Optoelectronics Veteran Named Lumics CEO

Berlin-based Lumics GmbH announced it has hired an optoelectronics industry veteran as CEO and a sales and marketing director to accelerate its growth in the industrial laser market. Lumics makes high-brightness laser diodes for telecommunications and fiber-coupled laser devices for the industrial and medical markets. Bruno Acklin, PhD, is Lumics' new CEO, effective Nov. 1. Acklin brings 15 years of international experience in marketing and engineering management with optoelectronic component manufacturers to his new position. Most recently at JDSU in San Jose, Calif., he directed the development of active components. He developed the high-power laser diode business segment at Osram Opto Semiconductors in Regensburg, Germany, from 1995 to 2000. As a researcher at AT&T Bell and Siemens corporate laboratories, he coauthored 15 patents and numerous publications on optoelectronics. Leading the company's sales and marketing efforts is 20-year international sales veteran Frank Laas. From 2004 to 2006 he managed worldwide sales for Limo; before that he developed and served customers for optical components and systems in Europe and the US for ELS and Newport. Lumics' COO, Karl Eberl, PhD, will focus on production and packaging, the company said, while Nils Kirstaedter, PhD, will continue to lead research and development and chip production as chief technology officer.