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So I was curious about what principle used to manufacture corrective eyeglasses. Of course it uses physics, especially optics. But what engineer branch or degree is needed to manufacture it? I searched and a source says it's optical engineering for making the lens. But I never heard of it before because in my univ. there isn't an optical engineering major, so I guess it's a spesific study at one of a major. But what major is it? I think it's not mechanical engineering because mechanical usually deals with fluids and thermodynamics. But I think mechanical engineering is still used in making the machines that used to create the lens alongside electrical engineering as lens shape has to be precise, but I still want to make sure.

Hafiz
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  • The engineering that touches closest the general principles is electrical engineering which includes photonics which includes things like optics, lasers, refraction, and diffraction. But applied physics is a far better fit. But the materials required to do the work is materials sciences or materials engineering. It's not mechanical. The mechanical guys will just give you the machines that you say you need. – DKNguyen Jan 23 '22 at 04:47
  • So your university does not do the course, have you checked for ither universities that do? – Solar Mike Jan 23 '22 at 07:08
  • To tack on to @DKNguyen comment I would add Engineering Physics. – Forward Ed Jun 22 '22 at 20:54
  • "*I think it's not mechanical engineering because mechanical usually deals with fluids and thermodynamics ...*" and automotive, machine design, marine, aeronautical, ... – Transistor Jun 22 '22 at 22:16
  • Should have gone to Specsavers... – Solar Mike Oct 20 '22 at 19:08

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This would be the engineering branch called materials science.

The hard part of lens grinding is not applying the laws of optics to the manufacture of a lens- it's choosing which material to use, knowing what the different manufacturing processes are for lenses of different types and then picking the one appropriate for the chosen material, knowing how to schedule the machine time given the production rate of each machine type and the number of articles to make, where to obtain the raw material and test it for the correct properties, and what to do if the material fails during manufacture on the factory floor or misses its specifications when tested in the QA department, and so on.

A materials engineer would be best-prepared in engineering school to deal with that stuff in the most economical way possible.

niels nielsen
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  • You know they are desperate for optical materials when they use blocks of salt. In The Martian they should have had Mark Watney break down a salt lens to season his food when he ran out of condiments before breaking out the Vicodin. – DKNguyen Jan 23 '22 at 20:45
  • @DKNguyen salt is good for lenses in the IR spectrum like the output of a CO2 laser – jsotola Jan 24 '22 at 06:18
  • @jsotola Good in the IR spectrum but really mechanically fragile and environmental susceptable. That's what I mean. If they had to make a mechanical compromise like that it means they are desperate for materials in the sense anything more durable performs terribly or is way too expensive. – DKNguyen Jan 24 '22 at 22:37