TOPTICA Photonics Appoints Two to C-Suite Positions: People in the News: 10/2/24

Optica’s membership elected Turan Erdogan vice president and Christine Hendon director-at-large. Erdogan serves as president of Plymouth Grating Laboratory, Inc. and previously served as site leader of Melles Griot and CTO and vice president of business development for the IDEX Optics & Photonics platform. Hendon is an associate professor of electrical engineering and vice dean of diversity and strategic partnerships within the engineering school at Columbia University. Her research contributions include optical systems and methods to extract architectural information and identify structural substrates within tissue.

(From left) TOPTICA COO Mathias Schindler, CSO Thomas Renner, founder and CTO Wilhelm Kaenders, and CFO Fabian Uhl. Courtesy of TOPTICA Photonics.

GRAEFELFING, Germany — TOPTICA Photonics promoted Mathias Schindler COO and Fabian Uhl CFO. Schindler joined TOPTICA in 2016 as vice president of production and logistics before serving as the company’s executive vice president. Uhl began his tenure at TOPTICA in 2019 as vice president of finance and controlling with previous experience as treasurer of Proteros USE Inc. and vice president of finance and administration at Proteros Biostructures GmbH.

MAYFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio — Advanced materials solutions company Materion Corporation appointed Jason Moore president of precision optics. Moore most recently served as vice president and general manager of the industrial business unit for TE Connectivity in Zurich, Switzerland, with previous experience as TE Connectivity’s vice president of global sales and marketing.

ORLANDO, Fla. — LightPath Technologies, Inc. named Steven Garcia general manager of the company's production facility in Orlando, Florida. Garcia brings over two decades of expertise in domestic and international manufacturing to LightPath, most recently serving as director of operations at HT Global Circuits.

Hubert Lakner. Courtesy of Fraunhofer IPMS.

DRESDEN, Germany — The Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS (Fraunhofer IPMS) announced the retirement of former head Hubert Lakner. Lakner has been with Fraunhofer IPMS since 1998, and served as director since 2003. Harald Schenk will act as the sole managing director of the institute until a permanent replacement is appointed.

Apollo Optical Systems senior sales manager Christopher Meetze (left) and Gregory French. Courtesy of Apollo Optical Systems.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Optical solutions provider Apollo Optical Systems named Gregory French a senior business development manager. Prior to joining Apollo, French worked for Optimax in roles ranging from manufacturing engineering to sales and account management.

John Vilade. Courtesy of WAVE Ventures.

BURBANK, Calif. — WAVE Ventures, a venture firm that invests in startups, appointed John Vilade as a venture partner and CEO of 6P Color, Inc., a developer of color technology and a WAVE Ventures portfolio company. Vilade brings decades of experience in the media industry to WAVE and 6P Color, having held senior leadership roles at companies such as NBC Universal, Hulu, Discovery Networks, and Tegna’s Premion.