inspired optical engineering
Company Leadership
Christopher Cotton is President and founder of ASE Optics and co-founder of both ASE Instruments and Lumetrics. Mr. Cotton has over twenty years of experience in optical system design and analysis with a specialty in laser optics. He has expertise in geometric and diffractive optical design and calculations, polarization effects modeling, system tolerance/performance analysis, optical component specification, and extensive design and analysis experience.

Mr. Cotton has performed work for the US Air Force, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Delphi Engineering Corp., among others. Prior to founding ASE Optics, Mr. Cotton worked for eight years as a research engineer at the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics. Mr. Cotton has an MS in Optics from University of Rochester (1990), and he is the author of numerous patents, articles, and scientific papers.

Robert Hutchison is Chief Operations Officer at ASE Optics, Inc. Mr. Hutchison has an MBA from the Simon school at the University of Rochester and is a PMI Certified Project Manager. He has over 20 years of engineering and manufacturing management experience at the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Lucid, Inc., Melles Griot Photonic Systems, Inc., and Quioptiq Imaging Solutions (formerly Thales Optem, Inc.). Mr. Hutchison also has a BS in Electronic Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology and has 6 patents awarded. Mr. Hutchison is also Past President of the Optical Society of America (Rochester Chapter) and Past President of the IEEE (Rochester Chapter).
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Staff


Howard Ammenheuser is an engineering technician at ASE Optics.  He earned his AAS in Optics from Monroe Community College.   Mr. Ammenheuser has over 17 years of experience working on a variety of optical systems.  His previous employment has been with Burleigh Instruments, Inc., Holotek Ltd. (A division of ECRM) and the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

Dr. Damon Diehl is the staff scientist for ASE Optics. He received his Ph.D. from the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester, and his B.A. in Physics from the University of Chicago. While at the University of Chicago, he also completed the requirements for a B.A. in Mathematics. Prior to entering graduate school, he was a senior research technician for the Fermilab KTeV project. His doctoral research, with Dr. Nicholas George, centered on the design and construction of a precision optical system for fabricating thin-film interference filters in photopolymer films using holographic techniques. He also developed innovative mathematical techniques for modeling interference filters with gradient index profiles. Dr. Diehl performed post-doctoral research with Taco Visser at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, and continues to publish in the field of near-field optics. Since joining ASE Optics, Dr. Diehl has performed research for the US Army, Recon/Optical, Inc., Johnson & Johnson, and the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics, among others.

Christopher Ditchman is an optical engineer at ASE Optics. He has an M.S. in Optics from the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester and a B.A. in Physics from The College of Wooster. His experience covers image processing, interferometry, optical modeling, computer programming, electronic interfacing, software development, and system assembly and testing. Mr. Ditchman has performed work for The University of Rochester’s Laboratory of Laser Energetics, the US Army, SCRAM Technologies, Baush & Lomb, Lumetrics, and other companies. For his graduate research, he constructed a phase shifting interferometer, and his undergraduate work involved building an automated measurement system for analyzing liquid crystal samples. During his undergraduate years, he interned at the NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory and worked on remote sensing and satellite imagery.

Peter Emmel is an optical engineer at ASE Optics. His expertise spans technical and administrative areas amounting to over 38 years of experience, particularly in the fields of laser interferometry and metrology, optical system integration and alignment, lens design and testing, and mechanical system design. Mr. Emmel has served in technical and managerial capacities at Tropel, Coherent, Inc., Mendon Optronics (which he founded), Rochester Photonics Corp., and SEMROCK Inc. His educational background includes a degree in economics as well as optical engineering, management, and manufacturing training.

Bryan Statt is an optical engineer at ASE Optics. He has over 16 years of experience in opto-mechanical and optical system design and analysis. He designed the opto-mechanical system used for ASE’s current Army-funded SBIR project. He has also been heavily involved in the opto-mechanical design of the optical probes used in the Lumetrics OPTIGAUGE. Mr. Statt is well versed in the use of CodeV, OSLO, and ZEMAX optical design programs as well as the AutoCAD mechanical design package. Mr. Statt’s educational background includes a BS in Optics from The University of Rochester as well as an AAS in Mechanical Engineering from Alfred State College.