Edmund Names Third-Generation Chair: People in the News: 08/17/22

Edmund Optics named Marisa Edmund chair of the board of directors, succeeding Robert Edmund, who will retire from the position. Marisa Edmund has more than 25 years of experience in the photonics industry, and she takes over the position previously held by her father and by her grandfather, Norman Edmund, immediately before that. She will retain her role as chief sales and marketing officer. Marisa Edmund served as vice chair of the board of directors since 2020. Robert Edmund will remain on the board as a director.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Photonic test and measurement company Quanitifi Photonics appointed Caroline Williams chair of the board of directors. Williams has held numerous senior roles in business and in the telecommunications, financial, and professional services industries. He currently serves as chair of Easy Crypto. Quantifi Photonics recently secured over $15 million in series C funding.

OAKLAND, Calif. — Bruce Macintosh, director of Stanford University’s Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, will lead the University of California Observatories (UCO). Macintosh, an acclaimed astrophysicist, will start his term Sept. 1. He is a professor of physics at Stanford University, he has served as principal investigator on research grants for NASA, the NSF, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he served prior to Stanford. His research centers on the study of extrasolar planets, in particular through direct imaging and adaptive optics. The UCO network includes multiple technical laboratories and the Lick Observatory, as well as a partnership in the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

SAN FRANCISCO — Prellis Biologics, a biotherapeutics company using two-photon 3D-printing technology to re-create and engineer human tissues in vitro, named Michael Nohaile CEO. Nohaile joins from Generate Biomedicines, where he served as chief scientific officer. He succeeds Prellis founder Melanie Matheu in the role. Matheu will transition to CTO. Prellis’ two-photon holographic technology supports 3D printing of large, complex tissue co-culture systems that recapitulate humane immune response in vitro. In addition to adding Nohaile, the company announced it raised $35 million in series C funding. Prellis also named two new board members.

Michael Nohaile. Courtesy of Business Wire.

OXFORD, England — Rockley Photonics formed a scientific advisory board. The scientific advisory board is composed of Mark Arnold, the Edwin B. Green Chair in Laser Chemistry, professor of chemistry, and director of the Center of Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing at the University of Iowa; Zahi Fayad, professor of radiology and medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and holder of the Lucy G. Moses Professorship in Medical Imaging and Bioengineering at the Icahn School of Medicine; Stavros Kavouras, assistant dean of graduate education and professor of nutrition at Arizona State University; and David Klonoff, medical director of the Dorothy L. and James E. Frank Diabetes Research Institute of Mills-Peninsula Medical Center and clinical professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco. Vish Kulkami, senior vice president of commercial at Rockley Photonics, will chair the scientific advisory board.

Ken May. Courtesy of Business Wire.

AMHERST, N.Y. — Allied Motion Technologies, a designer and manufacturer of precision and specialty controlled motion products and solutions, named Ken May corporate vice president and CTO. May joined the company in 2019 as director of R&D and global electronics. The systems engineering industry veteran previously developed solutions for the aerospace and industrial markets, as well as automotive powertrain systems.

CONCORD, Calif. — Optical network integrator LightRiver named Brian Hasegawa CFO. Hasegawa joins after previously serving in leadership roles at L’Oreal USA, Tribune, and Nielsen. LightRiver is a provider of optical domain control software solutions, serving mission-critical clients.