Bridger Photonics Adds CEO: People in the News: 1/29/25

Bridger Photonics, an aerial methane detection company, has appointed Ben Little as CEO, replacing company founder Pete Roos, who will assume the role of chief innovation officer. Little has previous leadership experience in data, software, and platform development. He currently serves as CEO of Bloomfire. The leadership transition is set to take effect Feb. 18.

Pete Roos (left) and Ben Little. Courtesy of Bridger Photonics.

SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE, France — Robotics developer Exail has added Bruno Desruelle as CEO of its photonics business line. He previously served as vice president of Exail’s photonics line and also as managing director of its quantum sensors division. Desruelle is the founder and former CEO of Muquans before it was acquired by Exail in 2021.

Bruno Desruelle. Courtesy of Exail.

PREROV, Czechia — Meopta S.R.O., an optical technology manufacturing company, has appointed Jan Vymazal as CEO, Rudolf Kodytek as CCO, Dusan Sevc as CFO, and Kevin Liddane as senior director. Vymazal previously held leadership roles at companies such as Edwards, the GGE Group, and Milacron; Kodytek led sales and marketing for major companies such as Johnson & Johnson’s Bonotrans Group and Cordis; Sevc was partner and private equity leader for Deloitte; and Liddane most recently served in sales and business development roles at Berliner Glas Group and SwissOptic AG.

Pankaj Malik. Courtesy of STL.

MUMBAI, India — Optical and digital solutions company STL has added Pankaj Malik as interim CEO of the company’s global services business and Jeric McCoy as vice president of sales of its U.S. subsidiary Sterlite Technologies. Malik has over 27 years of experience in strategic operations, digital transformations, and stakeholder management, with 20 years in the telecom sector including companies such as Philips India, Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel, and most recently as COO of Crest Digital. McCoy brings over 25 years of experience in the outside plant market, having held progressive leadership positions with companies like Raychem, AFL, Prysmian, and Superior Essex.

Elizabeth M.C. Hillman. Courtesy of St. Jude.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has selected Elizabeth M.C. Hillman as the founding chair of its new department of imaging sciences. The department’s mission will be to develop new imaging and measurement approaches that will enable scientific studies and improve patient care, while maximizing the impact of discoveries through technology sharing. Hillman joins St. Jude from Columbia University, where she was a Herbert and Florence Irving Professor in the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute and a tenured professor in both the departments of biomedical engineering and radiology. Over the past 20 years, she has developed and applied a range of imaging and data analysis methods, including technologies that have been licensed to PerkinElmer and Leica Microsystems.

AUSTIN, Texas — Pulsed power and electromagnetic systems developer APELC has appointed Austin Hewitt and David M. Johns as electrical engineer and senior electrical engineer, respectively. Hewitt recently established Quanta Pulse Technologies LLC to develop and commercialize off-the-shelf products for pulsed power and power electronics. Before joining APELC, Hewitt worked in Texas Tech University’s pulsed power and power electronics research lab. Johns has 27 years of experience in power electronics design, systems engineering, and project management, most recently at Enphase Energy, and holds six patents, including a 12 kV LC vector inversion Marx bank.

RESTON, Va. — Bowman Consulting Group Ltd., an engineering services firm, has added Andy Dearing as executive vice president overseeing all aerial imaging operations nationally. In this role, he will direct all high-altitude aerial orthoimagery, digital mapping, and lidar operations acquired in connection with the company’s April 2024 purchase of Surdex. He will also manage the integration of the company’s drone-based imaging and scanning services with Surdex’s capabilities. Prior to joining Bowman, Dearing worked at GeoFutures and served as CEO of Boundless Spatial.