Bill graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology with a degree in engineering physics. He went on to get his PhD from Northeastern University in electrical engineering and did a postdoc at Massachusetts General Hospital. Bill spent 10 years at Thorlabs supporting product development across the entire portfolio before concentrating his efforts to generate a series of immersive learning experiences.

Noa is a Rutgers graduate who specializes in marketing and creating engaging and relevant content within the fields of digital media, video production, advertising, graphic design, and web design. He is currently leading the efforts behind the Mobile Lab for Thorlabs and is working to build out this initiative further.

Nate Burdick has worked in the optics industry since 2007 after completing his master’s degree in optics at the University of Rochester. He has worked at Thorlabs Lens Systems (TLS) for six years as an optical engineer and is now the director of optical technologies. Burdick is working on upcoming custom optical designs and growing the internal capabilities of TLS.

After completing his Ph.D. in nanophysics from the University of South Carolina in 2013, Dr. Longfei Ye started his career as a physicist at MagAssemble, LLC, a startup company that commercializes a nanotechnology platform. He joined Thorlabs Spectral Works in 2019 as a senior physicist. Dr. Ye is leading the development of textured AR products at Thorlabs.

Ryan is a spectroscopist by training and has spent most of his career designing spectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging tools. Thorlabs acquired CIRTEMO in 2019 of which he was a co-founder. Currently, Ryan is the Director of Technology/Operations for the Thorlabs Spectral Works group in Columbia, SC.

Dr. Victoria Xu is a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT, where she works on quantum technologies for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, LIGO. She obtained her Ph.D. in Physics in 2020 from the University of California, Berkeley, having worked on trapped atom interferometers for gravimetry and tests of fundamental physics. Since joining the MIT-LIGO group in 2021, her research focuses on advancing the quantum limit of gravitational-wave detection with the LIGO interferometers.

Dr. Jost has over 25 years of research experience with 9 of those years spent working with Dr. Dave Wineland (Nobel Prize 2012) as both a Ph.D. student and a postdoctoral researcher in the Time and Frequency Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, CO USA. Dr. Jost received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder while performing his thesis research at NIST. His doctoral thesis work lead to the first demonstration of entangled mechanical oscillators, which was considered one of the top scientific breakthroughs of the year. In addition, this work lead to another experiment demonstrating a complete methods set for quantum computing – which was considered to be the physics breakthrough of the year. Prior to this work, Dr. Jost did research in the field of optical frequency combs with Prof. Jun Ye and Dr. John Hall (Nobel Prize 2005) at JILA in Boulder, CO USA. His work focused on creating one of the first optical frequency synthesizers.

After completing his postdoctoral research at NIST, Dr. Jost was awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship from the European Union to continue his postdoctoral work at EPFL. For the past 11 years, he has devoted his time and effort to developing the technology of optical microresonators, creating the first self-referenced micro-resonator optical frequency comb and developing a new, all-optical stabilization technique for microresonators. He is currently the co-founder and co-ceo of Enlightra the world's leading company in the commercialization of optical microresonator frequency comb technology.

Dr. Jens Küchenmeister is the leader of Thorlabs‘ Educational Products business unit. After studying physics and maths, he received his Ph.D. from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany where his doctoral thesis focused on the numerical solution of Maxwell’s equations in nanostructured systems. His high motivation for teaching physics, demonstrated by numerous voluntary teaching assignments, led him to Thorlabs, where he has been growing the educational business unit since 2013.

Dr. Nicola Reusch studied physical chemistry at the Philipp University of Marburg. After completing her Ph.D., she began her career at Thorlabs in 2016 as a Tech Support Engineer. Dr. Reusch started managing the Thorlabs Technical Sales team in March 2021, and today she is the Spectroscopy Sales & Solutions Manager. In her spare time, Dr. Reusch volunteers as a translator at the European Southern Observatory.

Navid Entezarian began his career at Thorlabs in 2013 as a production engineer, and has worked his way through the optics department to his current role as Business Development Manger. In this role, he focuses on growing the optics and mechanics unit here at Thorlabs. Navid graduated from New Jersey Institute of Technology with a degree in Physics and has since then been involved in the photonics industry to become a seasoned specialist in the optics field.

John Bowers holds the Fred Kavli Chair in Nanotechnology and is the Director of the Institute for Energy Efficiency and a Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Materials at UCSB. Dr. Bowers received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University and worked for AT&T Bell Laboratories and Honeywell before joining UC Santa Barbara. He is a cofounder of Nexus Photonics, Quintessent, Aurrion, Aerius Photonics, Terabit Technology and Calient Networks. His research is in silicon photonic integrated circuits and in narrow linewidth and low noise semiconductor lasers on silicon.

Carol Borsa has been with Thorlabs since a merge that occurred in 2020 and is currently working as the subject matter expert for the galvanometer product line. Within this role, Carol works to help customers choose catalog galvanometers that work for their application. She additionally works with customizations and alternative configurations for projects that have specific requirements within both R&D and OEM.

Dr. Blumenthal is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UCSB, Director of the Terabit Optical Ethernet Center, and head of the Optical Communications and Photonics Integration group. He is the Co-Founder of Packet Photonics Inc. and Calient Networks.

Eric Habermann has been with Thorlabs for over 10 years and is currently working as a Production Supervisor in the Optics department. Within this role, Eric works in the development and design of optics and opto-mechanical products for the Thorlabs catalog. He specifically concentrates in the isolator (free-space and fiber-to-fiber) product line on both manufacturing and design.

Thomas Corbitt is a professor at Louisiana State University in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. He received his PhD from MIT in 2008, and joined the LSU Faculty in 2011. As a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, he focuses his research on quantum optomechanics as it relates to improving the sensitivity of gravitational wave detectors.

David Gardner has been with Thorlabs for 10 years and is currently working as a Manufacturing Engineering Supervisor. Within his role, Dave leads the development and production of our fluoride optical fibers while also supporting the characterization, testing, and R&D for our silica and fluoride fiber manufacturing teams. Dave also plays a major role in the development of new fiber products and processes.

David Reitze is the Executive Director of the LIGO Laboratory and a Research Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology. He obtained a Ph. D. in Physics from the University of Texas at Austin, joining the University of Florida faculty in 1993 in the Physics Department where he remained until 2021. He was appointed as the Executive Director of the LIGO Laboratory at Caltech in 2011 where he currently oversees the scientific and engineering staff responsible for building and operating the LIGO Observatories in Hanford, WA and Livingston, LA. His research focuses on the development of ultrasensitive gravitational-wave detectors and gravitational-wave astronomy.

Dr. Rob Nerenberg is a professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at the University of Notre Dame. His research primarily centers on microbial biofilms for environmental applications. He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award and the Paul L. Busch Award for innovation in water research, and he is currently chair of the IWA Biofilms Specialist Group and an associate editor of npj Biofilms and Microbiomes.

Manfred joined Thorlabs in 1991 after graduating as an electronics engineer from the University of Applied Sciences in Munich, Germany. He began as a production engineer, expanding the production of laser instrumentation. In 2002, his role evolved to include the exploration of power and energy meters as well as other sensor products. In 2018, Manfred began leading the Thorlabs Light Detection and Analysis (LDA) Technology Department where he continues to grow and enhance the LDA product line.

Dr. Sebastian Schäfer studied Chemistry at the University of Siegen and graduated with a Master’s degree in 2008. After he obtained his doctorate in Physical Chemistry from the University of Hamburg in 2012, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Rochester for two years. He joined Thorlabs in 2015 where he currently leads a group of application engineers and supports Thorlabs’ OCT customers with pre- and post-sales needs.

Steve Jäger studied Physics at the University of Rostock and received his Master's degree in 2015. His Master's thesis focused on experimental quantum optics and the creation of non-classical light fields. Steve began his career as a development engineer in Hamburg and joined Thorlabs in 2017 where he is now part of the OCT development team, focusing primarily on OEM.

David Gardner has been with Thorlabs for almost 10 years and is currently working as a Senior Process Engineer. Within his role, Dave leads the development and production of our fluoride fiber while also supporting the characterization, testing, and R&D for our silica and fluoride manufacturing teams. Dave also plays a major role in the development of new fiber products and processes.

Dr. Elizabeth Olson received her BA and PhD in Physics from Barnard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her doctoral thesis was on electric sensing in weakly electric fish, and she transitioned to the auditory system as a postdoc at Boston University. Elizabeth is a professor in the departments of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery and Biomedical Engineering and has directed the Fowler Memorial Laboratory at Columbia University since 2001.

Dr. C. Elliott Strimbu received his PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles where he worked under Dolores Bozovic and used high-speed video microscopy to study mechanical responses of couple hair bundles from the frog sacculus. Following graduate school, he did a postdoc under Anders Fridberger at Linköping University in Sweden where he used confocal microscopy and calcium imaging to study the workings of the guinea pig cochlea. Since 2016, Elliott has worked at Columbia University under Elizabeth Olson and is presently using OCT to investigate the effects of ototoxic drugs on the active process in the mammalian ear.

Manfred joined Thorlabs in 1991 after graduating as an electronics engineer from the University of Applied Sciences in Munich, Germany. He began as a production engineer, expanding the production of laser instrumentation. In 2002, his role evolved to include the exploration of power and energy meters as well as other sensor products. In 2018, Manfred began leading the Thorlabs Light Detection and Analysis Technology Department where he continues to grow and enhance the LDA product line.

David Gardner has been with Thorlabs for almost 10 years and is currently working as a Senior Process Engineer. Within his role, Dave leads the development and production of our fluoride fiber while also supporting the characterization, testing, and R&D for our silica and fluoride manufacturing teams. Dave also plays a major role in the development of new fiber products and processes.

Jeff Brooker joined Thorlabs in 2008, starting Thorlabs Imaging Systems located in Sterling, VA. He now runs the Thorlabs Imaging Research Group, collaborating with life scientists and developing next-generation imaging systems.

Brian Mehl joined Thorlabs after working at HHMI Janelia in the Transcription Imaging Consortium. He uses his background as an instrument desiger and builder to lead collaborations on the development of advanced imaging techniques.

Before joining Thorlabs in 2015, Michael worked as Application and Process Development Manager at AFL. Within his current role, Michael utilizes his 30 years of experience in optical fiber processing to focus on fused fiber component fabrication, advanced fiber processing techniques, and product development.

Michael started at Thorlabs in 2008, using his background in physics to release catalog and custom items. He also coordinates LIDT testing and monitors the literature in this field to maintain in-house expertise in this area.

Dr. Leitner studied physics at the University of Graz, Austria. He began working with OCT systems in 2006 while pursuing his Ph.D. at the Universities of Porto, Portugal and Kent, United Kingdom. From 2010 to 2013, Dr. Leitner headed the OCT group at the Research Center for Non-Destructive Testing in Linz, Austria before joining Thorlabs in 2013. Today he is the Product Manager and Sales Manager for OCT at Thorlabs.

Jason Mills is the General Manager of Thorlabs Scientific Imaging in Austin, Texas. He holds an MBA and has been with Thorlabs for over 20 years, holding various roles within the organization. Some of his previous positions include General Manager of the Motion Control and Vibration Isolation Division in Ely, UK, Fiber Business Unit Leader, Web Development Manager, Motion Control Business Unit Leader, and Mechanical Design Engineer.

Joel White is a customer support engineer focusing on optical tables. Located at Thorlabs Ltd. in Ely, UK, Joel has supported Thorlabs products for more than three years, and received his B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Bristol.

Sönke Oswald studied physical chemistry at the University of Göttingen in Germany and focused during his Ph.D. on vibrational and rotational spectroscopy methods for gaining further insight into the electronic structures of weak hydrogen bonds. He joined Thorlabs in 2020 as a technical support engineer, with a focus on spectroscopy.

James “Adam” Fisher earned a B.S. in Physics from the University of South Carolina (USC) and is currently pursuing an MBA with a focus on Innovation. In 2015, Mr. Fisher joined MagAssemble, a start-up company spun out of research conducted at USC’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. This technology was ultimately acquired by Cirtemo, a developer of Multivariate Optical Computing/Element (MOC/MOE) technology. Cirtemo was acquired by Thorlabs in May of 2019, becoming Thorlabs Spectral Works (TSW). Located in Columbia, SC, Adam is currently the Team Lead at TSW, where he is leading engineering efforts to develop the next generation of MOE systems.

Dr. Yat Hei Lo is the leader of the liquid crystal (LC) product development group at Thorlabs in Shanghai, China. The LC group designs and develops a wide variety of polarization optics and devices, from simple variable retarders and optical shutters to tunable filters, laser stabilizers, polarization imaging devices, and spatial light modulators. Dr. Lo received his Ph.D. from the University of Auckland, New Zealand in 2009, and worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Hong Kong during 2009 to 2013. His background includes Polarization Optics, Interferometry, Spectroscopy, Imaging, and Modeling.  

Jack Cater, M.Sc. in Physics, has supported Thorlabs’ extensive portfolio from Thorlabs Ltd. in Ely, UK, for nearly 2 years.

Dr. Borgentun is part of the development team behind Thorlabs’ optical spectrum analyzers. He received his Ph.D. from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg in 2012, where he designed and built widely tunable semiconductor disk lasers. After a few years of developing custom lasers for space applications at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, he moved back to Sweden and joined the spectroscopy team at Thorlabs. Dr. Borgentun has published several peer-reviewed articles and has received numerous awards, including the JPL Outstanding Postdoctoral Research Award and a NASA Group Achievement Award.

Dr. Renlong Gao is the manager of the R&D and Manufacturing Department for Thorlabs’ Piezo Business Unit in Shanghai, China. He received his Ph.D. from Tsinghua University in 2015 for his doctoral thesis focused on lead-free piezoelectric ceramic materials and multilayer devices. He and his group have designed and produced over 100 kinds of piezo actuator components and piezo motion control devices for Thorlabs’ portfolio.

Dr. Jens Küchenmeister is the leader of Thorlabs‘ Educational Products business unit. He received his Ph.D. from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany where his doctoral thesis focused on the numerical solution of Maxwell’s equations in nanostructured systems. His high motivation for teaching physics, demonstrated by numerous voluntary teaching assignments, led him to Thorlabs, where he has been growing the educational business unit since 2013.

Brian Candiloro received his master’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1994. He has engineered embedded and control systems across many fields and applications, including defense, aerospace, automotive, energy utilities, and life sciences. He is a contributing inventor on nine patents. After more than 15 years developing galvanometers and related technologies, Brian has joined Thorlabs as the Director of Engineering at Thorlabs Measurement Systems.