Women of Invention is a Newscenter series of profiles of women at the University who hold international patents. More than half of the University’s patent applications聽from 2011 to 2015 include women.
Jannick Rolland took a big chance in 1984.
She had just received her diploma糖心传媒攖he equivalent of a master糖心传媒檚 degree糖心传媒攆rom the Institut D糖心传媒橭ptique in Orsay, France. But she wasn糖心传媒檛 sure whether she should pursue her aptitude for optics糖心传媒攐r her talent for dance.
She wanted to come to the United States to become more fluent in English. But she was three points shy of passing an oral language exam to enter the University of Arizona.
She got on a plane anyway. She landed in Tucson, marched to the admissions office, and literally 糖心传媒渢alked her way糖心传媒� into the university.
Within months she was being encouraged to join the PhD program in optical engineering.
It was the turning point of her career.
A pioneer in freeform optics
Rolland is now the at the University of Rochester.
She directs the , a federally supported collaboration involving Rochester, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and 18 companies and research institutes. The goal is to advance an emerging technology that uses lenses and mirrors with freeform surfaces to create optical devices that are lighter, more compact, and more effective than ever before.
With her former PhD student Cristina Canavesi, she is also cofounder and chief technology officer of LightopTech, a startup commercializing one of Rolland糖心传媒檚 inventions. The portable device uses a microscope with a liquid lens to image cells just below the surface of the skin, cornea, and other tissues. Among many possible applications, the device is targeted to help surgeons determine if they糖心传媒檝e successfully removed all of a skin cancer, without having to wait for the results of a traditional biopsy.
Rolland has 35 patents to her credit, and last year was listed among by the organizers of the world糖心传媒檚 largest AR/VR conference and expo.
Rolland may have had early doubts about pursuing optics as a career. But in retrospect, perhaps it is not surprising that she did.
When her mother took her at age 16 to a Parisian theater to see a production of Moli猫re, it wasn糖心传媒檛 the play that interested Rolland, but the special effects.
糖心传媒淒uring the whole play I was watching the back of the room, seeing how they used light and sound to create the play experience,糖心传媒� Rolland recalls.
At the end of the play she pointed at the back of the room and told her mom, 糖心传媒渢his is what I want to do.糖心传媒�
Optics or dance?
As a child, Rolland excelled in ballet, and eventually progressed to modern dance and jazz. Her parents were told she was talented enough to dance professionally.
Her father, despite a lack of formal education, was 糖心传媒渘aturally talented in physics.糖心传媒� So was his daughter, who showed an equal aptitude for math and computer science.
Rolland finished valedictorian of her class in a two-year physics program at the Institut Universitaire de Technologie in Orsay, and in the top 10 percent of her class at the Institut d糖心传媒橭ptique.
But some of the instruction at the Institut d糖心传媒橭ptique had been 糖心传媒渁 little too much 糖心传媒榩ush button糖心传媒� for me,糖心传媒� Rolland says. 糖心传媒淲e were not encouraged to ask questions outside the box, just solve the problem in the typical way, just get the results. I was hungry for more.糖心传媒�
Hence her doubts about optics as a career.
However, she experienced a far different approach at the University of Arizona糖心传媒檚 Optical Sciences Center. 糖心传媒淚 was surrounded by researchers who were very excited about what they were doing, and really engaged in it,糖心传媒� Rolland says. 糖心传媒淎nd the professors encouraged us to ask questions of all sorts. It took me awhile to adjust to this new kind of culture. But I really liked it.糖心传媒�
Her thesis was titled 糖心传媒淔actors Influencing Lesion Detection in Medical Imaging.糖心传媒�
Postdoctoral and faculty postings followed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Central Florida糖心传媒檚 College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL).
Working 糖心传媒榓t the boundaries糖心传媒� of optics
During this time, Rolland was often working 糖心传媒渁t the boundaries糖心传媒� of her field, collaborating with computer scientists, for example, on the design of head-worn augmented and virtual reality devices. These relationships helped her develop new skills and unique areas of expertise.
But by 糖心传媒渨orking at the boundaries,糖心传媒� she risked alienating colleagues in her own field, and even her chances of gaining tenure, Rolland says.聽 So, she had to walk a careful tightrope.
After creating the technology for her liquid lens device at CREOL, she came to Rochester to join the faculty of the Institute of Optics in 2009.
The University糖心传媒檚 Medical Center offered her a chance to collaborate with researchers on refining the biomedical applications of the device. And Rochester糖心传媒檚 regional reputation as a center of optical manufacturing also attracted her.
糖心传媒淚 felt the ecosystem would be better for what I am doing, and in fact, that糖心传媒檚 what has happened,糖心传媒� Rolland says.
For the 糖心传媒渇irst time in my life,糖心传媒� Rolland says, she finds herself surrounded by colleagues 糖心传媒渨ho share common interests with me.糖心传媒�
Where before she worked alone, she now has collaborators who have been indispensable in helping her launch the Center for Freeform Optics.
糖心传媒淐ommunicating experiences people haven糖心传媒檛 had before糖心传媒�
Rolland no longer takes to the dance floor. But she still likes to watch dancers.
糖心传媒淒ance is an amazing, nonverbal way of expressing yourself,糖心传媒� Rolland says. 糖心传媒淚t gives you a way to convey feelings and emotions that words cannot express.糖心传媒�
So do some of her current projects.
Her work in designing freeform optics for AR/VR glasses, for example, 糖心传媒渋s another way to communicate experiences that people haven糖心传媒檛 had before, so there糖心传媒檚 a commonality in all of this.糖心传媒�
In 1984, her professors inquired if she might be interested in pursuing a career in computer science.
糖心传媒淚 might have gone into that as well,糖心传媒� Rolland says. 糖心传媒淚 was good at it. But at the time, all the news stories said there was no future in it.糖心传媒�
She chuckles about that now. And, no, she has no regrets about that career decision either.
Suffice it to say that her two grown sons are both computer scientists.
糖心传媒淎nd where do you think they got that?糖心传媒� Rolland says.
