OPO sprl

Otto Pregizer Optik

OPO is a company providing optical solutions to industry and institutes. It is grounded on the long experience of Dr Daniel Malaise who worked as an astronomer in Liège University with Prof. Swings, in Harvard College Observatory with Pr. F. Whipple, and in Paris Meudon with Pr. F. Praderie. After an academic curriculum of 30 years, Dr. Malaise turned to space industry founding Spacebel, a daughter company of Matra Espace where he designed several major instruments for astronomical and earth observation (Hipparcos, Giotto, Mipas) and optical space communication (Silex). Now he is currently advising optical companies and developing optical inspection instruments for industry, such as :

On line measurement of steel sheet roughness on the fly in rolling mills On line inspection of windshield glasses before assembly On line inspection of cracks in PET reused bottles. Inspection of carbon layer flashed inside new PET bottles Inspection of marble, and ornament stones tiles Inspection of exposed windshields for law conformity Float glass inspection before cutting Inspection of polished Si wafers Inspection and monitoring of astronomical mirror’s coatings Medical instrument for measuring reaction of the brain to physical pain

OPO has a special connection and dedication to astronomy due to the original activity of its chief and founder. This is the last activity that he would abandon and lately he has put all his past experience in designing a new specular multi wavelength reflectometer uniquely dedicated to his fellows astronomers. This is called the Coatest 7L reminding of the 7 wavelength bands it operates. The design of this instrument is accompanied by a thorough theoretical study of the problem. Hence, for the first time astronomers will be relying on an instrument that, from the very start, has been thought solely for their purpose, with no economical or other bias; and the chosen solution if fully and amply justified by rational arguments as it should always be the case in scientific fields.

The heart of competence of OPO is the mastering of surface metrology and a deep knowledge of scattering processes and of surface defects detection and characterization. OPO is also mastering optical simulation tools in sequential and non-sequential, coherent or incoherent tracing. An instrument is never designed without building first an accurate optical model. This method allows playing with “what if’s” and is the only one that allows to reach near perfection in the design and the performance. Of course this kind of analysis is proposed separately to those who want to design their instrument or to have their design double checked by another professional.