Design Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia, Wednesday, 7 June by David M. Williamson, Michael Kidger Memorial Scholarship Committee chair. The award was a $5,000 cash grant partially supported by QIOPTIQ Ltd, St Asaph, North Wales, U.K.

Blair's research involves examining diffractive and dispersive spectrographic systems for use in astronomical applications. Given that there exists no straightforward way to choose a best design for a spectrograph with a specific set of system constraints and perfomance requirements, the goal will be to find a set of constraints to allow certain low-order imaging and dispersion requirements to be met. Working within that solution space, configurations can be judged against one another for geometrical layout, sensitivity to alignment, and residual higher order aberrations. Blair plans to study new optical design methods applicable to two, three or more mirrors or refractive elements combined with existing grating designs.

As part of his past and ongoing efforts, Blair has worked on a DARPA sponsored Very High Efficiency Solar Cell (VHESC) project and as a student co-op at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center on the planned James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).