Optical Engineering

• Anyone who enjoys an interdisciplinary and well-founded engineering course with excellent career prospects: The demand for Optical Engineering engineers is significantly higher than the supply.
• Anyone who is having a hard time deciding on a particular engineering discipline. Would you prefer Electronics, Mechatronics, Physics, Optics or Mechanical Engineering? Studies in Optical Engineering will provide you with a sound cross-sectional education in all of these disciplines. In your stage 2 studies (from the 4th semester), you then decide which direction you would like to take - e.g. optoelectronics, optomechanics, optoinformatics, laser technology, etc.
• Anyone looking for a degree program with a strong research institution and therefore very good laboratories for practical training. The Centre for Optical Technologies attached to the Optical Engineering degree programme is an internationally renowned and recognized research centre for the Department / Division. Our graduates have received international awards for their work in our laboratories / labs (e.g. Photonics West, San Francisco, USA).

Your degree as B. Eng. Optical Engineering is the ticket to a wide range of professional careers at well-known large companies such as Carl Zeiss, Osram, Trumpf, Daimler or Philips, but also at many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) worldwide. Our graduates are very successful as systems engineers and project managers, heads of the project, in Research and Development and Production or in Product Management and Sales.
or in product management and Sales. In addition, with a subsequent Master's degree in Applied Photonics and a subsequent doctorate at the Center for Optical Technologies at Aalen University of Applied Sciences, all conceivable qualification options are open to you.

For admission, you need a university entrance qualification (Abitur, university of applied sciences entrance qualification) or a Master's degree / technician. You can find more information about Application and admission here.

One possible definition of Optical Engineering is the Development and Production of optical systems (e.g. lasers, microscopes, smartphone cameras, VR glasses, etc.). The engineer from the Department / Division of Optical Engineering has a deeper understanding of three Competence fields: The first Competence field is optoelectronics (sometimes called optronics or optotronics or optoelectonics in English). In addition to the individual optical and Electronics components of a system, the engineer also masters the interface between electrical and optical components.

The second Competence field is computer science or optoinformatics. This includes the simulation on the PC of how light propagates in an optical system (e.g. how does the image from the smartphone get into my eye via the data glasses). It also includes the development of algorithms and software for digital image processing (machine vision), which can be used to extract information from an image (e.g. the distance to a car in front in an autonomous vehicle). The third Competence field is Optomechanics or Mechatronics. This refers to the interdisciplinary interaction of optics with mechanics, Electronics & Computer Science. An example of this would be the autofocus system of a camera: the initially blurred image is recorded and evaluated using algorithms. The objective lenses are adjusted electrically using accordingly mechatronic actuators until a sharp image can finally be captured.

Optical systems can be found wherever the properties of light are deliberately used or where light is essential for the functioning of the equipment. These can be optical sensors (optosensors) or optoelectronic sensors, for example, which are used in automotive manufacturing to enable automated production. Here, for example, photoelectronic sensors are used for positioning the chassis for laser welding.

Optical systems can also be very complex, such as microscopes used in medicine or lithography systems for semiconductor production. Robot-based optical measuring systems are also widely used in industry. There they are used, for example, to measure the volume of impressions. Optical measurement methods are also used in medical technology, e.g. for measuring the position of the spine. Optical Metrology is also integrated in highly specialized applications such as optoelectronic sorting.

Lasers and laser systems can also be found in material processing (e.g. laser soldering) or ophthalmology (e.g. cataract surgery).

Optical engineering can also be found in the so-called consumer field (of). From "simple" glasses and smartphone cameras to high-quality photo lenses or high-speed Internet via fiber optic cables (fiber optics). The interdisciplinary nature of this Department / Division is playing an increasingly important role. The interplay between Optics, Computer Science, Mechatronics and Electronics is crucial for the optical system. This can be seen in everything from data glasses (virtual reality, augmented reality) and smart homes to care robots.

The end of every semester concludes with an examination, known as a written exam. This can be either oral or written; in writing. Written examinations come in various forms - from multiple choice and open questions to the development of a concept. In an oral examination, you are in direct discussion with your examiners. Each type of exam requires its own form of preparation. Key features apply to all of them: you should have a firm grasp of the material liaised with (companies) in the lecture. However, the way you present your knowledge in the examination depends on the type of examination and should also be practiced specifically. If you are about to take an oral examination, for example, you should definitely practice this with your fellow students beforehand.

Good exam preparations begin during the semester. You will often receive exercises or practice questions from lecturers that you should work on during the semester. However, not only these exercises are good preparation, but also your notes and the course handbook (e.g. your optoelectronics handbook). A useful way to prepare the course handbook is to create index cards on which you summarize the essentials. In this way, you can take a closer look at the material and learn to separate the important from the less important.

In the field (of) engineering sciences in particular, it is also crucial that you really understand formulas. Mathematics formulas describe physical and engineering sciences in a very compact way. Create your own collection of formulas and try to explain the relationships in your own words. This will give you a good, easy-to-learn summary of the material. Remember that examinations do not usually test pure "memorization", but that you must be able to transfer your knowledge to new tasks. A good practice class for this is to create a quiz for the lecture that you "play" together with your fellow students - e.g. by asking each other questions and playing "Hangman".

Further reading can also help you to gain a deeper understanding of the lecture material. Knowledge from textbooks is particularly helpful in oral examinations. For example, there is good literature on Optical Systems Engineering, Optical Design or Optical Engineering in general. These books will help you to develop a broad understanding of your field of study, subject. You can often even download them as PDFs from the library.

Finally, you should also try to get hold of old exams. Old exams are a good way to familiarize yourself with your examiners, get to know their style of questioning and identify important key topics of the examination.