Cooke Optics is pleased to announce that multi-award-winning lens designer Iain Neil has accepted the role of Chief Optics Advisor, providing consulting advice and support for Cooke’s team of in-house lens designers and supporting the company’s plans to develop next-generation lenses that will keep Cooke at the forefront of the industry.

Iain Neil is the recipient of twelve Academy Awards® for Scientific and Technical Achievement for the design of lenses and optical systems, two Emmy® Statuette engineering awards, and a Fuji Gold Medal Award in recognition of his lens work in image origination. He has over 100 worldwide patents issued and applied for in visible, infrared and ultraviolet optical design, entertainment systems, defence, industrial and consumer applications. Prior to founding his own Swiss-based optical technology consulting company, ScotOptix, Neil was employed for over eighteen years at Panavision Inc. as Executive Vice President, Research & Development and Optics, and Chief Technical Officer where he was known for his work on the Primo cine lenses. He previously held the roles of Manager, Systems Engineering at Ernst Leitz Canada Ltd. (now Raytheon ELCAN Optical Technologies Ltd.) and Head of Optical Design at Barr & Stroud (now a division of Thales) and recently he held the roles of CTO and co-CEO of CW Sonderoptic (now Leitz Cine Wetzlar). He holds a B.Sc. Honours degree in Applied Physics from Strathclyde University, and in 2004 was made Visiting Professor to the Department of Physics. In 2015, he was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from his alma mater.

Tim Pugh, CEO, Cooke Optics, said, “Iain is an old friend of Cooke’s, as well as of our Chairman Kees van Oostrum, having worked closely with the Cooke design team on several of our innovative product lines over the years including our anamorphic lenses. We’re pleased to welcome him to this new role, in which his unrivalled expertise and vision will help us to explore the latest technologies that will further strengthen our industry-leading range of precision lenses.”

“It is a privilege to join Cooke in this role and to contribute to a company with such a unique and important history in the industry,” said Neil. “I look forward to working with the team on many exciting new designs in the months and years to come that will bring new facets to cinematography.”

About Cooke Optics, LTD

Cooke is a storied name in both cinematographic and ultra-high-end professional photography markets. Known worldwide for their precision, exacting tolerances and superior quality, Cooke lenses are specified by many of the world’s most respected cinematographers. Cooke is also the developer behind /i Technology, the protocol enabling vital lens and camera information to be captured and passed digitally to post-production teams. Cooke was honoured with a 2013 Academy Award® of Merit (an Oscar® statuette) for its continuing innovation in the design, development and manufacture of motion picture camera lenses.

Features in production or recently shot with Cooke lenses include The Marksman, Fugitive Dreams, Supernova, I Still Breathe, Legacy of Lies, I Know This Much is True, Pinocchio, Onward, Toy Story 4, Birds of Prey: and the Fantabulous Emancipation of Harley Quinn, Motherless Brooklyn, Sweetheart, Vice, Bohemian Rhapsody, A Star Is Born. Television shows in production or recently shot with Cooke lenses include Fate: The Winx Saga, Behind Her Eyes, Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar, A Suitable Boy, The Mess You Leave Behind, Flight Attendant, The Chosen, The Great, HALIFAX: Retribution, The Luminaries, Lost in Space, Star Girl, Dead to Me, Save Me Too, Insecure, Dark Crystal, Star Trek: Picard, Peaky Blinders.