Optical Engineer

About EON Space Labs

EON Space Labs is a Hyderabad-based defence-technology company building indigenous EO/IR optical payloads for space, aerial and ground platforms.

Objective

Own the optical bench. You will take payloads from loose optics to aligned, characterised, flight- and field-ready hardware – setting up the test methods, running them, and writing the procedures that make the results repeatable.

Key Responsibilities

A. Optical Alignment & Assembly

• Align and integrate reflective, refractive and catadioptric optical systems (e.g., Cassegrain / Ritchey–Chrétien telescopes, multi-element VIS and LWIR lenses) to specified wavefront and focus tolerances.
• Focus and boresight detectors to optics; set and verify back-focal distance, tilt and decentre; align EO and IR channels to a common line of sight.
• Work with mechanical engineers on mounts, shims, adhesives and bonding processes that hold alignment through vibration and temperature change.

B. Test & Characterisation

• Measure MTF (slanted-edge, knife-edge or bar targets on a collimator), effective focal length, distortion, field of view, stray light and relative illumination.
• For IR cameras: measure NETD, MTF and MRTD using blackbody sources; perform non-uniformity correction (NUC) checks.
• Support environmental and qualification testing – thermal cycling, thermal-vacuum, vibration – including pre/post optical performance checks.

C. Lab Ownership

• Set up and maintain the optical lab: collimators, autocollimators, interferometer, optical tables, blackbodies, laser sources and measurement instruments.
• Maintain cleanroom (ISO-classified area) and ESD discipline, optics handling and cleaning practice, and laser safety per IEC 60825-1.
• Automate repetitive measurements and data reduction in Python or MATLAB.

D. Documentation & Cross-Functional Work

• Write test procedures, SOPs, test reports and alignment travellers; maintain traceability between design tolerances and measured results.
• Feed measured data back to optical design (Zemax OpticStudio / CODE V) to close the loop on tolerancing.
• Work with mechanical, electronics, firmware and AI/ML teams; support customer acceptance tests and trials; assist with patent drafting.

Requirements & Tech Stack

Education

• B.Tech / M.Tech / M.Sc. in Optics, Photonics, Applied Physics, Optoelectronics, or Electronics/Instrumentation with a strong optics specialisation.

Must-have

• Hands-on optical alignment and testing on a real optical bench (not only simulation).
• Practical use of at least two of: collimator, autocollimator, interferometer, MTF bench, theodolite.
• Solid grounding in geometrical and physical optics – aberrations, diffraction limit, MTF, sampling (Nyquist), radiometry basics.
• Ability to read and work to optical drawings and tolerances (ISO 10110 or equivalent).
• Python or MATLAB for data analysis.

Good to have

• Optical design or tolerancing in Zemax OpticStudio, CODE V or similar.
• MWIR/LWIR camera testing (NETD, MRTD, blackbody calibration).
• Experience with space or defence hardware – cleanroom work, contamination control, thermal-vacuum or vibration testing.
• Familiarity with image sensors (CMOS/microbolometer), focusing and boresighting cameras.

Core Competencies

• Careful, methodical bench practice – you write down what you did and the result is reproducible.
• Comfort with ownership in a small team: you will set up processes, not only follow them.
• Clear technical writing.

Deliverables (first 6 months)

• Documented, repeatable alignment procedure for at least one EON payload telescope.
• Working MTF and wavefront test setups with written SOPs and calibrated reference measurements.
• Test reports for payload units delivered to customers during the period.

What We Offer

• Work on real flight and field hardware across space, UAV and ground platforms – from bare optics to delivered payload.
• Direct exposure to optical design, manufacturing and testing.
• A founding-stage role with visible ownership of the optical lab.