About Us
M7 Electro- Optics was founded in May of 2009. We are deep in technical experience, drawing on over 130 years of hands-on expertise. The stability of our workforce is notable, as five members of our team have been working together since the late 1980′s. Additionally, we have access to new employees within the St. Louis regional workforce, including skilled engineers and technicians employed at major regional electronics, aerospace and chemical companies. Although availability of skilled personnel to support growth is problematic elsewhere in the laser industry and other high tech fields, we believe that we can execute expansion without personnel availability delays and at increasingly competitive costs.
M7 Electro-Optics Team
- Theodore Konopelski – General Manager
- Theodore McMinn – Laser & Optics Engineering
- Geoffrey Heberle, P.E. – Mechanical Engineering
- Michael Hope – Systems & Electronics Engineering
- Alan Boxell – Associate Engineer
- Michael Bethel – Business Development
Team Member Bios
Mr. Theodore Konopelski, General Manager. Prior to joining M7, Mr. Konopelski held several significant roles at Cutting Edge Optronics (CEO), a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman. He led CEO’s entry into the laser diode market. After CEO was acquired by TRW he managed all engineering and program activities. Key programs were bathymetry and underwater mine detection lasers. During this period he led the ISO certification for engineering and programs. When TRW was acquired by Northrop Grumman he led military and aerospace programs, focusing on integrating CEO into Northrop Grumman and significantly increasing CEO’s contribution to major Northrop Programs such as diode arrays for the ABL Strategic Illuminator Laser (SILL), the JHPSSL 100KW laser, and various designator/rangefinder lasers, and the first Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) laser transmitters for the Navy’s Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS). Mr. Konopelski has a depth of experience in the laser industry both as a consultant, and from several years managing laser development and production programs for McDonnell Douglas Corporation and General Electric. From 1987 to 1993 Mr. Konopelski was the Director of Military Laser Systems for McDonnell Douglas Corporation. From 1977 to 1987 Mr. Konopelski worked for the General Electric Company where he graduated from GE’s Advanced Course in Engineering, developed electrical power generating systems for military aircraft, and managed the development of flash-lamp pumped slab lasers. Mr. Konopelski earned his BSEE at Cornell University in 1977 and his MSEE at Syracuse University.
Mr. Theodore McMinn, Laser Engineering. Co-founded Cutting Edge Optronics in 1992 after eleven years of technical involvement with a wide range of laser and optics technologies at McDonnell Douglas Corporation. At CEO he served as a Director and the company’s Executive Vice President of Engineering. He directed all aspects of laser system development and research, including research and development, product design and testing, and Engineering Department operations and procedures. From 2001 to 2007 Mr. McMinn operated LaserCats, Inc., a laser consulting company that included CEO and Zygo in its customer base. From 1981 to 1992 Mr. McMinn served as Lead Engineer – Electronics with McDonnell Douglas Electronic Systems Company. As lead engineer he designed, modeled, and tested diode-pumped laser systems for military and space applications, and managed a thin film coating laboratory including development of all coating design/optimization software, interfacing the lab equipment to computer systems, design and construction, and testing of a precision reflectometer using a 1064nm laser source. Mr. McMinn earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering Science from Iowa State University in 1979 and his Master of Science – Optics from the University of Rochester Institute of Optics in 1981.
Mr. Geoffrey Heberle, Mechanical Engineering. Mr. Heberle has been involved in the mechanical design and analysis of solid-state laser products for 18 years, primarily in the areas of ruggedization and optimization through finite element analysis. As the lead structures engineer in the Tactical Lasers group at McDonnell Douglas, he was responsible for the structural design of a variety of military and space-based lasers including the AC-130U Gunship LTD/RF and the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) laser. As mechanical engineering manager at NGST/CEO, he designed over forty custom lasers for industrial and military customers including all related thermal and structural analyses. Programs have included the Navy’s Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS), Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance System (RAMICS), AQS-20 Mine Detection System, and the SHOALS bathymetry laser. He has been granted patents on the use of phase change materials in the thermal control of laser components from which several lasers have been designed and fielded. In 1985 he received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla and in 1987 an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rutgers University with an emphasis in structural dynamics.
Mr. Michael Hope, Systems Engineering. Mr. Hope has designed a wide range of electronic systems for lasers and electro-optic modules, initially on various space laser and military programs in a 10-year career at McDonnell Douglas and 11 years at Cutting Edge Optronics. He also worked for two years for Science Applications International Corporation in St. Louis, supporting avionics system level testing for Army Special Operation helicopters. He has designed, fabricated and tested laser diode drivers and laser controllers for numerous military and commercial laser systems. Mr. Hope has designed avalanche photodiode based receivers for both space-based and military rangefinder-designators. He designed range counter electronics for both first and last pulse detection, from shot-noise noise limited distances down to classified near-distance targets . He assisted in the development of electro-optical test setups for simulated ranging targets on spaceborne and airborne systems (Delta 180, Delta 183, and F-18). He has also participated in field testing of laser designator and rangefinders systems (Delta 180, Delta 183, F18, Helitow, Nighthawk) and designed and tested laser designator electronics (F-18, Helitow, Gunship, Nighthawk). Mr. Hope earned a BSEE from Stanford University in 1984 and an MSEE from Washington University in St. Louis in 1991.
Mr. Alan Boxell, Associate Engineer. Mr. Boxell developed optical coatings for space and military lasers for 10 years at McDonnell Douglas. At CP Clare, he spent two years maintaining metal sputtering machines and CO2 and YAG lasers used in the manufacture of over 5 million Reed switches per year. In addition, he documented all manufacturing processes for CP Claire’s initial ISO certification.. In 11 years at Cutting Edge Optronics he built and tested high power diode pumped slab lasers, helped plan and implement a laser diode production facility, developed initial laser diode products (including a patent for laser diode packaging), developed techniques to solder laser slabs and other crystals, and developed high power laser diode arrays for 100 kW-class lasers. Mr. Boxell earned an AAS in Laser and Electro-Optics Technology in 1983 from Vincennes University.
Mr. Michael Bethel, Business Development. Mr. Bethel built and tested all Bathymetry and Mine Countermeasure lasers developed during his 8 years at Cutting Edge Optronics (SHOALS 400, SHOALS 1000, SHOALS 3000, ALMDS, RAMICS, and AQS-20). He supported laser system design, risk reduction testing, design reviews, environmental testing, final laser system acceptance testing, integration of the laser into the end-user’s system, field testing, and transition to production. In addition, Mr. Bethel was the lead technician on a multi-year project to develop a compact, phase-change cooled, 1 µm laser. He built and tested several variants of Nd:YVO4 amplifiers that produced 1 mJ starting with a 5 µJ microchip laser. Mr. Bethel earned an AAS in Laser and Electro-Optics Technology and Electrical Technology in 1999 from Indian Hills Community College.