LightWorks was founded in January 1997. Our vision is to become the premier supplier of prototype and production custom optical systems. At LightWorks we collaboratively work with our customers as an extension of their product development team to develop and manufacture high-quality, high-reliability, integrated optical systems. Our goal is to provide our customers a comprehensive capability to design, engineer, manufacture, integrate, and test high-technology optical systems.

LightWorks customers include space, defense and commercial companies, with applications ranging from space-based telescopes and optical systems to airborne, ground and sea-based optics for military applications, to commercial optics for medical, microlithographic, test and measurement and other commercial applications.

LightWorks was founded by three partners, formerly of OCA and Perkin-Elmer. Coming out of their experience was the desire to establish a company with the ideals of greater longevity and deeper roots. The founders see their ESOP plan, coupled with a long-term goal of 100% employee-ownership, as the path to this end. In this business model the company doesn't have to be sold to the highest bidder for the employees to reap the benefit of their employment at an equity sharing company.