 Today, it develops fiber optic communications products and laser systems for commercial and military customers.Previous to working together to form Optelecom, Culver was employed at IBM's Federal Systems Division, Quantum Electronics Department while Mr. Gould was working at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, (now the New York University Tandon School of Engineering).The two sought to focus on inventing and developing a new breakthrough technology for fiber optics for missile systems.”

The firm’s products were based on Gould's invention of the optical amplifier and the laser -- his  acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation."