AmeriCOM’s board is under new leadership as Jessica DeGroote Nelson has been appointed board chairperson. Jessica previously served as an AmeriCOM board member and was also recently named Vice President of Precision Optics and Technology Development at Edmund Optics. Jessica has a broad range of experience across optics manufacturing, strategy, leadership, and academia, which she says has prepared her for this role.


“I was fortunate to have been trained at the Center for Optics Manufacturing (COM) in the early 2000’s. The experiences and connections I made through my time at COM significantly shaped my career,” Jessica said. “I am honored to be able to lend my industry and academia experience with the team at AmeriCOM as they work towards building the next generation of optics manufacturing technologies and a skilled workforce to go along with it.”

Jessica said her focus as board chairperson is to drive AmeriCOM’s goal of catalyzing the commercialization of new, mission-critical technologies to support military systems and national security. “It is exciting to see how AmeriCOM is actively looking for the next disruptive technology to our industry. It could be AI, machine learning, novel materials, or something else we haven’t heard of yet,” Jessica said. “I believe the tipping point for disruptive technology will come from a combination of innovative research with a strong workforce development program to ensure adoption of the technologies of the future.”

In addition to her roles at AmeriCOM and Edmund Optics, Jessica serves on the board of directors for SPIE (International Society of Optics and Photonics), is senior editor of the society’s professional journal, Optical Engineering, and is adjunct professor at University of Rochester Institute of Optics and Rochester Institute of Technology Saunders School of Business. AmeriCOM’s board leadership also includes Secretary Rick Plympton (CEO, Optimax Systems) and Treasurer Kirk Warden (President, LaCroix Precision Optics).