Founded in 1870 as Colorado Agricultural College, today Colorado State University is a public research university in Fort Collins, a northern Colorado town that sits on the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Housed within the university’s College of Engineering, Colorado State hosts a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering undergraduate program in Lasers and Optical Engineering. The program’s curriculum includes general education coursework in composition, history and the humanities, as well as rigorous prerequisites in mathematics. In the program’s latter semesters, students take technical courses like Optics and Waves, Fourier Optics and Electromagnetics and are also required to complete a senior design project. Colorado State optical engineering students also have the opportunity to contribute to the research in laser, optics and applications conducted within the college.
Colorado State University
501 University Ave.
Fort Collins, CO 80523
970-491-6444
colostate.edu
The University of Rochester is a private research university in the city of Rochester, located in upstate New York. Founded in 1950, the university is home to the oldest optics program in the country. Rochester’s Institute of Optics was established in 1929 and today offers a Bachelor of Science in Optics, Master of Science in Optics and a doctoral program. While the undergraduate curriculum includes courses like Computational Methods in Optics and Geometrical Optics, graduate students can choose among coursework-only, thesis and co-op options to obtain their Master of Science degree in the field. Students can additionally participate in dynamic research activities at the institute in areas like gradient index optics, super-intense fields physics and in subwavelength optics, among others.
University of Rochester
275 Hutchison Rd.
Rochester, NY 14627
585-275-2322
rochester.edu
Established in 1890, North Dakota State University is a public land-grant university in the eastern North Dakota city of Fargo. The university features an undergraduate electrical and computer-engineering program with an optical engineering option. Housed within their College of Engineering and Architecture, students matriculated into the program follow a curriculum that includes elective courses like Circuit Analysis, Optical Signal Transmission, as well as Optics for Scientists and Engineers. Students can also pursue advanced education in the field within the college’s electrical engineering department in addition to pursuing research projects.
North Dakota State University
1340 Administration Ave.
Fargo, ND 58102
701-231-8011
ndsu.edu