Timothy Day: Good causes make for great business in photonics

"Photonics is a lot like electronics, except it's 20 years younger," says Timothy Day of DRS Daylight Solutions. "If you want to know what's going to happen to photonics in the next 10 to 20 years, look at the last 10 to 20 years in electronics."

In this interview from SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing 2017, Day discusses future developments in photonics.

Day was a cofounder of Daylight Solutions and served as the CEO and CTO for the company from 2004 to 2017. In June of 2017, Daylight Solutions merged with DRS Leonardo and currently operates as DRS Daylight Solutions.

DRS Daylight Solutions is an advanced manufacturer of molecular detection and imaging products, serving markets that include industrial process control, medical diagnostics, and defense and security using mid-IR lasers and sensor systems.

Day concurrently serves as the executive manager for Daylight Defense, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of DRS Daylight Solutions, established to serve the defense and security markets. While at Daylight Defense, he and his team have introduced a number of EO/IR products that serve the US military in areas such as directed infrared countermeasures, stand-off detection of explosives, laser aiming/designating, combat ID, free-space secure communications and other applications.

Day has more than 25 years of experience in both technical and business management in the photonics industry. He has developed extensive patent and product portfolios and transferred numerous products into production. He has led engineering, research, product development, manufacturing, and marketing operations.

Day holds both a BS and an MS in physics from San Diego State University (USA) and a PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford University (USA).