EECS 800
Seminar in Optical Science & Engineering
The University of Michigan
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT THIS COURSE

Q1. Who is the instructor?
A. Dr. Steve Rand, Professor of Physics, Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. See also faculty listing at www.eecs.umich.edu, research links on the course homepage or the website for the Nonlinear and Ultrafast Laser Spectroscopy Laboratory.

Q2. How can I find out or check whether a meeting is scheduled for a particular day, and what the activity (tour, seminar, etc.) will be?
A.  Check the EECS 800 course website calendar link (or go directly to Calendar of Events on the AAOSA website) for up-to-date announcements less than a week before the anticipated event, listed under "Calendar of events" and "Next Monthly Public Meeting".  See also question Q4 below.

Q3.  What are your office hours and where is your office?
A. Information on the cognizant faculty member for this course is under the Instructor Link.  There are no official office hours for this course.  However, because it is a general interest seminar covering a wide range of subjects, you are welcome to "catch" me for discussions on any topic, any time.

Q4. When and where are the seminars held?
A.  Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. once a month (generally the second Tuesday of each month), in EECS 1200 unless otherwise posted on the AAOSA site.  Special activity and tour times may differ.  Students please note:  Check the AAOSA site a few days before any event to confirm timing/arrangements.  There are often last minute changers in speakers, occasionally last minute changes in time/place. For some tours citizenship information may be required ahead of time or upon arrival, but is not expected to affect right of entry to facilities the Optical Society arranges to tour.

Q5. Is there a course TA (teaching assistant) or grader?
A. No on both counts.  There is only a cognizant faculty member providing UM/OSA liaison.

Q5. How will my grade in EECS 800 be determined?
A. 100% attendance is mandatory since the number of times we meet is very limited and the evening seminar does not conflict with any classes.  For a satisfactory grade, each student must not only attend all scheduled seminars (including the tour in fall or industrial snapshot night in winter term), but must submit a satisfactory report.  The report is a typed, 1-page write-up summarizing one of the semester's seminars.  Reports must be submitted to the cognizant faculty member on or before the last day of classes.

Q6. What will constitute an acceptable report?
A. For all students the course report is a single-spaced, 1-page document (Times New Roman preferred; font size 12) describing one of the seminars given in the current semester in detail.  It will give the title, speaker and one line of information on the institution/business where the speaker works.  It will describe the general context of the talk - why people are interested in this topic.  It will give the general content of the talk - including main concept, which scientific community is primarily interested in it, what the main results are, and what current/future applications are foreseen?  Submit your report to the cognizant faculty member before the last day of classes at the University of Michigan.

Q7. What is EECS 800 all about?
A. The purpose of this course is to provide a broad-ranging, rather than highly specialized, seminar series for students (undergraduate and graduate), faculty and industrial researchers.  In addition, the informal atmosphere of this series permits students to meet top researchers, upcoming national OSA presidents, tour local optics-related industries and garner more career-related information than is normally possible through the activities of the home department.

Q8.  What are the examination dates?
A.  There is no examination in this course.  However reports are due on the last day of regular classes. See Q5 and Q6 above for course requirements.