A sophisticated optical imaging device developed by a company with strong ties to Waterloo Engineering has been sent into orbit for use by researchers aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
![Olga Pawluczyk](/engineering/sites/default/files/uploads/images/olga.jpg)
It uses light to determine the chemical composition of substances and will be employed on the ISS for experiments mainly involving the atmosphere and sunlight.
A graduate of systems design engineering at Waterloo, Pawluczyk became chief executive officer of P&P, which was started by her father and her brother, in 2004. Its workforce has since doubled.
The company’s spectrometer – described by Pawluczyk as the “next logical step after the camera” – splits light into multiple colours to indicate the chemical structures of an item and has applications in the mining, oil and gas, defence and health-care fields.
After delivering about 2,250 kilograms of cargo to the ISS earlier this month, the Dragon spacecraft – launched from Cape Canaveral via the Falcon 9 rocket – is scheduled to return to Earth in late August.
For more information on Pawluczyk and P&P Optica, go to: engineerthefuture.ca/great-optics-for-endless-possibilities/