Applied Physics Optics Laboratories


Generous donations of equipment and funding from General Motors Crop, the GM Technical Center, the Industrial Technology Institute of Michigan, and others have provided Kettering University with outstanding laboratory facilities in the field of Applied Optics. Our students have the opportunity to work with optical equipment and systems that are not available at most other undergraduate institutions.   Below is a brief description and photo of some of those laboratory facilities.

Holography Laboratory

Holography Laboratory

The Holography laboratory contains two complete systems for recording holograms on photographic and thermoplastic plates. Equipment includes two 4'x8' optical tables, helium and argon lasers, a thermoplastic holocamera, and a large assortment of beam splitters, large lenses, mirrors, pinhole filters, microscope objectives, and other optical equipment. Over the past twenty years, faculty and staff have consulted for the automotive industry to analyze the vibration and deformation of a wide range of prototype parts including transmission cases, engine cylinder heads, fan blades, and pressure sensors. Some more recent student/faculty projects include using holographic interferometry to study standing sound waves in a resonance tube, vibration of car door panels, golf club heads, and musical instruments.
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High Power CO2 Laser Laboratory

High Power CO2 Laser Laboratory

This laboratory houses a 3000 W carbon dioxide laser system used for laser welding, cutting and surface modification. In addition to its use for experiments and projects accompanying the industrial lasers course, this facility has been used for numerous consulting projects including welding and heat treating parts for the automotive industry.
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Industrial Optics Laboratory

Industrial Optics Laboratory

This laboratory is primarily used for basic optics and computer vision experiments and demonstrations. In addition, the laboratory is used for advanced student projects and continuing education courses in Lighting Engineering for Machine Vision. An extremely wide range of optical components and mounts are available for constructing optical systems on two 4'x10' optical tables and two additional 4'x4' tables. A number of different interferometers and low-power laser systems designed for industrial use are available for students and faculty to demonstrate optical measurement techniques. Special equipment is available to study illumination techniques which enable high quality images to be analyzed using computer vision systems.

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