BTI Photonics adds executives
Joining BTI are Lance Laking as president and CEO, Chris Egner as vice president of business development and sales, and David Teed as vice president of product marketing.
"We're thrilled to have these three people join BTI's management team. They each have extensive experience and stature within the photonics industry," said Vincent So, co-founder and CTO, BTI Photonics. "This new management team will move BTI out of stealth-mode as we introduce our next-generation photonics components and move into the market."
With the appointment of Lance Laking, BTI is gaining the insight and endorsement of a proven entrepreneur. Laking founded the Canadian subsidiary of the Swiss-based wireless and optical component manufacturer, HUBER+SUHNER.
As managing director, he was responsible for building the Canadian subsidiary from its inception into one of HUBER+SUHNER's highest growth regions in the world. Laking has over 15 years experience in building and managing component sales companies. He holds a business degree from the University of Waterloo and is a chartered accountant.
Chris Egner joins BTI from Nortel Networks. At Nortel, Egner was the director of North American sales for emerging service providers. He oversaw the sales force handling Nortel's portfolio of converged Internet telephony and voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) products and services. Egner brings over 15 years experience to BTI in setting up and managing component sales channels and direct sales teams involved in radio-frequency/microwave, optical, and digital/analog semiconductor sales.
David Teed was co-founder and product strategy leader of Bridgewater Systems. Teed has more than 20 years of experience in strategic marketing and product positioning over a wide range of advanced optical technologies, including work with Nortel Networks.
BTI recently announced the receipt of CDN $9.5 million in financing from top venture capital firms. The company also announced a shift in focus from being a market leader in fiberoptic network test equipment to providing innovative modules and advanced components for the exploding DWDM market in both the long-haul and metropolitan area network (MAN). DWDM is a technology that enables telecommunications carriers to increase bandwidth on existing fiber networks without laying more fiber.
BTI produces erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) and fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). An EDFA is an optical amplifier that amplifies a light signal for propagation across long-distance fiber networks. EDFAs allow light signals to propagate as light rather than having to be converted to electrical signals and back to light signals across an entire fiber route. FBGs filter and redirect wavelengths of light.
About BTI Photonics Inc.
BTI Photonics Inc., incorporated in 1997, is a supplier of innovative modules and advanced components for the DWDM market. BTI's product offering of EDFAs, FBGs and advanced optical component technologies provide telecommunications companies with competitive, fiber-optic products for broadband systems in long-haul and MAN networks as well as next generation dynamic all-optical networks. For more information, visit www.btiphotonics.com/.
Executive biographies
Lance Laking, President and CEO
Prior to joining BTI Photonics, Lance founded the Canadian subsidiary of the Swiss-based wireless and optical component manufacturer, HUBER+SUHNER. As managing director, he was responsible for building the Canadian subsidiary from its inception into one of HUBER+SUHNER's highest growth regions in the world.
From 1987 to 1995, Lance was one of the founders and subsequently the senior vice-president and COO of Dynasty Components Inc. Dynasty is an organization that represents Canadian manufacturers of optoelectronic, interconnect and semiconductor component sales.
Lance has over 15 years of experience in building and managing component sales companies. He holds a business degree from the University of Waterloo and is a chartered accountant.
Vincent So, Chief Technology Officer
Before founding BTI Photonics, Vincent held several strong leadership positions during his 20 years of diversified experience in the fiberoptics industry. Most recently, he served as director of technology at Antel Optronics Inc., where he headed the development of fiberoptics test instruments.
From 1993 to 1995, Vincent was the vice-president of planning for ATS Communications, where he managed the infrared wireless product line for local area network applications. Vincent also worked extensively with Bell Northern Research, from which he has received a number of awards of excellence. He has 20 patent awards, and has had over 50 technical papers published.
Vincent holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Toronto.
Chris Egner, Vice-President of Business Development and Sales
Prior to joining BTI Photonics, Chris was director of North American sales for emerging service providers with Nortel Networks. Chris was responsible for managing the sales of Nortel's portfolio of converged Internet telephony and voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) products and services.
Chris has also held the roles of both vice-president of sales and vice-president of corporate business development during 6 years at Dynasty Components and prior to that he was with electronic components distributor Future Electronics. Chris brings over 15 years of experience to BTI in setting up and managing component sales channels and direct sales teams involved in radio-frequency/microwave, optical, and digital/analog semiconductor sales.
David Teed, Vice-President of Marketing
Prior to joining BTI Photonics, David was a co-founder and product strategy leader of Bridgewater Systems. David has also held a number of key management positions within the systems design and product management and marketing organization at Nortel Networks.
David has more than 20 years of experience in strategic marketing and product positioning over a wide range of advanced optical technologies.
Paul J. Vella, Vice-President of Manufacturing
Prior to joining BTI Photonics, Paul held senior management positions at Nortel Networks, Digital Equipment and the National Optics Institute. With a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, Paul has worked in the field of fiber optics for the last 20 years where he developed technology that resulted in many successful products. As director of the Photonics Sector at the National Optics Institute, he was instrumental in the creation of several new initiatives in optical-communication technology that resulted in substantial revenue for the institute.
Paul has more than 30 publications and 13 patents to his name, in the fields of fiberoptic, acousto-optic and electro-optic technology.
Zhenguo Lu, Senior Scientist
Prior to joining BTI Photonics, Zhenguo gained over 15 years of solid experience with all-optical WDM networking systems and components through several large-scale research and development projects. Most recently, he worked as a research officer for the Photonic Systems Group, a part of the National Research Council of Canada. In this role, Zhenguo designed and built fiber amplifiers and wavelength converters for all-optical networks.
Zhenguo was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship of Germany, to conduct research for the Institute of Semiconductor Electronics in Germany from 1994 to 1995. He is the author or co-author of 56 referenced journal and conference papers.
Zhenguo earned his Ph.D. in Laser Physics from Zhongshan University in China.
Robin C. Tam, Senior Scientist
Robin is a multi-disciplined manager with a solid background in industrial research and development. Prior to joining BTI Photonics, he gained twelve years of industrial experience in optoelectronics, laser systems and laser instrumentation design. In addition, he spent five years conducting institutional research and development in photonics. Most recently, Robin worked as a senior scientist at Photonics Research Ontario. In this capacity, he advised and assisted academic and industrial clients in their research, designed new testing methods, and trained users in specific technical areas in photonics including licensed technology transfers.
Robin holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Toronto.
Subscribe to our free e-mail newsletter.
Click for a free Buyer's Guide listing.