Course of optical design
I propose to my clients the course "Design imaging systems in visible range using ANSYS-ZEMAX-OpticStudio". You can learn the course at any time, from any location, and at your own pace. The course is primarily designed for beginners, but can also be used by students who already have some initial knowledge of imaging system design. The course is based on reading specific chapters from various PDF references and practical lessons under my instruction via email and ZOOM/Team. The practical lessons (examples of optical designs) are explained well in the main book of the course. So you can try to learn them yourself. I will provide personal training that includes answering questions, support optimization, writing of merit function, ghost image analysis, tolerance analysis, and optimization with tolerances. Please find the agreement in the link below.
The syllabus of the course can be found in the link below.
The course is based on books and articles that I have read. You can see examples of my optical designs and my experience on my website. I can provide you with the list of people who can recommend me. The cost of the syllabus with all references is 400 USD. The syllabus includes the number of pages in the references. If you have questions, I can help you for the fee of 80 USD/hour. You can ask your employer to participate in the expenses for the course. A group of students will obtain discount. The version ANSYS-ZEMAX-OpticStudio Pro should be used. See the capabilities of the version in the link below. If you do not have experience of usage the program, you can take a free trial of the program for 30 days. See the link below.
Free trial of ANSYS-ZEMAX-OpticStudio
You can contact ANSYS and request a loan of ANSYS-ZEMAX-OpticStudio Pro for a short period. See the link below. There is a free student version of the program, which comes with serious limitations and can be loaned for 12 months. See the link below. For example, Hammer optimization can be used for only 1 minute. No more than 4 CPUs are available for computation. To optimize a design, sometimes a few hours of Hammer optimization is required at 64 CPUs. I suggest that students start to learn the course with the student version and then take the free trial.
Free student ANSYS-ZEMAX-OpticStudio
The cost of loaning ANSYS-ZEMAX-OpticStudio Pro for a year in Israel is 7,570 USD. This information was obtained in August 2025. I suggest clarifying the cost in your country. So, if you can not loan the program, I suggest putting an announcement in LinkedIn groups related to ZEMAX and Optical design. Write that you are ready to buy the Professional version of ZEMAX-OpticStudio released in 2017 or 2018. This version is permanent. No need to pay for a loan or support. There are no significant differences between the versions and the current version of ANSYS-ZEMAX-OpticStudio Pro if you design an imaging system based on CMOS. If a group of students in Israel is interested in taking the course, they can loan the program for a reduced cost. Please contact the Israeli marketing specialist of ANSYS Yarden Shva yarden.shva@ansys.com. You can find below four articles that are used in the course.
A short explanation of aberration theory.
A practical tutorial for generating a lens drawing.
There are many other courses, but it is important to provide the articles describing your designs to potential employers. I will help you to complete the designs and write the articles.
I have found an interesting book "Design optics using ZEMAX OpticStudio" written by Donald C O'Shea and Julie L Bentley in 2024. I do not use it, because the book in my course provides a more comprehensive explanation to the process of writing merit function, optimization, and has well explained examples of designs. It is also well written. I read other books, but have not found a better book. It was written more than 20 years ago, so I added to the course articles from ZEMAX knowledgebase that presents the newest capabilities of the program like MTF contrast optimization and straight light analysis. All capabilities mentioned in the book are still used in ANSYS-ZEMAX-OpticStudio. I also added the articles that explain better an aberration theory, a short introduction to optomechanical design, the tutorial for generating lens drawing, the article explaining the importance of matching resolutions of objective and sensor, how to take into account tolerances in optimization, and a ghost image analysis. In addition, I added to the course a short introduction to production of lenses, how AR coating works, essential information about CMOS sensors, and general description of optical design process.