Stephen W. McCahon
Applied Energetics, Inc., a leader in the advancement of ultrashort pulse laser, announced that Stephen W. McCahon, age 63, has been appointed as Chief Science Officer, effective May 1, 2023.
McCahon was an original co-founder of Applied Energetics, Inc., and in May 2019, he returned to the company to serve as its chief scientist in a consulting role. Since that time, he has provided strategic direction to the company’s research and development activities in the areas of advanced optical technologies and USPL Directed Energy solutions.
“Stephen’s long and dedicated commitment to the advancement of Applied Energetics’ technology is unwavering through the years, and I am delighted for his continued commitment to lead our ongoing scientific research and development efforts,” said Gregory Quarles, president and CEO at Applied Energetics.
“His deep, scientific expertise of optical technologies and his commitment and history of building and mentoring a team of scientist, engineers and technicians will help us continue our strategy and pursuits of innovating and fielding directed energy technologies for national security and commercial applications. Applied Energetics’ IP portfolio and our current leadership position in directed energy technologies are the result of a team foundation he built through his mentorship, leadership and dedication in the lab.”
McCahon has co-authored more than 50 scientific publications and has had more than 30 patents issued, patents pending, or invention disclosures in preparation for patent submission.
He was a member of the research staff in the Optical Physics Department at the Hughes Research Laboratory in Malibu, Calif. from 1986 to 1996 performing basic research in the area of optical physics and non-linear optical materials. In 1996, McCahon moved to then-Hughes Missile Systems (now Raytheon Missiles & Defense) in Tucson during which time as was significantly responsible for the successful creation and development of the Directed Energy Weapons Product Line and served as its chief scientist.
He left Raytheon in 2002 to co-found Applied Energetics Inc. in Tucson to develop Directed Energy Weapons for the Defense Department including very high energy and average power ultrashort pulse laser sources and Laser Guided Energy technologies. In 2010, McCahon left Applied Energetics to form Applied Optical Sciences, where he developed technologies related to the application of optical physics to a broad range of areas, including photonics and ultrashort pulse laser development.
McCahon is a graduate of the University of Southern California and holds a Ph.D. in photonics, inter-disciplinary physics and electrical engineering from the University of Iowa. He beneficially owns approximately 7% of the company’s issued and outstanding shares of common stock.
