Can you imagine the world, nature and humanity without light? Would the economy even exist without light? How can light save lives?
Light plays a central role in human activity and it provides solutions to current global challenges. Light is ubiquitous in our daily lives: from technologies that improve vision and power the smartphones in our hands, to state-of-the-art technologies that provide us with tools to explore space and better understand our planet, and fibre optics that help us communicate via the Internet. They have revolutionized society through medicine, communications, entertainment and culture. Industries based on light are major economic drivers, and light-based technologies directly respond to the needs of humankind by providing access to information, promoting sustainable development, and increasing societal health and well-being.
Welcome to “Applications of light in engineering and life sciences”. This course aims to provide you with a perspective on the real-world applications of light technologies which have shaped our society and will continue to act as key enabling technologies of the future.
It will cover technologies such as lasers, light emitting diodes (LEDs), digital cameras, optical fibres and more. You will learn about the application of light to monitor industrial processes and light-based imaging and image analysis in industrially relevant areas ranging from satellite imaging through to microscopy. You will gain an appreciation of current and future commercial opportunities offered in this area.
The course will culminate in a design project where you will learn how to design, build and test diverse light based detection, sensing and imaging systems. On the completion of the course you will be able use light to measure, probe and interrogate diverse effects in various industrial and clinical scenarios and in the environment.
The course is self-contained and it provides all the required fundamentals. All assessments are open-book. The course is suitable for students from diverse backgrounds.
