Optech Incorporated
Title
Optech Incorporated
Begin Date
1974
Active From
1974
Location
Optech Incorporated
100 Wildcat Road
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M3J 2Z9 (1974)
300 Interchange Way, Vaughan (Concord), ON L4K 5Z8 (2006)
100 Wildcat Road
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M3J 2Z9 (1974)
300 Interchange Way, Vaughan (Concord), ON L4K 5Z8 (2006)
Product Areas
Lidar and laser-based ranging, detection and survey systems
Activities
From the Optech website in December 200 - "Optech is a high-tech company specializing in manufacturing laser-based ranging and detection systems. We've been in business for 25 years, moving from our original research and development base into a company that manufactures and integrates its own commercial products for a worldwide market. Throughout our 25 years we have concentrated in the area of laser radar (lidar) applications."
From the Optech website April 2005 - "Dr. Carswell is a senior and internationally recognized leader in the field of laser radar (lidar) applications, in which he has been working since its very beginnings in the early 1960s. He founded Optech in 1974 to develop commercial systems based on lidar technology. He has led and managed the growth of Optech, expanding the company from its base in atmospheric lidar to its current position as a leading developer and manufacturer of commercial lidar systems for a wide and growing range of applications. Formerly a professor at York University in Toronto, Dr. Carswell has maintained his original research interests in atmospheric lidar measurements. Dr. Carswell has a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Toronto, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute. He has held a variety of senior positions of responsibility, including President of the Canadian Association of Physicists, Vice-President of the Canadian Academy of Science, and member of the Boards of Directors of a number of industrial corporations and public institutions."
From the 2007 Optech Website - "About Optech
Canadian-owned and operated since 1974, Optech Incorporated is the global market leader in the development, manufacture and support of advanced laser-based surveying, mapping and imaging instruments.
Optech consists of five major divisions: Terrestrial Survey, Marine Survey, Industrial & 3D Imaging, Space and Advanced Technology. Each division represents a specialty, but all share a common mission — to design and manufacture state-of-the-art precision measurement instruments that utilize lidar (light detection and ranging).
Optech began as a research and development firm specializing in applications for laser technology, and has grown from small business to world leader, with over 200 employees and a wholly-owned U.S.-based subsidiary.
In the 1980s Optech pioneered airborne laser bathymetry and developed the compact, versatile laser rangefinder that the airborne terrestrial and industrial products are based on.
In the 1990s Optech’s ground-based Differential Absorption Lidar Systems(DIAL) were installed at several Arctic sites to monitor stratospheric ozone."
From the Optech website April 2005 - "Dr. Carswell is a senior and internationally recognized leader in the field of laser radar (lidar) applications, in which he has been working since its very beginnings in the early 1960s. He founded Optech in 1974 to develop commercial systems based on lidar technology. He has led and managed the growth of Optech, expanding the company from its base in atmospheric lidar to its current position as a leading developer and manufacturer of commercial lidar systems for a wide and growing range of applications. Formerly a professor at York University in Toronto, Dr. Carswell has maintained his original research interests in atmospheric lidar measurements. Dr. Carswell has a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Toronto, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute. He has held a variety of senior positions of responsibility, including President of the Canadian Association of Physicists, Vice-President of the Canadian Academy of Science, and member of the Boards of Directors of a number of industrial corporations and public institutions."
From the 2007 Optech Website - "About Optech
Canadian-owned and operated since 1974, Optech Incorporated is the global market leader in the development, manufacture and support of advanced laser-based surveying, mapping and imaging instruments.
Optech consists of five major divisions: Terrestrial Survey, Marine Survey, Industrial & 3D Imaging, Space and Advanced Technology. Each division represents a specialty, but all share a common mission — to design and manufacture state-of-the-art precision measurement instruments that utilize lidar (light detection and ranging).
Optech began as a research and development firm specializing in applications for laser technology, and has grown from small business to world leader, with over 200 employees and a wholly-owned U.S.-based subsidiary.
In the 1980s Optech pioneered airborne laser bathymetry and developed the compact, versatile laser rangefinder that the airborne terrestrial and industrial products are based on.
In the 1990s Optech’s ground-based Differential Absorption Lidar Systems(DIAL) were installed at several Arctic sites to monitor stratospheric ozone."
Timeline
1974 - Founded by Allan Carswell
2015 - Purchase by Teledyne becoming Teledyne Optech
2015 - Purchase by Teledyne becoming Teledyne Optech
Sources
Optech Incorporated website Dec 12, 2000 (Wayback Machine)
Optech Incorporated website April 9, 2005 (Wayback Machine)
Evan Ackerman, "When Lasers Took to the Air to Measure the Earth Allan Carswell’s lidar systems helped map the waters of the Arctic and the atmosphere of Mars," IEEE Spectrum, 31 Jan 2017.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/when-lasers-took-to-the-air-to-measure-the-earth
Optech Incorporated website Aug 6, 2007 (Wayback Machine)
Optech Incorporated website April 9, 2005 (Wayback Machine)
Evan Ackerman, "When Lasers Took to the Air to Measure the Earth Allan Carswell’s lidar systems helped map the waters of the Arctic and the atmosphere of Mars," IEEE Spectrum, 31 Jan 2017.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/when-lasers-took-to-the-air-to-measure-the-earth
Optech Incorporated website Aug 6, 2007 (Wayback Machine)
Collection
Citation
“Optech Incorporated,” Precision Instrument Culture in Canada, accessed December 5, 2025, http://omeka.uottawa.ca/instrument-precision/items/show/8602.
Position: 1716 (11 views)