Instructor
Prof. Lara Waldrop
5052 ECEB
Office Hours:
Wednesday 10-11 AM, 5032 ECEB
Teaching and Lab Assistants
Dawn Haken
Pratik Joshi
5068 ECEB
Gonzalo Cucho-Padin
5068 ECEB
Course Director
Prof. Jonathan Makela
5044 ECEB
Course Description
Optical sensors including single element and area arrays (CCDs); optical systems including imagers, spectrometers, interferometers, and lidar; optical principles and light gathering power; electromagnetics of atomic and molecular emission and scattering with applications to the atmosphere the prime example; applications to ground and spacecraft platforms. The theory taught in this course will also be accompanied by five laboratory assessments that will take place at weekly laboratory sessions. Each session will be three hours long. Course Information: Same as AE 468. 3 undergraduate hours. 3 graduate hours. Prerequisite: PHYS 214, ECE 210, ECE 329 and one of ECE 313, IE 300, STAT 400, or STAT 410
Textbook
Gabriel Laufer, Introduction to Optics and Lasers in Engineering, Cambridge University Press, 1996.
There are also a number of supplementary texts on reserve at Grainger Library for reference. A list of those sources can be found here:
Grading Policy
Homework-15%
Lab Reports-25%
Midterm Exam-30%
Final Project-30%
Evaluation Criteria
Each homework assignment and laboratory report will be graded on completeness, correctness, and readability. In light of this, all procedures, methods, results, and conclusions should be documented and supported with data collected in the laboratory. Any code written in the laboratory should be included in the reports and must be properly and thoroughly documented. Any conclusions reached should be supported by the data presented in the report. Grammar, spelling, and organization are all taken into account in the final grade. The reports should be written such that an intelligent person with a background in engineering would be able to understand what you have done.
Exams
Two exams will be given midway through the semester-- one will be short answer during a lecture hour and the other will be a longer format take-home exam. Both will cover material presented in lecture and covered in the laboratories up to that point. A final lab project will be conducted in lieu of a final exam.
Past exams for practice
Exam Solutions
Exam-1: Thursday (21 February) in-class in ECEB 2017
Final Project
Your final project grade will be based on a written project report and a 15 minute presentation, both prepared jointly by your project team. You will work on your project during your regularly scheduled lab session, but your project teammates do not have to be your lab partners. We will hold the presentations during the scheduled time for our final exam.
Regrades
If you have a question or problem with how your homework, lab reports, or midterm exam has been graded, please submit the graded assignment along with a cover letter explaining in detail why you think a correction should be made. Requests must be made within one week of the graded assignment being returned, and they can be submitted either to Prof. Waldrop or the course TA, Yamuna Phal.
Expectations of Ethical Behavior
Students are expected to conduct themselves according to the University's policies on academic integrity (see http://studentcode.illinois.edu/article1/part4/1-402/). Violation of these rules will be handled according to University policy. This pertains to all homework, laboratory exercises, reports, exams, and projects.