Optimesa: Optical Engineering and Product Development

Optimesa principal Bruce O'Connor has 35+ years industry experience in the field of optics, building a wealth of knowledge in engineering, management, and production. Working in Fortune 500 and start-up companies, he learned and applied best practices over a range of market sectors. "Thinking back over the past three decades, I feel fortunate to be a part of the optics community and contribute to the progression of technology."

Noteworthy achievements in the practical realization of these technologies include:

• Lasercom terminal development, design, modeling, and AI&T for numerous programs (US Patent 11,646,792 B2), (US Patent 11,444,691 B2), (US Patent 20260043678 A1)
• Lead optical designer of Laser Weapon System Demonstrator (LWSD) spectral beam combiner. Successful testing on USS Portland
• Optical design and analysis of many SWIR, MWIR, and LWIR systems
• Vibration insensitive Fizeau interferometers and simultaneous phase shifting engines
• Airborne laser radar systems utilizing holographic optical scanners (US Patent 5,471,326)
• Applications of photorefractive materials and processes for external cavity IR lasers and narrow band filters (US Patent 5,796,096)
• Telecom WDM, variable optical attenuators, and wavelength lockers
• Wafer inspection system manufacturing launch
• Fiber grating production systems

Bruce was a key contributor at telecommunications start-ups Chorum Technologies and Arroyo Optics (now Kotura) where he lead teams in the development and manufacturing of fiber optic components. He held senior engineering positions at Northrop Grumman designing satellite sensor payloads and at KLA-Tencor manufacturing automated optical wafer inspection equipment. Bruce has an MS in Optical Sciences and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Arizona. Please visit Bruce'sfor more details.