Biography

Tom is the Technical Director of Matter Intelligence. He is a seasoned optics and remote sensing expert with over 40 years of experience. He currently leads the design and development of next-generation optical payloads at Matter Intelligence. After earning his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Optics in 1985, he began his career at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. There, he developed advanced electro-optical sensors and pioneered techniques for calibrating imaging spectrometers, significantly contributing to remote sensing technology as the Lead Engineer on the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer and as a member of the HYDICE sensor calibration advisory team for the U.S. government.

In 2002, Tom joined Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems as an Engineering Fellow, supporting systems engineering for classified imaging sensors and serving as Technical Director for the ARTEMIS imaging spectrometer on the Department of Defense's TacSat-3 Mission. In 2008, he moved to The Aerospace Corporation, where he characterized large-format mid-wave infrared detector arrays and led the payload for the ORS-1 mission, overseeing calibration activities and supporting advanced electro-optical sensor development for DoD applications.

In 2017, he joined Millennium Space Systems to work on sensors for high-performance small satellites. After Boeing acquired the company in 2018, he was named a Boeing Technical Fellow, developing optical cameras and sensors for autonomous satellite operations. Tom is passionate about optics and taught Applied Optics as an adjunct professor at Cal Poly Pomona. Now at Matter Intelligence, Tom leverages his extensive expertise to design optical payloads that create next-generation perception data.