Optech

Optech Incorporated
Private
Industry Laser Surveying, Lidar
Founded 1974
Headquarters Vaughan, Ontario, Canada
Key people

Allan Carswell (Founder)

Donald Carswell (President)
Website Optech Incorporated home page

Optech Incorporated is a Canadian-owned for-profit company operating since 1974 and focusing on Laser-based survey systems.

Optech Inc is known for its association with Phoenix, a spacecraft launched for Mars in 2007.

The company

The company is active in the markets of airborne laser terrain mapping systems, airborne laser bathymetry, industrial and 3D imaging, and space lidar solutions.

Optech's founder is Allan Carswell, who in 2006 received the John H. Chapman Award of Excellence by the Canadian Space Agency.[1]

Robert D. Richards, Optech's former Space Division director, received an honorary doctorate (Doctor of Space Achievement honoris causa) from the International Space University which he co-founded with Peter Diamandis and Todd Hawley in 1987.[2]

The company is described as a world leader in laser-based survey instruments[3] and has 33 years of experience in lidars. Optech Incorporated created the world's first purpose-built mobile lidar platform, the Lynx Mobile Mapper, released in 2007.

In April 2012, Teledyne Technologies announced an increase in ownership of Optech by its subsidiary, Teledyne Dalsa, to a majority stake of 51%.[4]

Association with Phoenix

The company designed the lidar (laser radar) of the Meteorological Station Lidar Sensor (MET) on the Phoenix Mars lander.[5][6] The lidar was built in collaboration with MDA Space Missions, Canadian Space Agency, and scientists from Canada and United States.[7]

Dr Carswell was also the originating Canadian Principal Investigator for the Phoenix mission.[3]

Other projects

Optech, in association with MDA, also provided the lidar sensors of the United States Air Force's XSS-11 mission.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Optech's Founder, Dr. Allan Carswell, honored with the John H. Chapman Award of Excellence by the Canadian Space Agency" (Press release). Toronto, Ontario: Optech Incorporated. 25 May 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  2. ↑ "Optech Space Division Director receives Honourary [sic] Doctorate" (Press release). Toronto, Ontario: Optech Incorporated. 2005-08-29. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  3. 1 2 3 "Partners in the Phoenix Mission". Canadian Space Agency. 2008-05-14.
  4. ↑ "PRESS RELEASE: Teledyne Increases Ownership Stake in Optech". Teledyne DALSA Inc. 2012-04-03.
  5. ↑ "Flight Hardware". Optech Incorporated. 2006. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  6. ↑ "Mars mission a giant leap for York's space scientists". Y-File, York University's News Source. York University. 2003-08-06.
  7. ↑ Optech (2007-07-31). "Optech Plays Key Role in NASA's Phoenix Mars Mission". Vaughan, Ontario: GISuser.com. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
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