Precision Optomechanical Tools

Alson E. Hatheway

OSSC Lifetime Achievement Award
Life Member of ASME
Fellow of SPIE
Fellow of OSSC
Senior Member of AIAA
Who’s Who in Science and Engineering
Who’s Who in America
Who’s Who in the World
Five Patents

Founded in 1979 by Alson E. Hatheway, AEH Inc. has a reputation as a preeminent optomechanical design, analysis and solutions-focused company in the United States’ aerospace, optics and defense industries. From cinematography lenses to telescopes, AEH’s elegant and exceptionally precise solutions bridge the chasm between optical science and the mechanical arts, and made Alson a highly sought after designer, team member, advisor, compatriot and consultant on hundreds of contracts over the course of his career.

Alson’s uncanny ability to work outside the box and find solutions from alternative perspectives sometimes led to resistance. However, his intellectual affinity for his colleagues (love of the sport) and exceptional results speak for themselves. Alson’s tools and philosophical approach to the field of Optomechanics are ahead of their time, if not a little old-fashioned in their simplicity. The best things always are. Alson’s contributions to the field of Optomechanics cannot be overstated.

Since Alson’s passing, the Hatheway family has decided to pursue the placement of AEH’s nanometer class actuators, unique optomechanical software solutions and archive into the universities, companies and industries in which Alson found such joy. We welcome your inquiries. Please contact Alson’s daughter Teale Hatheway for more information.

AEH can still help you too:  teale@aehinc.com

– AEH’s engineered solutions to design challenges –

Design and build cryogenic test stations for space surveillance FPAs
Fly a breadboard spectrometer over the arctic ice cap in mid-winter
Determine boresight changes caused by field change mechanisms
Design meter-sized windows for sensors in a 737 transport aircraft
Diagnose structural failures during service and design retrofit kits
Produce cryogenic structural actuators for deformable mirrors
Analyze thermal transient boresight shifts of instrument suites
Design remote sensor to detect distant acoustic disturbances
Verify safety of mid-course propulsion hot gas control valves
Analyze the thermal shock resistance of cemented optics
Maintain registration of two images to less than 0.1 pixel
Negotiate environmental requirements for sensor suites
Specify piping and refrigeration for seafood processing
Design RF-18 recon windows to survive bird strikes
Design beryllium mirror to survive 100,000 g shock
Polish a ~60:1 mirror with figure of 1/4 wave rms
Analyze image jitter in off-axis spectral imagers
Analyze sapphire windows for targeting pods
Design an airborne optical image correlator
Correlate analysis results and test data