Executive Team

Jon Dummer is responsible for setting strategy and vision for Surface Optics Corporation. He directs company resources toward viable markets and establishes new product lines through a keen knowledge of in-house capabilities, set against those of strong competitors in the same field. He continually looks for new products from the company’s R&D activities. He has established a work place culture that attracts top talent with an extremely low turnover rate.

Under his direction, SOC has grown from a four-man measurement services company to an operation with over 50 employees and six major business units in hardware, software and service products. When appropriate, Mr. Dummer has formed special internal project teams to ensure responsiveness to customer’s needs, as in a recent case of a $25M total value award from the US Navy. Over the course of his tenure, SOC has grown from a start-up position to yearly sales of more than $9M. Jonathan Dummer received a BA degree from UC Santa Barbara in 1980.

Dr. Jafolla received his Ph.D. from the Department of Physics and Atmospheric Sciences at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. His research interests there involved light scattering in planetary atmospheres and remote sensing of the earth from satellites. His dissertation was titled “An Investigation of the Non-Linear Radiative Response of the Climate System”. In 1981, Dr. Jafolla worked on the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Program (I.S.C.C.P.) during a Post-Doctoral appointment of NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies.

In 1982, Dr. Jafolla went to Global Analytics in San Diego, CA, and began applying light scattering techniques to materials and surfaces for engineering problems concerning controlled emissivity surfaces. Dr. Jafolla also led the development of the initial multiple bounce RCS model using the Facet Beam Projection technique and the physical optics approximation. Subsequently, Dr. Jafolla was the Director of Target Technologies at Photon Research Associates, where he developed the Coatings Reflectance Engineering Evaluation Program (CREEP) for performing light scattering analysis of pigmented paint coatings and composite surfaces, and the Director of IR/EO Materials Technology at McDonnell Douglas Technologies, Inc.

In 1990, Dr. Jafolla joined Surface Optics Corporation as Chief Scientist, where he continued his research into the light scattering properties of materials, including the analysis of Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF), Directional Hemispherical Reflectance (DHR), and the effects of enhanced retro-reflectance. He developed techniques for optical constant determination from bulk, layered, and powdered materials in connection with SOC’s product line of Bi-directional and Hemispherical Directional Reflectometers. Dr. Jafolla is also actively involved in developing algorithms and software for hyperspectral image analysis including the HS Analysis Toolkit and ATR Testbed software tools in support of SOC’s line of hyperspectral imaging systems.

Mr. Dombrowski is currently leading a program aimed at developing a fully automated, field portable, in-situ Bidirectional Reflectometer (ISBDR) for measurement of spectral BRDF from 1 μm to 14 μm. The system is designed to measure surface properties of samples in their environment when removal of a sample to the lab would either destroy the equipment from which the sample came or would alter the characteristics of the sample.

Mr. Dombrowski also developed a real-time imaging spectroradiometer for scene radiance characterization from 400nm to 900nm at 10nm resolution. The instrument calculates tristimulus integrals for each pixel of a 256 x 192 image, at a 30Hz rate, and provides scene spectral radiance values at a 600Hz rate.

At MDTI, Mr. Dombrowski was responsible for development of a major LO subsystem, including conceptualization, analysis, design, implementation, calibration, and test; he also generated signature control algorithms for this system. He is also credited with developing a fully automated in-plane Bidirectional Reflectometer for surface characterization from the UV through the near-IR at 1nm resolution. In addition Mr. Dombrowski manufactured an automated scene scanner to remove observer-to-observer scan variability to help quantify LO system performance.