When Elijah Johnson, Andrew Nichols, Evan O’Brien and Ryan Brown graduate this month, they will leave Rose-Hulman with more than a bachelor’s degree. These four individuals will depart Rose with a fully-formed start-up — with funding, a location and a business plan already in place. Zernike Precision Optics Inc. was created to provide high-quality, custom aspheric lenses quickly and affordably, making custom optical components more accessible. The company combines the students’ engineering and computer science skills with their passion for entrepreneurialism, all of which they credit Rose-Hulman for developing and encouraging.

Johnson, an optical engineering major from Russiaville, IN, was interested in entrepreneurship since completing the Kokomo CEO Program during high school. Upon his acceptance to Rose-Hulman, he signed up for the ESCALATE program, a living-learning community for first-year students that focuses on cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset. Through ESCALATE and participating in the Startup Weekend event of his first year, Johnson connected with Brown (computer science) and Nichols (mechanical engineering). Nichols and Brown would eventually form Delta Rho Sigma, the professional entrepreneurship fraternity on campus. The three individuals would later connect with O’Brien (computer science). 

The four students formed a team for Startup Weekend in fall 2024, which is where the idea for Zernike Precision Optics Inc. was born. Twenty minutes before the group was scheduled to present their business idea, they were brainstorming potential problems to solve. 

“That’s something ESCALATE really teaches you, that you have to solve a problem,” said Johnson. “You can’t just make something cool. … Just because something is cool doesn’t mean people will want to buy it. It must address a problem.”

That’s when the idea of optics came up. 

“Optics are really expensive to make and that’s a problem,” said Johnson. 

During the three days of Startup Weekend, the team explored several different ideas to help with reducing the cost of optics. They considered the idea of making machines less expensive or recycling old lenses from telescopes. But none of the ideas addressed the core problem. After reaching out to managers from previous internships and experts in the manufacturing field, the students pivoted to the idea of using a machine learning model to create an automated process of creating precision lenses.

“Industries like aerospace, defense, medical and biotech all use optical systems,” said Johnson. “On the high end, they are very expensive to fabricate, especially an aspheric lens because those have a more complicated geometry. This means the CNC tools are more complicated and you need more skilled tradespeople to operate them. It’s often described as an art form to be an optician who fabricates these lenses. That also creates a limited workforce.”

“For companies that need thousands of these lenses, they can order them from overseas suppliers or fabricators in the United States and obtain a good price. But if you want 10 or less, it’s nearly impossible to find. Automation, however, can remove that barrier. Our solution was to automate this process using new technologies to make the production of aspheric lenses more cost effective and faster.” 

The team placed second in the Startup Weekend competition and received feedback from judges and business leaders that their idea had merit and was worth further exploration. Johnson and his co-founders took off with the idea of Zernike Precision Optics Inc., whose name honors Frits Zernike, a Dutch physicist and mathematician who came up with the equations to characterize errors in lenses.

At its core, Zernike Precision Optics is working to revolutionize the way precision optics are fabricated. Their goal is to develop technology to make custom lenses for applications in aerospace, medical, semiconductor, and automation industries significantly more accessible from both a cost and time standpoint.

To fund the venture, the company received an investment from the Rose Angels, a subgroup of Sawmill Society members who invest in Rose community member lead business. After graduation, they will move the business to Bloomington where they were accepted into The Mill, a non-profit center for coworking and entrepreneurship, where they will build the business and technology. In June, they will attend Global Entrepreneurship Network Congress, which is being held in Indianapolis for the first time in 15 years.

Johnson credits the Rose-Hulman community for being instrumental in the creation of Zernike Precision Optics Inc.

“We’ve received help from Rose Ventures, alumni, the Rose Angels, as well as professors who have given us their time and connections,” he said. “The Rose network has been incredible, and I don’t think that’s something you get at other schools.”

Johnson turned down a full-time job offer with the Colorado company he interned with to build Zernike Precision Optics Inc. For him, starting this company was a matter of timing and opportunity that he just couldn’t pass up. 

“I knew if I took that job, that in six months, I’d be sitting at my desk, with my view of the Colorado Rockies, and wondering what may have happened if I gave that opportunity a chance,” said Johnson.