University of Rochester students Bin Ma and Dustin Moore were named winners of the 2011 Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition, sponsored by EDA and IP vendor Synopsys Inc.

Ma, a Ph.D. candidate, was recognized for his work on aspheric lens design using CODE V in his paper titled, "Design of Lithographic Lenses with Slope Constrained Q-Polynomials," Synopsys (Mountain View, Calif.) said. Applications of Ma's project include ultra-precise projector lenses used to make ICs, Synopsys said.

Moore, also a Ph.D. student at the University of Rochester, was recognized for his work on a panoramic imaging system using CODE V in his paper titled, "A High Resolution Four-Pi Steradian Panoramic Video System," Synopsys said. The goal of Moore's design is to improve the quality of systems providing 360-degree, interactive video, according to the firm.

The Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition was created in 2000 by Optical Research Associates (ORA), now the Optical Solutions Group at Synopsys. The competition is named in honor of ORA's former president and CEO, Robert S. Hilbert. The annual competition is open to students in North America working toward a bachelor's, master's, or Ph.D. degree who utilize the ORA's CODE V or LightTools software to perform optical design and engineering research. Awards are granted to students who have submitted papers that demonstrate optical design excellence.