Ansys Zemax User Day - UK

Optional Early Rise "Ask the Experts" Session
Opportunity to engage with the Zemax Experts to answer questions 

Keynote:  Shaping the Future of Optical Design with Ansys Optics - Tom Aumeyr, Ansys

This forward-looking session explores the evolution of optical design and simulation. As optical systems become more complex and deeply integrated with other engineering domains, simulation is taking on a larger—and more critical—role. So are the tools we rely on.

We’ll highlight key developments across Ansys Zemax and the broader Ansys Optics portfolio, showing how they align with major industry trends. Expect a candid look at what’s next in optical design, with a focus on innovation, usability, and meeting the evolving needs of optical engineers.

Using Ansys Zemax OpticStudio for a Structural, Thermal, and Optical Performance Workflow - Chris Normanshire, Ansys

Structural or thermal loads can severely impact the performance of optical systems. These effects can be understood by conducting a STOP (structural, thermal, and optical performance) analysis. In this session we’ll look at the innovative tools available in OpticStudio for STOP analysis, highlighting how it streamlines analysis, accelerates time-to-market, and improves optical system reliability.  This session will cover:

• How to efficiently connect Finite Element Analysis FEA with OpticStudio for accurate system-level simulations. 
• Simulating the impact of structural deformations and temperature gradients on optical performance. 
• The impact of non-uniform optical fluids and the import of data from Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solvers. 
• Automation and Optimization Techniques – How to streamline workflows using Ansys tools for faster design iterations and improved optical system performance 
• Understand the impact of mechanical stress on optical performance and how stress birefringence affects wavefront accuracy in complex systems 
• Recent updates and enhancements to the multiphysics capabilities in OpticStudio. 

From Nan-Scale to Macro-Scale Optics using Ansys Optics Tools - Csilla Timar-Fulep, Ansys

Innovative optical design solutions integrate miniaturized components, diffractive optical elements and metalenses, into complex lens systems. Various industry applications include smartphone cameras, AR/VR headsets, as well as 3D sensing.

These products include optical features across multiple length scales, which poses challenges on the design process. Ray tracing approximations break down near the dimension of the wavelength, and full electromagnetic approaches are computationally too expensive for larger devices. Therefore, accurate characterization for performance analysis and optimization requires cross-product simulation workflows. Traditional methods of linking nano-scale and macro-scale optics relied on tedious manual file conversions and were prone to errors. As a leader in pervasive simulation, Ansys seeks to provide solutions to alleviate modelling challenges and expediate revolutionary optical design.

This session will explore innovative interoperability workflows between Ansys Lumerical and Zemax OpticStudio that enable engineers to efficiently design macroscopic optical systems with nano-scale elements. We will discuss the capabilities, advantages, and the latest improvements of these cross-product workflows

Stray Light Analysis and Image Quality Evaluation of Camera Systems Using Ansys Optics - Berta Bernad, Ansys

Stray light analysis is crucial to mitigate the contribution from unwanted light and addressing image quality issues in high-quality optical systems. Traditional simulation approaches to analyse stray light can be time-consuming. It is also important to evaluate the contribution of stray light within the final application environment.

This session will show how you can evaluate the image quality of a camera system with an acceptable simulation time considering the impact of stray light coming from reflections on lens, mechanical components and imager for a cellphone camera in a landscape with sunlight.

We will also highlight the seamless integration between simulation tools and simulation efficiency leveraging GPU computation and converging method.