James Mulherin is the President and CEO of Optical Mechanics, Inc. (OMI), a manufacturing company producing optical instruments for domestic and international markets including; professional astronomers at the university level, aerospace companies such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and government organizations such as NASA, NIST (National Institute of Standards), NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), NOAO (National Optical Astronomy Observatories), ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In 1991 James earned a B.S. degree from the University of Iowa with a major in Physics and minors in Mathematics and German. He founded the company in 1991. James supervises OMI’s optical production staff and developed the company’s optical fabrication, testing and QC program. He is involved in all aspects of optics design, production and quality control. James also oversees the development of the company telescope products via design reviews, assembly, testing and installation. James is the primary point of contact in all telescope projects and he coordinates customer support after telescope installation.
James created a vertically integrated company with capabilities that include optical-mechanical design consulting, engineering, fabrication, delivery, customer training and support. As President and CEO, he is responsible for business planning and mission development as well as sales and marketing. James also serves as senior optical design engineer and master optician.