Designs for imaging systems to explore distant worlds and aid abdominal surgery are among the winning entries in an annual student contest sponsored by Synopsys Inc. The annual Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition recognizes North American students working toward a degree who submit optical design papers using Synopsys' Code V or LightTools software. Stephanie Guzman, Travis Sawyer, Nicholas Lyons and Fabian Wildenstein, all of the University of Arizona, won for their paper, "Methane Submersed High-Resolution Imager." The paper describes a camera system designed to produce high-resolution images of the Kraken Mare seafloor on Titan, Saturn's largest moon. The system incorporates a high-resolution camera, CCD chip and illumination system. Yi Qin, also of the University of Arizona, won for his paper, "Design of a Multiresolution Foveated Laparoscope." Qin developed a laparoscope design capable of providing both wide-angle and high-resolution views during surgery, with the goal of improving the field of view to make laparoscopic surgeries safer and more efficient. Jacob Reimers of the University of Rochester won the award for his paper, "Compact Offner-Chrisp Imaging Spectrometer using Freeform Surfaces." The paper describes the use of freeform optics to create a compact spectrometer that meets stringent size and weight requirements for aerospace and airborne optical systems. Scott Paine of the University of Rochester won for his paper, "A View from the Top: Design of a Wide Field of View Climbing Camera." Paine designed a digital video camera with a large field of view specifically for rock climbing. The camera can be attached to a belay rope to provide a close view of climbers' movements over a wide area. The competition was established in 2000 by Optical Research Associates (ORA), now Synopsys' Optical Solutions Group, and was named in honor of Robert S. Hilbert, ORA's former president and CEO. Hilbert oversaw development of new optical products from concept through early production, including contributions to new concepts and designs for optical systems such as visible, IR and UV sensors, the optical design of a broad variety of fabricated optics such as a wide-angle projection lens for 35 mm slides a star tracker objective, a Raman spectrograph relay lens, and more.