Call Kevin Hines today, and find out how to make your optical project a success.

Complete Optical, LLC

Telephone: 540-819-8020

www.CompleteOptical.com

KevinHines@aol.com

 

 

 

Complete Optical, LLC

 

Providing Optical Design Engineering,

Consulting & Contracting Services

 

Feasability Studies

Detailed Lens Design

Optical Engineering

Optical Product Development

 

Tap into the optical product development experience,

the optical design skills, the optical fabrication and testing know-how required

to make your next optical product a winner.

 

Initial Consultation is Free!

 

Customized Services:

 

Product Markets and Technologies:

Plus Lots More ... Call and ask.

 

 

Call Kevin Hines today, and find out how to make your optical project a success.

Complete Optical, LLC

Telephone: 540-819-8020

www.CompleteOptical.com

KevinHines@aol.com


Complete Optical Solutions

 

 www.CompleteOptical.com

Customized Solutions:

Lens Design

Imaging Systems

Military and Commercial Optical Systems

 

Contributed to the new product development efforts of

LOCKHEED-MARTIN, RAYTHEON / TEXAS INSTRUMENTS, LEICA,

ITT, MICROVISION, JOHNSON & JOHNSON, POLAROID...

 

Let’s make your optical project a success too!

 

Selected Project Highlights:

Design Infra-Red FLIR Optics
Designed complex night-vision, FLIR optics, with compound, 3-D angles, producing a lens design solution to a complex, previously unsolvable challenge, contributing to development of the $250,000,000 system.

 

Design FSO (Free Space Optics) Transmit and Receive Lens Systems

Successfully designed high performance, low-cost, secure, giga-bit laser communication link optics, significantly improving link margin by a factor of 18 dB.

 

Develop Diffractive Optical Elements (DOEs)
Piloted, tested and improved injection-molded diffractive lenses, enabling firm to launch $5,000,000 per year product.

 

Design and Build Fiber-Optic Coupling Systems
Designed and successfully built a cost-effective system to couple optical fibers to FTIR, significantly reducing insertion losses, boosting signal strength by a factor of eighty times.

 

Solve Stray-Light Issues
Eliminated stray-light paths in image intensified night vision goggles (NVGs), significantly reducing ghost images and veiling glare, contributing to manufacturer capturing 60% of market.

  

Create Unique New Products
Changed microscope component from metal to a glass-filled composite, significantly reducing both weight and cost while preserving performance, giving firm's product a unique selling advantage, increasing profits $400,000 per year.

 

Boost Manufacturing Process Yields
Project A: Improved optical element manufacturing yields (and therefore costs) as much as a twenty-five times improvement, boosting profits $200,000 per year.
Project B: Redesigned processes to improve optical assembly yield losses from 4.5% to 0.5%, a nine-times improvement, saving $150,000 per year.

 

Streamline QC Inspection Methods
Applied innovative approach using total internal reflection, to reduce inspector eyestrain and fatigue, virtually eliminating inspection errors.

 

 

Call Kevin Hines today, and find out how to make your optical project a success.

Complete Optical, LLC

Telephone: 540-819-8020

www.CompleteOptical.com

KevinHines@aol.com


 

KEVIN P. HINES

 

Providing Optical Design Engineering & Consulting Services

 

Complete Optical. LLC

Telephone: 540-819-8020

www.CompleteOptical.com

28 Winthrop Place

 

KevinHines@aol.com

Daleville, Virginia  24083

 

 

 

MISSION STATEMENT

Provide optical engineering services to clients;

Develop successful and superior optical products.

 

OPTICAL DESIGN ENGINEER

 

  • Designing and developing innovative, successful optical systems since 1986.
  • Designed Dual-FOV FLIR Optics for Lockheed Martin's multi-Billion-dollar JSF aircraft; staring array MWIR (midwave infrared) 3rd generation FLIR, providing superior target detection and identification at greatly increased standoff ranges, high-resolution imagery, automatic tracking, aerial reconnaissance, & IRST (infrared-search-and-track).
  • Designed the low light level and color TV path optics for the Future Combat Systems (FCS) ground vehicles, including for US Army unmanned vehicle.
  • Designed Modernized-PNVS (Pilotage Night Vision System) Thermal LWIR FLIR optics for the Apache helicopter, doubling the range at which targets can be engaged.
  • Designed Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) optics, designed the optics to scan and project three laser beams simultaneously into the user's eyes, thus providing full-color video.
  • Developed LADAR optics for laser scanning and navigation sensors for UAVs.
  • Designed complex FLIR optics for Lockheed Martin, with compound, 3-D angles, produced a lens design solution to a complex, previously unsolved challenge, contributing to contract award of the $250,000,000 system.
  • Secret Clearance, Active, Granted by US Department of Defense.

 

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

 

COMPLETE OPTICAL, LLC, Roanoke, Virginia

1998 – Present

Chief Engineer and Owner

Design, develop and implement solutions to optical engineering challenges faced by client organizations.

 

§         Filed patents with partner organizations, on new, innovative optical technologies.  Combined market value is approximately one billion dollars; current development investments are over two million dollars.

§         Designed complex night-vision, FLIR optics, with compound angles in 3-D, producing a lens design solution to a complex, previously unsolvable challenge, contributing to development of a 250-million dollar electro-optical targeting and designation system for the new Comanche helicopter.

§         Designed scanning and viewing optics for breakthrough Retinal Scanning Display (RSD) systems, scanning low-power laser beams directly onto the user’s retinas, providing full-color, full-motion video without the use of screens or external images, bright enough to be viewed in direct sunlight.  Designed optics to incorporated diffractive and micro-lens array technologies, to boost optical system performance.

§         Designed, built and delivered fiber optic coupling system, to interrogate a fiber optic sensor with a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer, successfully boosting signal strength by a factor of 80 times.  Delivered system on budget and ahead of schedule.

 

JOHNSON AND JOHNSON, Innotech Division, Roanoke, Virginia

1997 – 1998

Manager of Optical Engineering

Created and managed optical labs: Specified, procured and coordinated the setup of new optical labs; managed day-to-day activities of staff using optical labs; coordinated maintenance, calibration of equipment and training of lab staff members.

 

Measured and characterized optical products: Created a product measurement and performance database in Microsoft Access; incorporated both in-house and competitive products to obtain strategic advantage over our competitors.

   

§         Planned out two new optical labs from scratch, to develop in-house optical metrology capabilities.

§         Developed and improved model of theoretical limit of Progressive Add Lenses’ imaging performance, to streamline feasibility studies of new optical product designs.

§         Created plans for profilometry capabilities, to measure, characterize and qualify aspheric optical tooling.

 

LEICA, Optical Products Division, Buffalo, New York

1996 - 1997

Director of R & D Engineering

Directed the development of new optical products, coordinating efforts between R&D, marketing, design, prototyping, piloting and manufacturing.  Managed the fourteen-member R&D Department, with an annual budget of $2 million. Created new, precise, cost‑effective microscope and refractometer products.

 

§         Led development of innovative materials for microscopy markets, such as the fully conductive plastic microscope body for semiconductor applications and glass-composite materials to reduce weight and cost while maintaining crisp optical and mechanical performance.

§         Created empowered, cross-functional teams to oversee development projects, resulting in improved forecasting of resources required and delivery dates to complete projects. 

§         Coordinated the efforts of international engineering organizations in Germany, Switzerland, China and the USA.

 

 



POLAROID, Precision Optics, Norwood, Massachusetts

1992 - 1996

 

Senior Optical Engineer and Supervisor

Supervised laboratory staff and coordinated projects.  Predicted and improved manufacturing costs, yields and quality.  Worked with R&D to bring new optical products into manufacturing.  Directed quality control of precision, plastic optical elements, and assemblies at high production volumes (20‑50 million lenses per year). 

 

Prototyped, tested and improved optical imaging systems.  Optimized manufacturing processes for precision optical elements and assemblies.  Directed and worked with engineers, scientists, technicians, machine operators, and mechanical designers.  Created and analyzed Taguchi-method experiments to improve both products and processes.  Reported to the manager of new product development.

 

§         Piloted diffractive optical elements into volume manufacturing (10,000 units per year).

§         Led and participated in Business Improvement Teams that improved profitability and increased customer satisfaction.  Led a team that reduced contamination of view-finder assemblies from 4.5% to 0.5% (i.e. a nine-times improvement), earning personal visit and recognition from CEO of Polaroid.

§         Oversaw process improvement efforts with a Scottish subsidiary, resulting in improvements of up to 25-times improvement in the production yield of reticle lenses.

  

  

ITT, Electro-Optical Products Division, Roanoke, Virginia

1989 - 1991

 

Optical Systems Lead Engineer

Designed, prototyped, tested, improved, and implemented optical imaging systems into image intensified night vision products.  Optimized transmission, weight, cost, size, tolerance, stray‑light and boresight performance for both visible and near infra‑red wavebands.  Tested performance of optical components and night vision systems.  Created software models of optical systems' performance.  Coordinated setup of automated optical test equipment.  Directed the work of vendors, technicians and mechanical designers.  Managed laser safety within division.

 

§         Wrote portions of successful proposals, helping ITT to win majority of PVS-7B and ANVIS contracts.

§         Created and taught "Introduction to Optics" courses, improving the skills of both in‑house staff and customers.

 

 

RAYTHEON / TEXAS INSTRUMENTS, Dallas, Texas

1986 - 1989

 

Optical Design Engineer

Designed and developed both visible and thermal infra‑red (3 to 5 micron and 8 to 12 micron wavebands) imaging systems, particularly forward looking infra‑red (FLIR) systems.  Designed lens and mirror systems to optimize image quality, weight, size, cost, resolution, modulation transfer function (MTF), illumination, coldshielding, narcissus, coldspike, tolerances, and boresight performance.  Designed, analyzed and improved optical system types such as:  FLIR systems, common module thermal infra‑red systems, laser rangefinders, laser target designators, infra‑red "heat‑seeking" missile seekers, electro‑optical counter‑counter measures (EOCCM), and Diamond Point Turned aspheric optics.  Tested lenses.  Used Code V software daily.  Wrote software models of optical systems' performance.

 

 

EDUCATION

M.S., Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, 1986

      Awarded a Ph.D. Fellowship at the Institute of Optics

      Successfully Completed Ph.D. Written Qualifying Exam

 

B.S., Physics, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey, 1984

      Degree Awarded “with Honors

      GPA in major: 3.75 / 4.0

 

 

ADDITIONAL COURSEWORK AND SKILLS

Completed graduate courses in Fiber Optics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State U. (1991-1992) and undergraduate courses in Mechanical Engineering Technology, Old Dominion University (1990-1991).

 

Completed the following training courses:  Advanced Lens Design; Design for Manufacturability; Precision Mechanics for Optical Systems; Microscopy; Photographic Science; Injection Molding of Plastics; Tooling for Injection Molding (taught by Tredegar Tooling, Inc.); Taguchi Methods/Design of Experiments (12 weeks); Statistical Engineering and Process Control (14 weeks); Electronic Imaging; Advanced MS Access Database Management; Total Quality Management; Polaroid Leadership Course; Personnel, Policy and Wage Administration for Supervisors & Managers; Dale Carnegie Public Speaking Course; Business Improvement Team Training; Laser Safety Officer Training.

 

Software Skills Include: CodeV, Zemax, OSLO, and also some FRED, Light Tools, Opti-CAD, etc.

 

  

PRESENTATIONS & PAPERS

 

§           "How To Successfully Develop New Optical Products," presented to the Optical Society of America, National Capital Section, 1999.

 

§           P. P. Clark, Y. Y. Chao and K. P. Hines, "Production Application of Injection Molded Diffractive Elements," SPIE Proceedings, Volume 2600, 1995.

 

§           "Astronomical Optics - Principles and Practical Advice," presented to the RVAS Astronomical Organization, 1999.

 

 

AFFILIATIONS & INTERESTS

 

§           AUVSI – Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International

 

§           Build Robotic Vehicles, including UGVs & UAVs, with optical & video sensor suites

 

§           Coach & Sponsor School Robotics Teams

 

§           Optical Society of America (OSA), Elected Officer in Local Section

 

§           Society of Photo‑Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE), Invited To Chair an SPIE Conference Session

 

§           Lasers and Electro-Optics Society (LEOS)

 

§           Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

 

§           Conversant in German; naturally skilled at learning new languages, including some Dutch, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese. 

 

§           Avid RC aircraft pilot, kayaker, amateur astronomer, camper and hiker.

 

 

Call Kevin Hines today, and find out how to make your optical project a success.

Complete Optical, LLC

Telephone: 540-819-8020

www.CompleteOptical.com

KevinHines@aol.com