Indiana University’s optical lab gives students the opportunity to make glasses while also giving back to the community.
Open since 1979, the lab allows students to make prescription glasses in as little as 45 minutes, based on orders from the Atwater Eye Care Center on campus and the Indianapolis Eye Care Center.
Sharon Marsh has worked in the lab since 1983 after getting her associate degree in optometric technology and opticianry from IU. She trains students in the lab, who make about 75 pairs of glasses throughout an eight-week course.
“They [each] edge anywhere from five to six pair of complete glasses,” she said, “and learn the optics, the theory, the calculations behind what it takes to make a correct RX, according to the specifications that a doctor would order.”
The lab receives about 15 orders a day. Students get the order electronically, measure and cut the lens shape in accordance with the frame and prescription and put the glasses together.
“Hardly any two pairs of glasses are alike,” Marsh said.
Aside from making prescription glasses that go back to the eye care centers, Marsh said students make readers and sunglasses that they then donate to various community organizations such as the public library. They also donate glasses to the New Leaf New Life organization in Bloomington and VOSH/International program, which provides glasses to children in Jamaica.
“That's important to us, that people are getting a pair of glasses that help them function through a normal day,” she said. “There's a lot of people that when they wake up in the morning, that's the first thing they have to do, is put on their glasses…and so it just is important to us to think that this is really helping people get the best vision they can.”
Hannah Jordan, a second-year graduate student in IU’s optometry doctoral program, has been working in the lab three days a week since last summer. She enjoys learning about how optics come into play when making glasses. Working behind the scenes to make glasses has helped her understand the logistics and be able to convey that information to future patients.
“It'll help me better be able to communicate that and make sure that they're getting the best materials in those lenses for their best vision,” she said, “and also just knowing little adjustments that can make a huge difference with their prescription.”
