DAVID CREASEY EPIC CEO INTERVIEW
EPIC CEO INTERVIEW In this interview, Antonio Castelo , PhD, EPIC’s Technology Manager for Bio-Medical and Lasers, talks to David Creasey , CEO of Wasatch Photonics, a US supplier of gratings, spectroscopy, and OCT products. DAVID CREASEY
What’s the background to your appointment as CEO at Wasatch Photonics? In 1998, I completed a PhD in Chemistry at Leeds University in the UK that focussed on remote
How difficult was it to recruit the right people?
holographic (VPH) grating technology, for laser pulse compression, astronomy, spectral imaging, and optical coherence tomography (OCT), for researchers and OEMs. In 2010, the company formed a new division in North Carolina to produce spectrometers and systems for spectroscopy and OCT. Nowadays, we have a workforce of 70, and we produce some of the most sensitive compact spectrometers in the world, covering OCT, Raman, NIRS, and fluorescence spectroscopy. These, together with our high-performance gratings, are used in research labs around the world. We also work with OEMs serving the defence and security, materials processing, sensing, analytical instrumentation, medical, and energy markets. And as a vertically integrated supplier, we have the expertise and resources to create bespoke products.
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While the name Wasatch means something in Utah, it doesn’t resonate in North Carolina - to
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the extent that a lot of people thought we were not US based. Nevertheless, I was fortunate in being able to leverage the contacts I had made in the industry, who, together with Wasatch’s Supply Chain Director, helped me create profiles and job descriptions, and assisted me in the recruitment process itself. I inevitably fell victim to the Goldilocks effect, i.e., hiring somebody with a particular skill set who turned out not quite right, i.e., too hot, then hiring somebody with the entire opposite skill set who turned out too cold, and then looking for someone in the middle. I got a few things wrong, but in general, we’ve been successful in creating a talented workforce that is now double the size it was in 2016.
instrumentation for atmospheric sensing. This was followed by a period of postdoc research, during which I got to see how various companies around the world were developing instrumentation for real world applications. This was a valuable learning experience because although I was, and still am, passionate about science, I came to realise that without monetization, science remains just a hobby. In 2001, I was very fortunate to join Edinburgh-based Photonic Solutions as a laser service engineer where, for the next 9 years, I was responsible for OEM sales and new business development. This was another valuable learning experience as I met some very capable and talented academics and learnt the importance of understanding exactly what the customer wanted from the technology we provided. Then, in 2010, I joined Ocean Optics, a supplier of miniature spectrometers. I started as Sales Manager responsible for sales in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and in 2012, I moved to the US after being promoted to VP responsible for global sales and marketing. I stayed at Ocean until I was appointed CEO of Wasatch Photonics in 2016.
What were the main challenges when you started at Wasatch?
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How has the spectroscopy sector evolved in recent years?
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At Ocean Optics, I was responsible for year-on-year growth, as well as the
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Until recently, our two leading applications were threat detection following 9/11, and OCT for
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development of several new spectrometer and application-ready products. Wasatch took me on to do the same for them - basically to grow the company. The main challenge was that although the company had made great strides in developing the technology, we did not have any commercialisable products or the infrastructure to scale up. Accordingly, my first priority was to revamp the product line so we could monetise the technology. This involved modernizing the facility and hiring new personnel to build quality management, finance, and supply chain systems that would enable us to go out and scale the business.
ophthalmology. But in the last 5 years, there has been an acceleration of Raman spectroscopy applications due the availability of compact, portable instruments, more sophisticated data analysis, and greater understanding of what the technique has to offer. Nowadays, we provide Raman systems for applications such as the analysis of next-generation materials like graphene; food quality; pharma quality control; the detection of hazardous gases; and for biomedical applications like diagnostics for bacterial detection, non-invasive testing of blood quality, and the detection of infectious diseases and cancer.
How has the company developed?
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Wasatch Photonics was founded in 2002 in Logan, Utah at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains,
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hence its name. The aim was to produce disruptive volume phase
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| ISSUE 38 | Q3 2024
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