Management Team

Dr. G. Michael Morris
Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Morris is an internationally recognized expert in opto-electronic systems research.  He has been active in optical engineering research and development for over twenty-seven years.

He co-founded Rochester Photonics Corporation (RPC) in 1989. The firm specialized in the design, prototyping, and manufacturing of diffractive and micro-optics components and subsystems, and was acquired by Corning Incorporated in 1999. From February 1999 to December 31, 2002, Corning Rochester Photonics Corporation functioned as a wholly owned subsidiary of Corning Incorporated.
He founded Apollo Optical Systems in December 2002.  AOS’s charter is to provide innovative polymer-based optical products for the medical, defense and commercial markets. 

In May 2003, he co-founded RPC Photonics, Inc., which specializes in the design and development of optical elements and systems for display and illumination applications for commercial products, medical products and government systems.
From 1979 to 1982, Morris was a Scientist in Optics at the Institute of Optics, University of Rochester. From 1982 to 2001, Morris was a Professor at the Institute of Optics, where he supervised 22 doctoral and 5 masters dissertations.
Morris' research has spanned a wide variety of topics in statistical optics, optical information processing, automatic pattern recognition and diffractive and micro-optics technology.

He holds 18 U.S. patents, has 6 pending patent applications, and has published more than 70 refereed journal articles, 3 book chapters and numerous conference proceedings.  During 2003 he served as President of the Optical Society of America, and in 2004 served as Immediate Past President on the OSA Board of Directors. He is the recipient of the 2005 OSA Joseph Fraunhofer/Robert M. Burley Prize; the 2002 Rochester Engineering Society’s Leo H. East Engineer of the Year Award; and the 1997 Rochester Chamber of Commerce Civic Award for Science and Technology. He is also an Honorary Member of the OSA, Rochester Section, and a Fellow of the Optical Society of America and SPIE.

Morris received his B.S. degree with Special Distinction in Engineering Physics from the University of Oklahoma, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology.

 

Dr. Tasso R. M. Sales
Chief Technology Officer

Dr. Tasso Sales is currently Chief Technology Officer at RPC Photonics where he oversees design and production efforts.

In 1997 he joined Rochester Photonics Corporation as “Diffraction Analyst,” a position that required the development of modeling, analysis, and optimization tools for the design of general micro-optical components, particularly diffractive elements. In this capacity he helped develop novel design tools as well as implement and support various manufacturing processes.

From 2000 to late 2002, as part of Corning Rochester Photonics Corporation, Dr. Sales continued his design and fabrication efforts with renewed focus on refractive devices for laser illumination systems and display applications. During this time he developed unique design concepts for microlens-based diffusers and rear-projection screens.

Since 2003 Dr. Sales has been engaged in improving lithographic manufacturing methods and developing new design strategies for light control and distribution.

He holds several patents and has published/presented numerous peer-reviewed publications/conference papers and presentations. Currently a member of the Optical Society of America and SPIE.

Dr. Sales received a Ph.D. in Optics from the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester, and the M.S. and B.S. degrees in Physics, from the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Brazil.

 

Ms. Rose A. Peet
Director, Contracts and Sales

As Director of Contracts and Sales at RPC Photonics, Ms. Peet is responsible for establishing and supporting customer relationships, developing sales, and all aspects of contract management.  Her challenge is to ensure that customer requirements and applications are well understood, so that RPC delivers high quality, cost-effective products that meet customer needs at all phases of a project -- design, prototype and production.  Rose also manages all advertisement and trade show/conference activity and human resources, and oversees the accounting and IT functions at RPC.

From 1996 – 2002, Ms. Peet joined Rochester Photonics Corporation (later the Corning Rochester Photonics Corporation) as the Contract Manager.  In addition to managing the government contract activity for Rochester Photonics, she was the Consortium Administrator for a DARPA-funded Technology Reinvestment Project, which was a consortium of 6 companies and two government agencies participating in research, with combined funding of over $6 million.

From 1993 – 1996, Ms. Peet was the contract administrator of the newly-formed Center for Electronic Imaging Systems at the University of Rochester, where her role included preparing and submitting annual cost proposals for the funding agencies (one state and one federal) and budgets for the Center participants, conducting annual financial reviews to ensure that financial cost sharing obligations were met, submitting technical reports of the research programs to appropriate government agencies, and implementing an MBA student internship program.

In 1992 – 1993, Ms. Peet was the Staff Coordinator of the Strong Quality Management program at the University of Rochester’s Strong Memorial Hospital. She was responsible for developing and implementing training cycle schedules for total quality management (TQM) training, as well as annual operating and capital budgets for the program.

Ms. Peet was employed at the University of Rochester from 1980 to 1992, in the Computer Science Department, and as Project Assistant for the OMEGA Upgrade Project at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

Ms. Peet has a bachelor’s degree in English and French from Houghton College and graduate level course-work in statistics and accounting from the University of Rochester. She holds a certificate in MBA Essentials from the Northern Kentucky University College of Business, and PHR certification from the Society for Human Resource Management
 

Dr. Paul O. McLaughlin
Program Manager

Dr. McLaughlin joined RPC Photonics in 2008 and is responsible for production, resource allocation and program management.

From 2004 to 2008, Dr. McLaughlin led Eastman Kodak’s Optical Diagnostics research group and, its successor, Carestream Health’s Optical Diagnostics research program.  His group was responsible for research and development of biomedical optics technologies, including biocompatible fluorescent dyes and nanoparticles for use as Optical Molecular Imaging contrast agents.

He joined Eastman Kodak Company in 1995 as a Research Scientist and worked on optical system athermalization, precision glass molding and software development.  In 1998, he was promoted to Unit Director of the Optical Manufacturing Process Development group.  In 2002, he was appointed Director of the newly formed Precision Manufacturing Process Center, responsible for manufacturing process development in optics, precision machining, micromachining, injection molding, and opto-mechanical system assembly and manufacturability.

From 1983 to 1986, Dr. McLaughlin was a staff researcher at Nippon Sheet Glass Company, Central Research Laboratory, Itami, Japan.  He was responsible for the product development and manufacturing technology transfer for the first commercial introduction of high volume axial gradient index lenses.  Upon return to the U.S., he joined Sinclair Optics, Inc. where from 1987 to 1994 he held leadership positions in optical modeling software development and technical support.  As Director of Support Services, he was responsible for worldwide customer support.

Dr. McLaughlin holds 7 Japanese patents, 8 U.S. patents, and numerous pending patent applications.  He received a B.S. Magna Cum Laude in physics from Eastern Michigan University.  His M.S. and Ph.D. degrees are in Optics from the University of Rochester.  Upon completing his Ph.D., Dr. McLaughlin joined the research staff at The Institute of Optics and spent a year at Keio University in Japan as a Visiting Scientist in their Applied Chemistry Department.