GSN 2011 Awards Winners and Sponsor Interviews: Tom Harada, Managing Director, Security Systems, Pentax Ricoh Imaging of America

A few moments after Pentax Ricoh accepted its 2001 Award for “Best Specialized CCTV Lens,” Tom Harada sat down with GSN to talk about his engineers’ strategy of getting back to the basics in optical technology. “When it comes to long-range zoom lenses,” he points out, “the longer the distance, the more difficult everything gets. Interference reduction factors are more difficult and the lenses’ optical center shifts.” The Pentax engineers, he asserts, are very careful in paying attention to the details of astigmatism resolution, optical center shift and atmospheric interference from fog, rain, snow, sand and heat. Harada also credits the marketing team’s strategy of providing demonstrations to all levels of buyers in the homeland security market, from key systems integrators to prime contractors and ultimate users. In less than eight hours, he discloses, his team will be in the Mohave Desert for an important demonstration of the lenses’ long-range capabilities. He concludes by saying that he is eager to share the news of the Best Specialized CCTV lens award with his chief engineer, who is visiting the United States, and the top management of Pentax Ricoh.