Introduction to LightTools

An Online Short Course for Technical Professionals

Summer Training

July 12-14 and 19-21, 2021
9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. PDT
Online via Zoom

This 6 day online short course provides a detailed introduction to the use of LightTools for modeling and analyzing the interaction of light with opto-mechanical systems. It will assume some familiarity with optical concepts and terminology.

Introduction to Illumination Design using LightTools

You will learn to use all of the major features of LightTools including model creation, illumination simulation, and optimization. Hands-on use of LightTools forms the basis of the course.

The course will include how to:

Create an opto-mechanical system model within LightTools, with native geometry or imported from a CAD program
Use Optical Properties to define the interaction of light with smooth, scattering, and complex surfaces
Use Boolean operations to construct complex structures
Set up an illumination system, including multiple sources and multiple receivers
Understand, interpret, and manipulate the intensity and illuminance analyses
Improve system performance by using LightTools optimization with its various merit functions

Course Information

The course consists of six 3-hour sessions held Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays on two consecutive weeks. Classes begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 12:30 p.m. each day, with breaks at appropriate times. The course uses Zoom web conferencing.

Attendees are required to provide their own laptop with the latest version of LightTools installed. LightTools must be installed as a Windows program on the laptop. The user must have Administrator-level privileges on the laptop. For additional information, please see the LightTools hardware/operating system requirements. 

LightTools software must installed before attending the class. A download link to course materials will be provided prior to the class.

Please email lighttools_support@synopsys.com for help on setting up the laptop before the first day of class or to verify that you can access Zoom Meetings.

Registration Information

Who Should Attend?
Any engineer, designer, or scientist who wants to learn to use LightTools illumination design software for optical systems modeling and illumination analysis will benefit from this course. Though not required, some familiarity with optical engineering and CAD (concepts and terminology) is helpful.

Registration and Fees

The fee for this short course is $1,000, and the attendee must provide their own laptop.

Attendance is limited, though minimum enrollments must be met. Pre-registration with payment must be made at least three weeks before the start of the courses. The fee is refundable up to that point. (A $200 fee is charged for later cancellations.)

For all registration questions, please contact:

Synopsys OSG Training Registration
Phone: (626) 795-9101
E-mail: lighttools_support@synopsys.com

Course Instructors

Mary Kate Crawford, Ph.D. is a Systems Engineer/Technical Consultant in Customer Service. Dr. Crawford provides technical support for both LightTools and CODE V and has over 20 years optical design experience.

Mali Maliyagoda is a Senior Optical Engineer/Technical Consultant in Customer Service. Mr. Maliyagoda provides technical support for LightTools and has over 20 years experience in illumination design.

Craig Pansing is an Application Engineer with over 10 years of experience. He provides technical support for CODE V and LightTools.