Contact:	Sudhakar Prasad, 277-5876 Jason Gil Bear, 277-5813
June 4, 2002 MASTER OF SCIENCE IN OPTICAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING DEGREE PROGRAM OFFERED AT UNM THIS FALL The fall semester at UNM will have a new master's degree program in the Optical Science and Engineering department. The program begins Aug. 19. It is a cross-disciplinary graduate degree program that, like the Ph.D program in optical sciences, will be administered by the departments of Physics and Astronomy and Electrical and Computer Engineering. Sudhakar Prasad, director for advanced studies and professor of physics and astronomy at UNM, said the new program underwent a lengthy approval process both internally at UNM and externally at the state level. "The rather broad requirements for this degree, covering the range from optical science to photonic engineering, will prepare successful graduates to meet the growing national challenge for broadly trained industrial and technical personnel in this field," Prasad said. Students can chose from three areas of study to pursue their degree: thesis based, course based or internship based. "An important new element of the degree is the industrial internship option under its course based plan. Students will be able to pursue a six to 12 month internship program either at an optics industry or at a government laboratory by prior arrangement," Prasad said. "The more standard thesis and course based options will also be available for students wishing to pursue a more traditional route, and the degree is designed to articulate well with our Ph.D degree in optical sciences with which it shares some requirements." For more information about the new degree program, visit the Physics and Astronomy website at: http://www.optics.unm.edu. ###

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