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.  

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.