Optical design engineers from around the globe participated in the International Optical Design Contest earlier this year, and both winning designs were created using Zemax optical and illumination design software. The contest offered separate lens and illumination design problems, with the winning designs presented at the International Optical Design Conference on Hawaii’s Kohala Coast. The winning lens design for the Shafer Cup Competition was Jon Ehrmann, founder eRADii, Inc. Ehrmann’s winning lens design was created using a Standard Edition of Zemax. The contest required designing a Cinderella lens using ten identical lens blanks. Optimizing the throughput of a lens made from a prescribed number, size and shape of blanks is not an easy engineering challenge. Ehrmann’s winning design surpassed the second place finisher by 15% in merit function. For the illumination contest engineers were to design an illuminator for a film projector to create an image using only items in a defined toolbox. The winning design was submitted by Alois Herkommer, Institut für Techische Optik. Herkommer used a Premium Edition of Zemax to create an illuminator with the highest luminous flux on screen. “Zemax designed its software so engineering design professionals could use it for a wide variety of optical and illumination applications. Having winners of both the Shafer Cup and the Illumination Contest using Zemax for their designs is an incredible highlight for our development team. We congratulate the winners and are sincerely appreciative of their efforts” said Mark Nicholson, PhD Vice President, Zemax LLC. The IODC occurs every four years and attracts leading optical scientists and design professionals from around the world. During the past few years, optical design has seen rapid development and change driven by a host of contributing factors, including advancing manufacturing technologies, increasing demands on system performance, and advancements in design software and computing power. The IODC provides the unique opportunity for attendees to interact and share information to keep up with the latest trends in the optical industry. About Zemax Industry leaders in optics and illumination rely on Zemax for cutting edge design and simulation software that reduce costs, and shorten time-to-innovation. Zemax delivers design software, training, and support services that set the standards for the optical and illumination industry. Zemax is unmatched as the preferred design platform for researchers, engineers, designers and students around the world. Zemax is based in Redmond, WA, USA and is part of the Radiant Zemax family of companies.