astronomy

Kevin Rolland Thompson

Kevin Rolland Thompson is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kevin Rolland Thompson rather than just read about it. In short: Kevin Rolland Thompson (1954 – 2015) was the Group Director, Research and Development/Optics at Synopsys, Inc. His work contributed to developments in nanolithography, astrophysics and the advancement of optics Early life Kevin Thompson was born in the suburbs of Minneapolis, in Edina.

Key takeaways

Kevin Rolland Thompson belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kevin Rolland Thompson to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kevin Rolland Thompson from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kevin Rolland Thompson (1954 – 2015) was the Group Director, Research and Development/Optics at Synopsys, Inc. His work contributed to developments in nanolithography, astrophysics and the advancement of optics

Early life Kevin Thompson was born in the suburbs of Minneapolis, in Edina. He graduated from Edina High School in 1972. In 1976 he received B.S. degrees in physics and astrophysics from the University of Minnesota. He received a Ph.D. for his work "Aberration fields in tilted and decentered optical systems", from the College of Optical Sciences with Roland Shack in 1980. His work on aberration of rotationally nonsymmetrical optical systems laid out initially on his thesis has been described as significant. The theory to treat these systems was called "Nodal Aberration Theory" (NAT).

Later career He worked at Perkin-Elmer Corporation for 10 years as an optical designer in microlithography applications and advanced systems for ground- and space-based remote sensing. He subsequently worked at Optical Research Associates for nearly 25 years, where he was vice president of optical engineering services. The company was acquired by Synopsys in 2010. At Synopsys he was group director of R&D in optics. At that time he was also a visiting scientist at the University of Rochester Institute of Optics. He was involved with optics projects with multiple companies over a 25-year period. Highlights of his career include working on the null lens designs for the Hubble 1st Servicing Mission and optical modeling and analysis for the first generation EUV illuminator for lithography at 13nm node.

Personal life Kevin Thompson was married to Jannick Rolland (Professor of Optical Engineering) at the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester and CTO of LighTopTech) He was a collector of historical books on optics.

Posthumous The Optical Society established an annual award in 2017. It is named Kevin P. Thompson Optical Design Innovator Award. The aim of the award is the following "Recognizes significant contributions to lens design, optical engineering, or metrology by an individual as evidenced by one or more of the following: innovative and rigorous research; optical system design with a foundation in aberration theory; development of advanced metrology capabilities; product development; patents; or publications."

Honors and awards SPIE A.E. Conrady Award in Optical Engineering, 2013 Alumnus of the Year of the College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona, 2015

References

External links blog Idle Diffractions. Musings on the past, present, and future of optics by Dr. Kevin P. Thomson Kevin Rolland Thompson publications indexed by Google Scholar

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kevin Rolland Thompson

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kevin Rolland Thompson claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kevin Rolland Thompson before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kevin Rolland Thompson ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kevin Rolland Thompson

In research: Kevin Rolland Thompson appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kevin Rolland Thompson in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kevin Rolland Thompson is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1954 births, 2015 deaths, American physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kevin Rolland Thompson outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Kevin Rolland Thompson in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kevin Rolland Thompson means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kevin Rolland Thompson out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kevin Rolland Thompson in simple terms?

Why does Kevin Rolland Thompson matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kevin Rolland Thompson?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kevin Rolland Thompson.