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In the latest episode of Focus on Precision, listeners get an exclusive look inside one of the most extraordinary and often unseen, pillars of Precision Optics Corporation: the POC Optics Lab.
Led by Master Optician and General Manager Richard Cyr, the Lab is the birthplace of some of the world’s smallest, most advanced optical components used in cutting-edge medical devices, defense systems, and aerospace applications.
In this special episode, Clay Schwabe, Vice President of Business Development at POC, steps in as host, joined by POC President & CEO Joe Forkey and Richard himself for a rare, behind-the-scenes conversation on the craft, complexity, and continual innovation that power POC’s optical capabilities.
A Legacy Built on Precision and People
As Joe shares early in the episode, Richard Cyr didn’t just join POC; he helped build one of its most essential capabilities.
Beginning his optics career in 1978, Richard joined POC in 1995 after gaining experience at some of the most respected optics labs in the country, including Tinsley (now part of Zygo), known globally for high-precision optics.
What began with only a few machines and a single complex project, the arthroscope, quickly evolved into a world-class optics lab capable of tackling challenges that many manufacturers deem impossible.
Richard’s rare combination of technical mastery, patience, and hands-on problem-solving is what Joe famously calls “the experience that can’t be automated.”
As the optics industry shifted toward CNC machining and automation, Richard and his team continued to refine the craft of precision hand-manufacturing, enabling POC to stay at the forefront of micro-optics innovation.
Why the POC Optics Lab Exists: Doing the Work Others Can’t
In the early days, POC needed a reliable way to scale production of its arthroscopes. But when the company’s external partner couldn’t expand, POC made a bold decision: build an in-house optics lab capable of complete vertical control, from design through assembly.
Today, that decision is one of POC’s defining competitive advantages.
POC sources optics externally when the part is standard or can be manufactured cost-effectively with large-scale tooling. But when a customer brings a design that’s never been attempted… or a component with tolerances smaller than the width of a human hair… it’s the Optics Lab that steps in.
As Joe explains:
“We compete by doing things that are difficult, or that no one else can do.”
That includes complex prisms, ultra-miniature lenses, beam splitters, and the purpose-built assemblies that support everything from high-end surgical systems to critical defense technologies.
“Designed for Manufacture” Starts in the Optics Lab
One of the most valuable contributions Richard and his team provide happens long before a part hits production: design feedback.
POC’s engineers, and many of its customers, rely on the Lab as an extension of their design team. A design may look beautiful in a ray-tracing model, but that doesn’t always mean it can be built.
Richard’s team bridges that gap.
They evaluate early concepts, identify potential pitfalls, and recommend design modifications that lead to better performance, easier assembly, and in many cases, entirely new possibilities.
That collaborative openness, Clay and Joe emphasize, is what makes an “ideal” POC customer: someone willing to push the limits, but also willing to rethink the design to achieve the best outcome.
Pushing the Limits of Micro-Optics
The numbers alone tell the story:
- 100-micron prisms (standard production at POC)
- 50-micron prisms (successfully manufactured, awaiting the right application)
- Micro-objectives with intricate curvatures unseen to the naked eye
For context:
A human hair is roughly 50–100 microns wide.
POC’s Optics Lab routinely produces optics smaller than this. Coated, precise, fully functional optical elements.
These aren’t prototypes for the sake of demonstrating capability. These are real components used in surgical tools, micro-imaging devices, and aerospace systems where mission-critical accuracy is mandatory.
In one story shared during the episode, a major U.S. defense contractor approached POC with a design they believed was impossible to manufacture. After collaborating with Richard and his team, the part not only became possible, it is now in steady production and has been reordered for more than five years!
Craftsmanship That Can’t Be Automated
Though the Lab uses select CNC tools, the majority of its work is done the way optics has been mastered for generations: through careful hand grinding, polishing, and finishing by skilled technicians.
What makes POC unique is not the technique, it’s the scale. No other optics manufacturer has refined these methods to reliably produce coated optics and assemblies measured in tens of microns.
To accomplish this, Richard has built an exceptional team, some with tenures of 10, 15, even 25 years. The Lab is one of the few remaining environments that operates on a true apprenticeship model. Technicians learn under Richard’s direct mentorship, mastering techniques that simply cannot be taught in a classroom.
POC’s success in micro-optics is not just about machines or materials.
It’s about people, their discipline, their patience, and their pride in producing parts that shape the future of medicine, defense, and exploration.
Where Innovation Meets Purpose
The POC Optics Lab represents more than technical capability—it represents a mindset.
A willingness to go beyond accepted limitations.
A belief that “impossible” is simply the first step toward innovation.
A commitment to the customers who rely on POC to deliver what no one else can.
As Clay closes the episode, he notes that inside the Optics Lab, the work feels almost like an episode of How It’s Made, except instead of mass-market products, the output is enabling next-gen surgical robotics, ultra-miniature imaging systems, breakthrough diagnostics, and even the future of defense.
Want to Learn More?
Explore more episodes of Focus on Precision or connect with our team to learn how POC’s advanced optical engineering and micro-fabrication capabilities can support your next-generation device!
Where innovation comes into focus.