One-Stop Resources for Photonics Engineering
OPS was founded in 2019 to market high-power short-pulse solid-state and fiber lasers for industrial and defense applications. In 2021 they teamed with researchers at UCF for commercialization of their photonic research. In 2024, OPS has made the decision to transition to full focus on development of photonic systems for commercial and DOD applications.
Meet Our Team
Management
Walter Tucker, Managing Partner and PI
Mr. Tucker has nearly 40 years of experience in R&D and systems development. He has led projects at companies like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and Parker Hannifin. His expertise includes directed energy infrared countermeasures, electro-optic targeting systems, semiconductor wafer inspection, and active vibration control for helicopters. Starting as a physicist in laser technology R&D, he transitioned to broader electro-optic technology and systems engineering roles, covering algorithm development, automation, optical design, and system qualification. Mr. Tucker earned an S.B. in Physics from MIT and furthered his studies in lasers and systems at MIT and Washington University. He is an INCOSE Certified Systems Engineering Professional.
Patrick R. McNair, CPA
Pat has over 35 years of financial experience and has spent the last eighteen years working with numerous seed stage and emerging technology companies. He has broad experience working with venture capital backed technology companies, previously serving as CFO of Pentaho Corporation, an open-source analytics startup (sold to Hitachi Data for $525 million) as well as Mesh Networks Inc., a venture backed wireless startup that was sold to Motorola for $211 million. Pat began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co. and earned his Bachelors and Masters in Accounting from the University of Georgia. He is a CPA and CMA (inactive) and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Dr. Young Kwon, Emeritus member
Dr. Young Kwon is a founder of Omega Photonics Systems. Before starting Omega Photonics Systems in 2019, he has been working for Powerlase in Crawley, UK as Managing Director and CTO from 2010 to 2019, and for Northrop Grumman in FL, USA before joining Powerlase. He has been working in the laser industry for over 30 years for industrial, medical, and defense companies, on the development of high-power pulsed fiber lasers, solid-state lasers, beam combining, beam delivery and beam shaping optics, non-invasive cancer detection, eye surgery, LIDAR, and application of high-power laser systems. He received Ph.D. from the University of Colorado in Boulder, published more than 30 papers, and has been active in international laser, photonics, and material processing conferences.