About
Airy founder Dr. Russell Chipman’s work on polarization ray tracing began in 2005 and evolved through academic collaboration, significant funding, and practical applications. By 2009, this work culminated in the Polaris software, which was further refined and applied to various fields. Due to its success, Polaris was commercialized by Airy Optics in 2016.
Our eight years of deep integration with enterprise customers has led Airy to go beyond polarization to the development of the Airy Optical Platform in 2025. This platform represents a fundamental shift in how we approach optical design. It's not just about making existing processes faster—though it certainly does that. It's about enabling new possibilities, fostering collaboration, and building confidence in our design decisions.
1
Initial Development
(2005)
Dr. Russell Chipman began developing a polarization ray tracing program in 2005. The focus was on analyzing stress birefringence, which is a phenomenon where materials under stress exhibit different refractive indices for light polarized in different directions.
2
Collaboration at the University of Arizona
Later, Dr. Chipman worked with students at the University of Arizona to develop 3D polarization ray tracing calculus. This mathematical framework aimed to integrate various polarization effects into a unified ray tracing algorithm, making it more comprehensive and versatile.
3
Funding and Polaris-M Development
(2009)
In 2009, Dr. Chipman received a $1.2 million grant from Science Foundation Arizona. This funding was used to develop a research program called Polaris, which demonstrated the integrated approach to polarization and optical design. Polaris-M was essentially a software tool built on the polarization ray tracing calculus.
4
Evolution of Polaris-M
Over time, Polaris-M was applied to various fields, including:
Polarimetry: The measurement of polarization properties of light.
Interferometry: Techniques that use the interference of light waves to make precise measurements.
Injection Molding: A manufacturing process where Polaris-M helped analyze optical properties of molded components.
As Polaris was used in these diverse applications, it continued to evolve and improve.
5
Commercialization and Airy Optics
(2016)
The growing interest in Polaris exceeded the capacity of an academic lab to support. Airy Optics, Inc. was formed to commercialize the software.
The team at Airy Optics not only commercialized Polaris-M but also provided engineering services across various markets, leveraging the software’s capabilities.
6
Airy Optical Platform (2025)
The platform is an end-to-end solution covering the three main areas of optical technology: development, design, and deployment. The fragmentation of the legacy software solutions and in-house tools are not built to work together and makes optical technology painful to integrate into products.
Dr Chipman is not an employee
Dr. Russell Chipman
Dr. Chipman is a former professor of optical sciences at the University of Arizona, founder of Airy Optics, and was a senior optical engineer at Meta. He is also a Visiting Professor at Utsunomiya University, Japan. With a BS from MIT and MS/PhD from the University of Arizona, he is a Fellow of OSA and SPIE and is recognized for his work in polarimetry and optical engineering. Chipman co-authored the 2018 textbook Polarized Light and Optical Systems. His career includes pioneering Mueller matrix polarimeters, founding Axometrics, and working at TeraStor and JDSU. At the University of Arizona, he established the Polarization Laboratory and contributed to NASA’s polarimeter projects. In his free time, he studies Japanese and hikes the Catalina Mountains.