Company Profile
& Prospectus for Olis, Inc.

Name:  Olis, Inc. (On-Line Instrument Systems, Inc.)

Started Operation:  1975

Incorporated:  May, 1983 in the State of Georgia

Type of Company:  Privately Held Corporation

Scope of Operation: Olis, Inc. – originally On-Line Instrument Systems, Inc. – started in 1974 by three young biochemists with expertise in optics, electronics, and the young field of computer programming. Today, this privately held American company continues to serve the biophysical, biochemical, and bioenergetics fields with absorbance, fluorescence, and circular dichroism spectroscopy for sophisticated research and routine measurements.

Our highly innovative bent has spawned specialized and exclusive instruments. We offer the only circular dichroism spectrometer in the world capable of operating without a lock-in amplifier. We hold the patent on a rapid-scanning monochromator which supports collection of 1,000 scans per second. In 2006, we introduced a compact, fast, and precise line of UV/Vis and NIR “Hummingbird” monochromators, around which modular single or multiple purpose spectrophotometers are built. Among these is an affordable small fluorometer which supports acquisition rates in the second, millisecond, and microsecond time regimes. In 2007, we introduced “spectacularly” sensitive NIR CD, CPL, and Polarization of Fluorescence spectrophotometers, which utilize liquid crystal variable retardance in place of piezo-elastic modulators.

And complimenting this all-new product line is our vintage line, wherein the best classic spectrophotometers of the 1960-1980s become fully competitive alternatives to much more expensive new models. Hundreds of Cary 14/17, SLM 8000, and Aminco DW-2 models have been completely electromechanically modernized and computerized, giving them decades of continuing utility.

For all the innovation, prices of Olis instruments compare with those of conventional design and utility.

The president and founder of the company, Dr. Richard J. DeSa, left a tenured University of Georgia faculty position in the Department of Biochemistry in 1980 to commit himself full-time to his fledgling company. His post-doctoral years introduced him to computer control; his doctoral project was the computerization of the first Gibson/Durrum stopped-flow in Dr. Quentin Gibson's lab at Cornell University. From this single instrument in 1970 to over 70 instruments spanning 35 brand-names, the Olis repertoire of successful software and hardware installations continues to expand.

Projected Activities: Product expansion is spurred by client requests and in-house R&D.

View a list of 'firsts' experienced at Olis under the leadership of Dr. DeSa.

Read a brief history of Olis, Inc.

Get directions to our facility.