Our Team
Meet the experts behind Mustang Optics' innovative optical sensor technology
Bruce E. Gnade, Ph.D.
Chief Scientist
Bruce Gnade received his BA in Chemistry from St. Louis University in 1976 and his Ph.D. in Nuclear Chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1982. He is the Chief Scientist at Mustang Optics, LLC and Professor Emeritus at UT Dallas. He was the Executive Director of the Hart Center for Engineering Leadership in the Lyle School of Engineering at SMU from 2017-2022. He was the Vice President for Research and the Distinguished Chair in Microelectronics at UT Dallas from 2006-2016. He was a program manager in the Microsystems Technology Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) from 1996-1999. At Texas Instruments he led several research and technology groups from 1982-1996. His current research interests focus on electronic materials and devices, and their application to systems ranging from radiation detectors to novel sensors. He is a Fellow of APS, IEEE, and National Academy of Inventors, and is Chair of the Board of Directors of Oak Ridge Associated Universities. He was awarded the 2021 IEEE J.J. Ebers award.
Bruce Snider
President
Bruce Snider, President of Mustang Optics, LLC, brings over 38 years of expertise in defense electronics, specializing in infrared systems and advanced airborne technologies. He began his career at Texas Instruments (TI) in 1978, where he contributed to the development of infrared systems such as the AN/AAS-36, 37, and 38. Elected as a Senior Member of the Technical Staff in 1987, he later led TI’s Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) efforts, overseeing radar, EO sensors, E/W suites, and mission processors. Transitioning to Raytheon in 1997, he served as Technology Director/CTO of the Network Centric Systems Business Unit, managing a $150M annual IR&D portfolio and over $1B in contracted research. After retiring from Raytheon in 2016, Bruce pursued entrepreneurial ventures and founded Mustang Optics in 2020. Alongside his industry roles, he has been an Affiliated Research Professor at Southern Methodist University since 2017. Bruce holds a B.S.E.E. from The Ohio State University and is recognized for his leadership in both technical innovation and business strategy.
Danyal Ahsanullah
Research Associate
Danyal Ahsanullah is an accomplished researcher and associate at Mustang Optics, LLC, contributing to advancements in infrared imaging systems and optical technologies. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he earned recognition for his teaching excellence, alongside an MS from SMU (2020) and a BS from the University of Texas at Dallas (2019). His research interests span physical modeling, computational methods, and experimental verification for design and test applications, with expertise in driving, modeling, and experimentally testing the electrical and optical characteristics of Digital Micromirror Devices (DMDs) as well as mixed-signal circuit design. Danyal has presented innovative work on laser waveform shaping for high dynamic range applications and continues to push the boundaries of optical engineering through his collaborations with SMU’s Photonics Architecture Lab and Mustang Optics.