Jerry W. Kuper has joined Toptica Photonics as senior product manager for North America. "Dr. Kuper will be an exciting new step for Toptica in North America," said President and CEO Mark A. Tolbert. "We will now bring a local emphasis on product development in the United States." Kuper will provide local support for the diode laser company's products and applications. He co-founded Snake Creek Lasers in 2003 and served as senior scientist and consultant. He also previously held positions at Exfo Burleigh Instruments Inc., Laser Energetics Inc., Allied-Signal Inc. and TRW Inc. Kuper has performed R&D and produced commercial products that employ various nonlinear techniques, including stimulated Brillouin scattering, stimulated Raman scattering and nonlinear frequency conversion, from the infrared to the deep ultraviolet. He also has developed alexandrite laser systems for military, commercial and medical applications and has knowledge of neodymium-based solid-state laser systems and their harmonic conversion to various visible and UV wavelengths. Kuper is a co-inventor on 17 US patents and has five provisional patent applications. He is also the co-author of over 40 conference papers and journal publications and been an active member of The Optical Society since 1976. For more information, visit: www.toptica.com