July 6, 2007, Albuquerque, NM--For the second year, the New Mexico Optics Industry Association (NMOIA) and SPIE (Bellingham, WA) are cosponsoring Mirror Technology Days, a forum for government-sponsored contract work in the area of mirror technology, as well as other optics. To be held July 30 to August 2, the three-day "show-and-tell" conference will bring developers together with federal-agency representatives for presentations and exhibits on the latest developments in telescope mirrors.
"This is an opportunity to showcase Albuquerque's optics technologies," says Jim McNally, CEO of TruTouch Technologies Inc. and chairman of NMOIA. Anchored by the University of New Mexico, Sandia National Laboratories, and the Starfire Optical Range of Kirtland Air Force Base, a number of photonics companies, such as CVI Laser and adaptive-optics company AgilOpics, have made the Albuquerque area their home.
Agencies participating in Mirror Tech Days invite recipients of their Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grants to be presenters; this will promote "cross-fertilization" of technologies. Mirror Tech Days also provides a public peer review of new technologies and allows major contractors to see what small companies are doing.
Presenters are also exhibitors. Organizers encourage New Mexico companies to exhibit and attend. NMOIA is planning a small technical exhibit. Anyone interested in exhibiting or becoming a sponsor should contact Ed Spivak at [email protected].
Tech Days is jointly organized by Sandia National Laboratories, AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate (Kirtland AFB), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Missile Defense Agency (Washington, DC), the Army Research Development and Engineering Command (Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, CA), AFRL Materials Directorate (Wright-Patterson AFB, OH), the Naval Research Laboratory (Washington, DC), and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
Sponsors are the City of Albuquerque, the State of New Mexico, Lockheed-Martin (Bethesda, MD), Boeing (Chicago, IL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (Los Alamos, NM), New Mexico Tech, Technology Ventures Corp. (Albuquerque), and CVI Laser.
Current officers and board members of the NMOIA are Jim McNally, of TruTouch Technologies, chairman; Bill Goodman, of Schafer Corp., president; Lynore Abbott, vice president; Denise Gardner, of CNM, secretary; Ed Spivak, of Spivak Associates, treasurer. Other board members are Mike Morgan, Rodey Law Firm; and Tom Tonnessen, InSync Optics.