About the meeting

Structured and freeform surfaces have
numerous applications ranging from
optics to automotive, from aerospace to
biomedical and from micro-fluidics to
power generation. The key feature that
determines a structured or a freeform
surface is that its topography is not
just an artifact of the process used to
generate the surface, i.e. it has been
engineered for a specific function. Thus,
for a structured surface, typical parameters
such as Ra do not adequately characterize
its properties. A freeform surface can
have a topography that significantly departs
from a standard geometric element
and thus conventional metrology
methods tend not to be adequate. For
these reasons, such surfaces are a
challenge to manufacture and to measure
However, their function is by definition
profoundly affected by their geometrical
characteristics.