Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition

Students can enter an optical design class assignment or thesis work. Awards totaling $20,000 are granted.

To be eligible, you must be currently enrolled in a post-secondary degree program in North America, working toward a bachelor's, master's, or Ph.D.

Your work must have been completed using CODE V, LightTools, ImSym, LucidShape, or RSoft Photonic Device Tools software, and demonstrate knowledge of optics, optical engineering, and optical design software. All entries completed and turned in to your professor during the current school year are eligible.

A group of students may submit one entry if the project was co authored.

Please note that past winners are not eligible.

Entries should be received by the end of the day on June 15, 2026 via email.

Download our entry form, a PDF that can be viewed, filled in, and printed using Acrobat Reader. If you don't have a copy of Acrobat Reader, visit the Adobe website for a free download.

• Project/paper may be submitted "as is." No special format is required.
• For project reports that exceed 10 pages in length, please submit a short synopsis of your project of no more than 10 pages. Any figures included in the synopsis should be identical to those in the original project report.
• Project/paper is to be submitted electronically. Please email your entry form, paper, and supporting files to [email protected]. You will receive an email acknowledgement once your entry is received.
• Professor signature required. Use the designated space on the entry form, or have the professor confirm your student status via email to [email protected].
• Additional CODE V, LightTools, ImSym, LucidShape, or RSoft Photonic Device Tools output and explanations of how our software was used in the project/paper is required, if not part of the original paper. This additional information is optional if the software use is already explained in the paper.
• If submission file sizes are larger than 10 MB, please e-mail us at [email protected] for instructions on uploading your large files. E-mails with large file attachments may not transmit successfully through e-mail.
• Keysight employees are ineligible.

• Relative to student's degree and course work
• Level of CODE V, LightTools, ImSym, LucidShape, or RSoft Photonic Device Tools, software use in paper/project
• How well paper/project conforms to course/project assignment definition
• Innovative use of our software

• The competition is limited to students attending North American universities and colleges.
• Past winners of this competition are not eligible.
• Decision of judges is final.
• Papers will not be returned or critiqued.
• Keysight has the right to publish the winner's name, university, and CODE V, LightTools, ImSym, LucidShape, or RSoft Photonic Device Tools images from winning papers for promotional purposes.
• Keysight also has the right to use CODE V, LightTools, ImSym, LucidShape, or RSoft Photonic Device Tools models submitted by students for training or promotional purposes.
• Keysight employees are ineligible.

Winners will be contacted directly by email and/or phone by July 31. Winners will also be announced on our website and social media channels (Facebook, X, and LinkedIn).

A list of winners will be posted on our web page by mid-August.

No hardware will be accepted. Written papers and projects only.

No special format is required for submittal. Students should follow the format specifications given by their professors for course assignment/project.

Note: For project reports that exceed 10 pages in length, please submit a short synopsis of your project of no more than 10 pages. Any figures included in the synopsis should be identical to those in the original project report.