Thamarai Kannan T.Private profile: Upwork shows its earnings only to signed-in members, so we check it every few weeks, not daily. MRR here is a rough estimate (Upwork's six-month earnings ÷ months active). Last read Nov 5, 2026.

Are you building an optical or opto-mechanical system that needs to perform well AND be manufactured and serviced reliably at scale? That combination is where I work. I hold an MSc in Photonics & Laser Technology (Leibniz University Hannover, Germany) and a BEng in Mechanical Engineering, backed by 3 years at ASML as an EUV System Qualification Test Engineer — working inside one of the most demanding precision manufacturing environments in the world. I performed hands-on calibration, qualification, and root-cause troubleshooting across optical, mechanical, and system-level domains in ISO cleanroom production, and I was the key user for our internal cross-department feedback process — running structured root-cause (5 Whys) analysis on handover issues between Assembly, Qualification, Service, and Dismantle teams to close the gap between design intent and factory-floor reality. Before that, I led opto-mechanical R&D at the Fraunhofer Institute — designing, building, and validating a complete IR optical sensor system — and precision interferometer alignment at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics. What this means for your project: I don't just design an optical or mechanical system in isolation — I design it with manufacturability, tolerancing, and field serviceability built in from the start, the same way I learned to think at ASML, where a design flaw discovered after production is far more expensive than one caught during design review. Here's what I can deliver: - Optical design & simulation — lens design, aberration correction, tolerance analysis (Zemax OpticStudio) - Opto-mechanical design — kinematic & semi-kinematic mounting, athermalization, precision mounting (SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor, Pro/E, ANSYS) - Design for Manufacturability (DFM) & Design for Serviceability (DFS) review — catching assembly, tolerance, and field-access issues before they become expensive problems - Root cause analysis — structured 5 Whys troubleshooting for recurring design, production, or field issues - End-to-end system development — feasibility, schematic design, BOM, prototype build and validation - Precision alignment & metrology — interferometry, optical bench setup, calibration - Signal processing & automation — MATLAB, Python - Professional documentation — GD&T drawings, technical reports, process/handover documentation Whether you need a complete optical system built from concept to validated prototype, or a second set of precision-manufacturing-trained eyes reviewing an existing design before it goes to production, I bring the same rigor I used qualifying multi-million euro lithography systems to every project. Currently available and taking on new projects — let's discuss what you're building.