Damon Diehl, founder and owner of Diehl Research Grant Services and technical writer for Launch Team Inc. optics marketing company, will present two courses at the 2016 SPIE Optics + Photonics conference this month. The first course, titled “The Very Least You Need to Know About Optics,” introduces nonengineers, particularly sales professionals, to the central principles of optics. Focusing on visual examples rather than mathematics, the course teaches the concepts of optical reflection, refraction and diffraction. It also serves as an introduction to the workings of essential optical elements such as lenses, mirrors and prisms. “This crash course will give sales professionals the tools they need to understand most technical optical presentations,” Diehl said. “With the basics in hand, they will be well-positioned to study more specialized topics related to the industries they serve.” Diehl will present the optics course on Monday, Aug. 29, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. A second course, “Critical Skills for Compelling Research Proposals,” addresses “proposal phobia.” Students learn to harness the enthusiasm for their research to construct a strong proposal from the inside out. Diehl will present the proposal course on Wednesday, Aug. 31, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Diehl received his Ph.D. in optical engineering from the University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics and a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Chicago. He holds 20 years of research experience. Diehl recently served as academic coordinator for the “reboot” of the Optical Systems Technology program at Monroe Community College in Rochester, N.Y.— the oldest program of its type in the United States.