Tina Kidger Bio

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Tina E. Kidger: Curriculum Vitae

CEO - Kidger Optics Associates, Business Woman, Mother

Tina was born Tina E. Webb at Redditch, in the UK's West Midlands, where she spent most of her formative years. She received a bachelor’s degree (1957) from Redditch College, Worcestershire, UK (Redditch College is now part of ‘Heart of Worcestershire College’) where she majored in business and education. In 1961 she undertook the position of personal assistant (PA) to Prof. of Mathematics, R. L. Goodstein at Leicester University. Tina and Michael John Kidger were married on 26 November 1960 at Saint George’s Church, Redditch, Worcestershire. When Michael left industry to pursue his Ph.D. and subsequent academic career at Imperial College, London in 1963, Tina assumed a full-time support role for Michael providing him the freedom to succeed with distinction in his academic pursuits. Together they raised two children, Julia and David. They moved from Leicester to London, Orpington, Chelsfield Park and Crowborough, UK during their years of child-rearing, industrial and academic association.

In 1982, Tina and Michael undertook the development and marketing of the first fully functional line of UK developed optical design software under the brand name of SIGMA and the company name ‘Kidger Optics Ltd.’ Kidger Optics became an industry leader in the conversion of optical design software from batch mode processing to software for PC and portable users, allowing individuals the opportunity to perform expert optical design in a standardized desktop environment. With Tina as Managing Director, development of the SIGMA software continued through various upgrades and versions through to the final 1998 release of SIGMA 2100.

During the years of development and sales of the SIGMA program, Tina and Michael traveled extensively promoting their software and presenting tutorial courses internationally. Tina was very active in the optics’ community and was a leading member of the Exhibitor’s Committee of SPIE – the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers where she continued to build her extensive business contacts and friendships.

Shortly after the release of SIGMA 2100 Michael, in an untimely event, passed away while on a teaching trip to Australia. Following Michael’s passing, Tina continued to manage Kidger Optics as an optical design consultancy rather than a software developer. Today, many designers worldwide continue to use the SIGMA optical design program directly, and many more use the algorithms developed by Kidger Optics in optical design software that permeates the optical design field internationally. Rights to the Kidger software were sold by Tina to a major optical design software competitor. Tina is currently CEO of Kidger Optics Associates, located in Great Malvern, Worcestershire, UK, providing both design consultancy and software sales services to the optics’ community. Tina was remarried in 2002 to Emery L. Moore, Ph.D, an engineer/physicist and former President of SPIE (1990). Today, Tina is a contributing member of the optics community through Kidger Optics Associates, organization of the UK Optical Design Meetings (UKODMs) and the Spanish Optical Design Meetings (ESODMs). At Tina’s suggestion, ‘SPIE Europe’ initiated its Illumination Design conferences, now part of SPIE’S European Optical Systems Design Symposiums for which Tina is Honorary Symposium Chair.

Since 2004, Tina has held the position of European Events Consultant for Synopsys’ Optical Systems Group (formerly Optical Research Associates). She is an emeritus member of the Board of Directors of the European Optical Society where she was a BOD member, c. 2002-2006. Tina appears in both the 2009 and 2010 SPIE publication, "Women in Optics." Tina was awarded SPIE Senior Membership in 2015 and OSA Senior Membership in 2016. In January 2022, Tina was awarded the distinction of SPIE Fellow.

In 1999 Tina established the Michael Kidger Memorial Scholarship to honor Michael’s memory in the optical design community. The Kidger scholarship awardee is chosen each year by a twelve-member selection committee of world recognized optical design experts. The Kidger scholarship is today not only a financial award, but it has become sufficiently prestigious such that it is a highly sought-after prize which is found by the awardees to be significantly career enhancing. As of the year 2021, there are now twenty-two Kidger scholar awardees. All of the Kidger awardees are celebrated and recognized with their own web page on the Kidger Optics web site at: www.kidger.com under the menu item “Kidger Scholarship.”

Contributions to the Kidger scholarship came from many friends and former students of Tina and Michael from around the world. The scholarship fund is maintained under the care of SPIE which provides it the protection of SPIE’s tax free status. A financial advisory committee, including an SPIE representative, manages the fund. Tina remains today as the principal organizer and manager of this highly recognized optical design scholarship.

In 2017, Tina assisted Professor Michael Damzen, Imperial College London (ICL) with the management of the “Optics Centenary Event” (OCE) celebrating 100 years since the founding of the Department of Technical Optics at ICL. Tina was invited to be OCE's opening session chair, and subsequently recorded and published “A Chronicle” of the Optics Centenary Event which has since been archived by ICL, OSA and Harvard University. For ICL' Optics Centenary Event, Tina obtained all the sponsorship funding, including that for the several refreshment breaks.

Tina was invited by OSA to be a member of the Adolph Lomb Medal award committee which she served from 2019 through 2021. Also in 2019, Tina was solicited, and accomplished, a proposed book review for the UK Institute of Physics (IOP) entitled: “Aspheric and Freeform Lens Design: An Introduction to Analytical Solutions”; Rafael G. González-Acuña, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico. Following the demise of Michael Kidger in 1998, Tina collected and organized many of Michael’s teaching notes which have been further developed and published in two volumes with the help of close friends and colleagues. The first volume entitled "Fundamental Optical Design" was published by the SPIE Press, 2002, and the second volume entitled "Intermediate Optical Design" was published by the SPIE Press, 2004. Sales of these two volumes now exceed 2,800 copies.

Today, Tina continues as CEO of Kidger Optics Associates, and as European Events Consultant for Synopsys - Optical Systems Group. She also continues her 39 plus years of service to the optical community, both through OSA and SPIE.