PERSONALIA

Igor Petrovich Kornitski ¢ „on his seventieth birthday …

Opticheski� Zhurnal69, 99–100~March 2002!

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March 3, 2002 marks the seventieth anniversary ofbirth of Igor Petrovich Kornitski�, the president of the Optronika Transnational Financial–Commercial Group, the Otoelectronic Instrumentation Corp., and the Optical Engineing and Technology Corp. and doctor of technical scienc

I. P. Kornitski�’s entire working career has been uninteruptedly associated with optics. Kornitski� became widelyknown and deservedly recognized at the end of the 1970an outstanding and talented organizer and manager ofoptomechanical branch of industry. Possessing inexhausenergy, broad knowledge, tremendous practical experieand exceptional persistence in the assimilation of top-leexperience and achievements, he has for a long time sfully coordinated and directed the work of industrial enteprises on the solution of major military and civilian problemand has constantly been responsible for increasing the tnical level and quality of optical production.

After graduating from the Kiev Polytechnic InstituteKornitski� began his working career in 1954 at the ArsenFactory, where he advanced from foreman to technical ditor of the production association. In 1975, he transferredposition in the Ministry of Defense Industry of the USSwhere he was deputy and later the first deputy of the miniuntil 1991.

While heading the optical branch of the industrial dfense complex, Kornitski� successively worked on the organization of the defense command and the creation of a qutatively new generation of optoelectronic devices asystems that significantly enhanced the tactical and techncharacteristics of various forms of armaments and their cbat effectiveness. Many of the developments from thyears were adopted for weaponry used by the army and nThe optical systems for photography from spacecraft, opelectronic observation and detection apparatus, laser eneering, high-accuracy sighting and observation systemsengineering devices, hydrooptical apparatus, etc. wunsurpassed in their characteristics.

Kornitski� carried out extensive, meticulous work in thdevelopment and production of optical devices for scientresearch, industry, and medicine. He put much effort alabor into amateur photography—a specialization whichthose years tended to be carried out abroad. The result owas improved production of high-class camera lensesthe introduction of a new vacuum technique, a technolofor depositing multilayer coatings, and advanced methof processing optical items at industrial enterprises. Byend of the 1990s, cooperation was organized to provelectronic elements for promising photographic and vidcameras.

216 J. Opt. Technol. 69 (3), March 2002 1070-9762/2002/030

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Kornitski� always recruited the leading scientists, dsigners, and production engineers to work in optical enneering. The scientific and technical problems that arose ccerning processability, reliability, and quality of the itemwere the object of consideration at the section of the Sctific and Engineering Council of the Ministry that he headfor many years.

During the years when Kornitski� worked at the ministry,the composition of the plants involved in the optomechaniindustry substantially expanded, and a number of them wsupplemented by plants making specialized products andfabricators of processing equipment, vacuum technology,optoelectronic elements. Because of this, extensive cooption appeared in the optics industry, and conditions were cated for smoothing the pace of production of optical enneering and for shortening the time needed to assimilateintroduce new items.

The largest optical enterprises continued to developder his direct management. These included the Kvarts Ftory and the Ritm Special Design Office, the Fotopribor Fatory, the Feodosia Optical Factory in Ukraine, the BelarusOptomechanical Association, the Peleng Special Designfice, the Rogachev Factory Diaproektor, a factory in the toof Vile�ka, the Optik Factory in Lida, the Zhlobinsk FactoSvet and the Smorgonsk Factory of Optical Machine Cstruction in Belarus, the Orbita Factory in Armenia, the Kisinev Factory Topaz in Moldova, the Samarkand Factorynap in Uzbekistan, and the Photoelectronics InstituteAzerbaijan.

216216-02$18.00 © 2002 The Optical Society of America

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Kornitski� did much work in the area of militarytechnical collaboration and the organization of defenengineering products in foreign countries~India, Czechoslo-vakia, Yugoslavia, and Poland!. Thus, when he was thdeputy manager of the working group for the assistanceIndia in starting up production of the T-72 tank, he greapromoted the organization of the production of the optoeltronic instrumentation equipment of the tank and the preration of skilled personnel.

In the period of economic reconstruction and reforKornitski� exerted much effort to maintain the establishties between the optical firms, helping them in their wounder the new market conditions. Kornitski�’s high authorityand professionalism, as well as his close contacts and inaction with the enterprises of the military–industrial complex, played a decisive role in the organization undermanagement of the Optoelectronic Instrumentation Coand the Optronika Transnational Financial and IndustGroup, of which he currently is president .

Igor Petrovich Kornitski�’s work has been highly regarded by the state. He has been awarded the rank of L

217 J. Opt. Technol. 69 (3), March 2002

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Laureate, has received the State Prize, and is an HonMachine Constructor of the Russian Federation. He hasceived the Orders of Lenin, of the October Revolution, of tWorker’s Red Ensign, ‘‘For Service toward the Fatherlandand many medals.

The S. I. Vavilov State Optical Institute All-Russia Scentific Center, the D. S. Rozhdestvenski� Optical Society, andthe editors ofOpticheski‘ Zhurnal express their deep appreciation and gratitude to Igor Petrovich Kornitski� for his in-estimable contribution to the development of optical enneering and technology and for bringing their achievemeinto production.

We wish him further success, health, and happiness.

General Board of DirectorsVNTs S. I. Vavilov State Optical Institute

Presidium,D. S. Rozhdestvenski� Optical Society

Editorial Board and Editorial Staff,Opticheski‘ Zhurnal

217Personalia