Xinda Hu of the University of Arizona, and University of Rochester students Anthony Vella, Aaron Bauer and Nicolas Brown are the winners of Synopsis Inc.’s Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition.

Hu designed a multifocal-plane head-mounted display that incorporated a freeform prism eyepiece and matching compensator to optimize depth perception and performance across a wide field of view.

Vella designed a zoom lens for high-dynamic range photography. His project focused on development of a camera that records the same image at different exposures on three sensors simultaneously.

Bauer designed a head-worn display that incorporates freeform optical surfaces to facilitate smaller system sizes and minimize optical aberrations.

Brown explored the use of novel curved sensors in a smartphone camera to improve the system’s imaging performance in low-light conditions, while at the same time meeting stringent packaging constraints.

The annual competition honors the late Robert S. Hilbert, past president and CEO of the former Optical Research Associates, which is now Synopsys’ Optical Solutions Group.

Winners all used the company’s Code V and/or LightTools software to perform optical design and engineering research.

For more information, visit optics.synopsys.com.