About Us

Optical Structures is a high-tech manufacturing company that specializes in electro-optical-mechanical engineering and manufacturing. OSI caters to institutional and government customers desiring large and specialized custom devices and instruments. OSI also seeks out and forms select strategic partnerships with other manufacturing companies to provide key design and production manufacturing services vital to their operation.

Optical Structures is a comprehensive, end-to-end provider of optical instrumentation for research and education. The parent company for the Farpoint, Lumicon, Astrodon, JMI and Optic Wave Laboratories brands, OSI’s branded divisions design & manufacture consumer products that are distributed through a worldwide network of dealers as well as direct to consumer sales. OSI maintains a 15,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Rancho Cordova, California.

Discover how to “simplify your imaging” with our high performance line of professional and research-grade Astrodon astrophotography filters.

Visit our online store to learn more about our assortment of astronomy products manufactured for the discerning amateur astronomer.

Farpointastro.com

Executive Team

Cary ChleboradPresident

Cary has worked in the field of industrial mechanical, electromechanical and process engineering since 1990. He has extensive training and experience in CAD/CAM design, CNC machining processes, CNC laser processing, plastics forming and machining, welding process & fabrication, composite fabrication, electromechanical process controls and a host of related manufacturing processes. His early engineering career was spent working for large industrial companies such as Proctor & Gamble and Pirelli Cable. Later he transitioned into running small business using his engineering skills as well as management and marketing skills acquired in earlier work experience.

Tom EisemanPartner and Co-founder

Tom is a motivated business professional with more than 30 years’ experience in program management, systems engineering, analytics, optical systems machining and manufacturing. He has extensive experience as a team leader, instructor, liaison and corporate organizational manager and he is well-versed in project management methodologies, process engineering and organizational change management, Tom’s background consists of both intelligence collection management and analysis in the US Air Force as well as program management within the aerospace industry.

Dr. James D. Wray, PhDSenior Engineer and Designer

Jim is a legend in the field of astronomy who’s still going strong. He is working on designs for our new telescopes and the tooling / jigs we will be rolling out in 2018 and beyond. In case you’re one of the few astronomy enthusiasts unfamiliar with Dr. Wray, he custom built the ultraviolet telescope used for Skylab experiment S019, (which flew on all three missions of America’s first and only Space Station) more than 40 years ago. He also designed and built SOFT, the first research-oriented solar observing facility in South Korea. SOFT, installed and first used in 1995, is still in use today. More recently, Dr. Wray designed and hand assembled the 32-inch yoke mount at Tenagra Observatories as well as the 24-inch fork mount on Mount Palomar. Dr. Wray is a former senior research scientist and published author for the McDonald Observatory.

Notable Projects & Clients

Ball Aerospace, Landsat

Lockheed Martin Coherant Optics Division

Boeing Aerospace – Boeing 787

NASA Kennedy Space Center – STS launch 135

Fermi Labs

Optical Structures ground, tested, and coated 4, 6-inch mirrors configured for UV use in an atmospheric ballon LIDAR system. This project was accomplished on short notice to client specifications.

Dalhousie University, CANDAC / OPAL

Optical Structures designed to client specifications, fabricated, and delivered a unique 1 meter IR LIDAR telescope for Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada. The telescope was shipped to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and installed at the Eureka Weather Station as part of OPAL. This facility is one of the most remote spots on Earth, located only some 300 miles from the North Pole.

Due to the remote site, our unique system was designed to be able to break down into pieces to fit into a small aircraft for transportation. The telescope was designed to also allow for assembly in an extremenly small lab space. The telescope components required no heavy equipment to remove, transport, and assemble the system once on site. Two or three man teams were able to lift, fit, and assemble the telescope with nothing more than hand tools.

OSI designed, machined, and fabricated all mechanical components in its in house CNC machine shop and welding facility. In addition all optics were fabricated on site in our own optical shop.