At Photonics West, conversations across the show floor often revolve around a familiar challenge: how to move advanced optical technologies from research labs into scalable, real-world deployment. In a discussion with Dr. Ted Mooney of EvolvOptic, that theme quickly emerged as central to the future of the optics industry and particularly relevant for machine vision systems that rely on high-performance optical components to deliver reliable results in demanding environments.
EvolvOptic is best known as a global supplier of optical blanks components produced from raw glass materials and shaped to a near-net form before being supplied to manufacturers across the optics industry. While this might appear to be a relatively early stage in the optical manufacturing chain, the quality and precision of these blanks are foundational to the performance of downstream optical systems, including those used in machine vision, imaging, and photonics applications.
The company itself builds on a long heritage in Rochester, New York, a city widely recognised as one of the historic centres of the optics industry. EvolvOptic’s current brand may be relatively new, but the expertise behind it draws on more than 80 years of experience in optical manufacturing. That legacy now provides the platform for a new phase of investment, particularly as the company expands its capabilities to address emerging demands across the optics market.
Historically, EvolvOptic’s role has largely been tied to a “build-to-print” model. Optical blanks are produced to a customer’s specification and then passed further down the manufacturing chain for finishing and integration. However, as optical systems grow larger and more complex, the limitations of this approach are becoming increasingly clear.
Dr. Mooney explained that EvolvOptic is now expanding its capabilities to include the finishing of very large optical components. These types of optics often sit at the heart of advanced imaging systems, high-energy laser platforms, and other sophisticated photonics technologies. Once optical components reach this scale and complexity, they can no longer be treated as simple build-to-print parts. Instead, they require a collaborative approach between manufacturer and customer, with design considerations such as manufacturability, testing and system performance all factored in from the start.
3 Key Highlights
1. Scaling complex optics for real-world systems
EvolvOptic is expanding beyond optical blanks to support the manufacturing and finishing of large, complex optical components needed for advanced imaging and photonics systems.
2. Closing the gap between R&D and deployment
Close collaboration between manufacturers, engineers and end users ensures optical technologies can transition from research prototypes into scalable production.
3. Supporting the future of machine vision
Advances in optical manufacturing materials, scalability and design collaboration are critical to enabling higher performance machine vision and imaging systems.
For industries such as machine vision, this shift is significant. Machine vision systems depend heavily on optical performance to achieve consistent and accurate imaging. As these systems evolve handling higher resolutions, faster inspection speeds and more demanding environments the optics supporting them must also evolve. The ability to collaborate earlier in the design process helps ensure that optical components are not only capable of meeting performance requirements but can also be manufactured reliably and at scale.
Demand trends across the optics sector reinforce the importance of this approach. According to Mooney, most markets that rely on optical components are currently experiencing growth. For EvolvOptic, this is reflected not only in increased demand for traditional optical blanks but also in rapidly expanding interest in large optics. What makes this opportunity particularly notable is that relatively few companies currently have the capability to produce these components at scale.
This gap between demand and supply creates an opportunity for companies that can deliver both technical expertise and manufacturing capacity. EvolvOptic’s strategy is to position itself not just as another supplier of large optics, but as a partner capable of helping customers bring complex optical systems into production more quickly and affordably. To support this, the company has already begun collaborating with customers and research partners on targeted R&D programmes designed to develop new manufacturing approaches.
A recurring theme in the discussion was the importance of maintaining a clear connection between research and the final application. At events like Photonics West, many technologies appear as early-stage demonstrations promising innovations that still need to be translated into deployable products. The challenge lies in ensuring that development work remains aligned with real-world requirements.
Mooney highlighted that one of the most effective ways to achieve this is by bringing together engineers, manufacturing teams and end-user system designers early in the development process. By aligning these groups from the outset, companies can ensure that critical considerations such as testing methods, production processes and system integration are addressed before designs reach the manufacturing stage.
This philosophy is particularly relevant as machine vision and photonics technologies continue to mature. In the past, many advanced optical systems were produced in relatively low volumes. However, as these technologies become more widely adopted, production requirements are shifting toward mid-volume manufacturing. That change requires manufacturers to rethink how custom optical components are designed and produced.
Instead of treating custom optics as one-off projects, companies increasingly need to design them with scalability in mind. By considering manufacturing processes earlier in the design cycle, it becomes possible to transition more smoothly from prototype systems to repeatable production runs.
The conversation also touched on the broader impact of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, additive manufacturing and other advanced processing methods. While these innovations are generating considerable excitement across the industry, Mooney suggested that their real value lies in complementing existing expertise rather than replacing it entirely.
In optics manufacturing, decades of experience and established processes remain essential. However, integrating new tools and techniques when they genuinely improve outcomes can help optimise those processes and push performance further.
Looking ahead, EvolvOptic is focusing heavily on collaborative innovation within the Rochester optics ecosystem. One example is an R&D effort with the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics, which is exploring more affordable ways to manufacture large volumes of mirrors for next-generation laser systems.
For industries such as machine vision, these developments underline an important point: advances in imaging performance often begin long before the camera or sensor stage. Improvements in optical manufacturing whether through better materials, more scalable production techniques, or closer collaboration between manufacturers and system designers ultimately shape the capabilities of the imaging systems that rely on them.
As machine vision applications continue to expand across sectors such as automation, robotics and advanced manufacturing, the demand for high-quality optics will only grow. Companies that can bridge the gap between research innovation and scalable production will play a critical role in enabling the next generation of vision-enabled technologies.
Learn more at https://www.evolvoptic.com/
