OptiPulse immediately impressed me when I first met the founders in their lab in a former bakery in downtown Albuquerque, which they still occupy by the grace of our local community college. The inventor of the technology, John Joseph, could not resist explaining his invention that is fabricated on a semiconductor wafer. A single wafer houses 20,000 chips and is slightly larger than the head of a pin. I remember looking through a microscope and staring at the wafer while John explained how lasers worked, and how this laser optical device could do things at a power and speeds that never had been imagined just months earlier. We then went around the corner to a test bay where the very first OptiPulse lasers were firing signals back and forth transmitting test data. I remember John chuckling at my question about whether standing in the laser field was safe as he proceeded to walk in front of it.
Mathis Shinnick was also there and immediately dove into their vision of the many uses for the technology. Although they had plans to attempt to gain the interest of one particular industry, they explained that OptiPulse technology could be used in several different industries, and that the challenge would be to focus time and money to produce an initial product that could be sold and provide entry into other industries. The company truly could be a platform to allow the technology to be used in many realms, including outer space.

My wife and I were early investors, not only because we believe in the financial promise of the company, but because we see the technology as one that can revolutionize the broadband industry in ways that can be immensely helpful for underserved communities all over the world. Terri and I are lifelong New Mexicans, and our state, unfortunately, serves as a very good example of a large expanse with distant communities that suffer from a complete lack of internet broadband. As in other places throughout the world, this stifles economic and educational opportunities for vast numbers of people. OptiPulse technology provides an answer to this problem and then some. The technology holds the promise of not merely providing this service but providing it faster and better than has ever been envisioned previously.
Since that time, John and Mathis have brought the company along by already attracting significant capital investment and applying that capital to paying for engineers to build what John’s mind continues to churn out and to build prototypes of the devices that will enable this technology to serve humanity. Milestones have been achieved and the third prototype has been proven. The company now holds multiple patents covering the technology. The fourth prototype is in design and will be the company’s first alpha product.

Running parallel to that effort, the company has also attracted attention from the United States Army as well as from companies and agencies understanding that the technology has obvious applications in networks, space satellites, machine vision, and communications. The company has already attracted significant grants, including from the National Science Foundation.

OptiPulse is on the verge of tremendous success, and I believe that it will be financially rewarding to those who have supported this effort. When the technology becomes more widely known, people will be left to wonder, How did they do that?