Optics for a long time was associated by most citizenry with eyeglasses. As such, optics was an orphaned field and, in a way, it still is, in spite of the advent of the laser in 1960. As a scientific field of study, optics has its theoretical roots in physics, while applications abound in the world of electrical engineering. There are many instances of the optics in our daily lives. Thus, light can carry much more information per unit of time than radio.
Optics is both ubiquitous and facilitative.
The enabling power of optics technology pervades many modern technological endeavors, hence its economic importance in the context of global competitiveness. UNM started a Ph.D. program in optical sciences in 1983 jointly between the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics and Astronomy. With over twenty faculty involved in optics, it has produced almost one hundred Ph.D.s since its inception, recognizing early that optics is a multi-disciplinary field. The uniqueness of its stature has not gone unnoticed. Arthur H. Guenther is a research professor of electrical and computer engineering at UNM and is co-author of the recent National Academy Study on Optical Science and Engineering.