1 - A short history of the Optics Group of the Willow Run Laboratories

Abstract

This chapter describes the short history of the optics group of the willow run laboratories. The chapter discusses the Radar Laboratory of the University of Michigan's Willow Run Laboratories, which has, throughout its history, performed work supported by the military, and for that reason its accomplishments have often been shrouded in secrecy. The Willow Run Laboratories separated from the University of Michigan in 1972 and became the not-for-profit corporation called environmental research institute of Michigan (ERIM). The personnel and organization of the Optics Group have undergone many changes and only a few of the early members still remain. However, the group is still identifiable as the descendant of that highly successful group. In the 1960s, while the Optics Group was busy making its innovations there was parallel activity conducted by A. Lohmann who functioned as a one man counterpart of the coherent Optics Group, busily applying communication concepts to optics, thereby developing holography and optical processing. The conditions, however, were different; it was a large group, extremely well funded, and with some very specific missions. The price paid for this enviable position was, at least until 1963, difficulty and long delays in publishing the work in the open literature. It is interesting to speculate on what might have been accomplished had Lohmann been a member of this group.