Anthony Kewitsch

CEO, Chairman and Co-Founder

Dr. Kewitsch has 20 years of high-tech startup experience developing fiber optic switching products through conception, product development and qualification, marketing and sales. Previously, he co-founded Arroyo Optics Inc., a VC funded developer of wavelength selective switches and add/drop multiplexers for dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM).

At Arroyo he served as a Member of the Board and as Vice President of Research and Development from 1995 to 2005. He is currently a Member of the Board of Directors of Telaris Inc., a high power laser company he previously co-founded. He received a B.S. in electrical engineering with distinction from Stanford University in 1991 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in applied physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1993 and 1995. He was an Eastman Kodak Scholar and an ONR, NSF, Tau Beta Pi and Caltech Special Institute Fellow. Dr. Kewitsch holds approximately 50 patents and is the author of over 25 research papers.

Amnon Yariv

Co-founder, Director

Amnon Yariv is an Israeli-American professor of applied physics and electrical engineering at Caltech, known for innovations in optoelectronics. In 2010, Yariv was selected as a winner of the National Medal of Science for "scientific and engineering contributions to photonics and quantum electronics that have profoundly impacted lightwave communications and the field of optics as a whole.” He has also been selected to receive the IEEE Photonics Award for 2011. Yariv is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. In 1985 he was awarded the Harold Pender Award by the University of Pennsylvania. In 1992 he was awarded the Harvey Prize by the Technion in Haifa, Israel, for "Pioneering contributions to optoelectronics, wave propagation in crystals and nonlinear and phase conjugate optics, and his demonstration of semiconductor-based integrated optics technology leading to the development of high-speed and stable solid state lasers.” Yariv has authored several texts on optical electronics and photonics.

The highlight of his group's work was the invention of the semiconductor distributed feedback laser, a device widely used in the Internet's fiber-optic communications. Prof. Yariv co-founded Ortel Corp. (formerly Nasdaq: ORTL), which was subsequently acquired by Lucent for ~$3B.

Kip Hagopian

Director

Kip Hagopian is chairman emeritus of Maxim Integrated Products, a leader in the analog and mixed-signal semiconductor industry. He has had a 30-year career in high-technology, venture capital investment. He co-founded Brentwood Associates, high-technology venture capital and private equities firm, and for many years headed its high technology investment group.  

While Kip was a full-time partner of Brentwood, he was responsible for several of the firm’s most successful investments, including Apple Computer, Maxim Integrated Products, and Teradata Corporation, all of which are public companies.  During his venture-capital career, Hagopian served in several industry leadership positions, including president and chairman of the National Venture Capital Association. 

Kip has many non-profit affiliations and has authored or co-authored five public policy articles and four op-eds that have been published in prominent journals or newspapers. Topics include: income inequality; health care reform; the progressive income tax; the corporate income tax; and the accounting treatment of employee stock options.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Industrial Design, and an MBA, both from the University of California, Los Angeles.  After graduate school, he served as an artillery officer in the U.S. Army.

Russ Johnson

Director

Russ Johnson is currently a partner with KPLJ Ventures and works with early-stage companies developing promising new technologies, particularly those technologies in complex electronic, optical, and semiconductor products. Since entering the investment community, Russ has been involved in the management and financing of startup companies in a wide variety of technologies and markets.  Through the board-level assignments, he has been instrumental in helping companies develop products leading to successful exits either through IPOs or acquisitions.  He has served on numerous private and public company boards.

From May 1998 through September 2000 Russ served as the Senior Vice-President of Global Sales and Marketing for JDS Uniphase.  During that period he was responsible for the formation of a worldwide sales organization and an integrated marketing program as well as playing an active role in companies’ M&A activities.  Prior to joining JDS Uniphase Russ spent over twenty years with the Hewlett Packard Company (now Agilent Technologies) in a variety of marketing, operational, and international business roles.  Russ has a BSEE from New Mexico State University and an MBA from Purdue University.  He also serves on the boards of several non-profits like the Pacific Research Institute.

Gary Spiegel

Director

Gary Spiegel was previously the Senior Vice President of Business Development for Newport Corporation a global Photonics technology company listed on NASDAQ now part of the MKSI corporation. He has been associated with the Laser and Photonics industry for more than 45 years. Mr. Spiegel is a marketing graduate of Baruch College in New York City. He has completed continuing education programs in laser technology at NYU and executive education programs at UCLA Anderson School of Business. Prior to joining Newport Corporation in 1991, Gary held senior management positions with Klinger Scientific a subsidiary of Micro-Controle France. At Newport, Gary has held a variety of executive positions including Vice President of Global Sales, Service, and Marketing. Prior to retiring in 2016 he led Newport’s strategic business development / Mergers and Acquisitions agenda. Gary is a member of the OSA where he was one of the founding organizers of the OSA’s Executive Forum on Optical Fiber Communications. He is a Fellow of the SPIE and previously served as the Secretary and Treasurer for the SPIE . He currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Luna Innovations Inc. (NASDAQ: LUNA) a fiber optics technology company.