David Shafer: The 2024 SPIE Rudolf and Hilda Kingslake Award in Optical Design
When David Shafer was 15, he bought A. E. Conrady’s two volumes on optical design at the Cornell University bookstore. “I realize that visual optics, for me — a shy farm boy — represented a way to get very close to objects while still keeping my distance from them,” he told SPIE in 2005 as the newly minted recipient of the SPIE A.E. Conrady Award. “Later I went to college at the University of Rochester as one of five freshman optics majors at the Institute of Optics.” Today, Shafer’s career spans across five decades of work on optical design and optical-design methods, including designing photolithographic lenses for EUV and DUV systems, as well as optics for semiconductor process-control equipment. The EUV optical systems pioneered by Shafer are commercialized by ASML and are the most advanced projection systems to date. Most optical designers specialize in either photographic lens design, microscope design, or biomedical endoscopic applications, just to name a few examples. Shafer has worked on a variety of systems, from broadband microscopic optics and space-borne surveillance systems, to photolithographic lenses and semiconductor inspection optics. He’s even constructed observation systems for art exhibitions.
Shafer has accumulated nearly 200 patents from multiple countries, developed a substantial publishing record, and authored many presentations on topics ranging from optical design to general engineering problem-solving discussions. Prior to establishing himself as an independent designer, Shafer had key roles with Itek, Honeywell Electro-Optics Center, PerkinElmer, Zeiss, KLA, and Spectra-Tech. Over the years he’s been an invited speaker at SPIE conferences, as well as authoring SPIE journal papers and presentations. Among colleagues, he is also known for his extreme generosity and willingness to share his design knowledge.
“What makes Dave’s contributions to optical design so exhaustive and compelling are his insights,” says Photon Engineering President and SPIE Fellow Richard Pfisterer. “He has claimed that the human brain is the most powerful optical-design software and, combined with his unique understanding of aberration theory, he has taught us how to design with two optical surfaces, how to use aplanatic and concentric solves to find design approaches, how to use more negative lenses for better aberration correction, how to correct imagery with spherical mirrors, how to correct higher-order aberrations, and so on. His designs are both clever and straightforward, and oftentimes he describes his design process in such clarity that the reader can’t help but exclaim, ‘Why didn’t I think of that? It is so simple!’ Few optical designers have contributed as much to the field as Dave Shafer.”
Meet the other 2024 SPIE Society Award recipients.
Read more about David Shafer and the SPIE Rudolf and Hilda Kingslake Award in Optical Design.
