May 2015
| Business World
85
Located in Huntsville, Alabama, Advanced Optical Systems (AOS) is an award-
winning producer of cutting edge electro-optical technologies for commercial and
military applications.The scope of their technology covers a wide variety of fields,
including:Biometrics;Aided Target Recognition (ATR);Cueing for ATR Systems;
Space Rendezvous and Docking; Electro-Optic Sensors and Seekers;Rotocraft Auto
External Load Lift;Image Stabilization; Space Imaging and Cryogenics; and Space
Qualified Manufacturing.
AOS− which recently celebrated its 27th anniversary − was founded by Dr. Rich-
ard Hartman in 1988.Having retired from his post as Director of Research for the
Aviation and Missile Command in Huntsville, Dr. Hartman decided to start his
own company based on a few innovative small business research proposals focusing
