Mike Brinkman, Chief Technology Officer

Michael Brinkman is the CTO of Laser Techniques Company.  He has been involved in the design, assembly and test of laser diode-based components and systems for over 14 years, and has led numerous government and commercial programs to resolve complex customer needs.  He has designed and implemented a variety of laser triangulation mapping sensors.

In his 12 years of commercial experience, Mr. Brinkman has developed reliable and cost-efficient laser diode-based solutions for a variety of industries, including telecommunications, displays, and non-destructive test and measurement.  He has extensive expertise in laser diode control electronic design, optical design, thermal management, and test station development.   His novel but straightforward technical solutions have resulted in 31 US patent awards.

Prior to joining LTC, Mr. Brinkman was a co-founder of Gemfire Inc., where he led the technical development of new laser-based optical components, including a semiconductor pump laser array and a laser-based display panel.

Representative product development:

Project manager for the development of a laser-based thruster inspection system for NASA. 

Engineering product development leader for an 8-port semiconductor pump laser for optical amplifiers.  This product significantly reduced the per-port cost of semiconductor pump lasers.

Project leader for the development of manufacturing test stations for laser controller boards and laser arrays.  This effort included the development of a Telcordia-approved test plan, reliability testing, and the development of a laser diode failure model based on FIT data.

Principle investigator for SBIR Phase I and Phase II programs:  “Ultra-low loss electro-optic switch array.”  These successful programs enabled the development of a new display technology.

Co-inventor and project leader for the Polymer Switch Matrix (PSM) display panel, based on semiconductor laser array pumping and waveguide switch arrays. 

Development of a number of high efficiency laser diode wavelength conversion systems, based on periodically-poled lithium niobate (PPLN) and buildup cavity conversion

Other professional experience:

Gemfire Corporation: co-founder, Director of Systems Engineering, Director of Displays

Deacon Research:  Engineering Manager, Optical Engineer.

Academic background:

Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering, UC Irvine, 1988

Master of Science, Electrical Engineering, UC Irvine, 1990

MBA, Santa Clara University, 2001

Professional and other associations and honors:

1^st Place, SCU Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition, Mar 2001

Micro Fellowship

Member Eta Kappa Nu, Tau Beta Pi and IEEE

Papers and Presentations

4 papers and conference presentations

31 US Patents

Titles are available upon request

Contact Mike Brinkman directly.