Optics is an enabler of many scientific and engineering disciplines, providing an essential tool for high-precision tests of fundamental physical laws, modern communication and imaging systems, and biomedical and manufacturing technologies, to name a few important application areas. Its pre-eminence as an interdisciplinary science has been unrivaled since the advent of the laser nearly 40 years ago. The Optical Science and Engineering (OSE) program at UNM has clearly demonstrated added value to the activities of the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and Physics and Astronomy, (P&A) departments over the past 25 years which is a testament to its broad compass and the recognition by UNM of OSE's unique position in the state's industrial enterprise, including the national and federal laboratories and burgeoning private sector.