Management Team
Kotura has a world-class team who bring together deep expertise and proven track records in the silicon photonics industry as well as electronics. This leadership team is driven by a common purpose to advance communications technology and foster the adoption of photonics in a new range of applications.
- JEAN-LOUIS MALINGE - CEO and President
Jean-Louis brings extensive experience in business management and R&D in the photonics industry to Kotura. Most recently, Jean-Louis held the position of VP Optical Networking Products at Corning. Jean-Louis joined Corning’s Melun, France business unit in 1987 and moved to Corning, NY in 1996 to manage the photonics technology group. In 1998, he assumed the role of VP Optical Components. Jean-Louis holds an MS degree in Physics from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées and an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Business.
- MEHDI ASGHARI, Ph.D. - Chief Technology Officer
Mehdi brings to Kotura a vast background in progressive engineering and management expertise within the silicon photonics and optoelectronics industries. Most recently, Mehdi served as VP Research and Development of Bookham, Inc., where he was responsible for the R&D and manufacturing transfer activities behind all of Bookham's silicon-based technologies and products. Mehdi holds a Ph.D. degree in Optoelectronics from the University of Bath, a M.Sc. degree in Optoelectronics and Laser Devices from the Heriot-Watt and St. Andrews Universities, and a BA degree in Engineering from Cambridge University. He has authored or co-authored over 100 publications and holds more than 12 patents within the fields of silicon photonics and optoelectronics.
- SAMIR DESAI - VP Business Development
Samir brings to Kotura, a well rounded expertise in business development, strategic marketing/sales and account management, in the enterprise optics market. Most recently, Samir was responsible for active optics global business development at TE Connectivity. He has lead two business acquisitions – one for Primarion Opto Grp to Zarlink Semiconductor in 2006, where he served as VP/GM of Opto business, and second for Zarlink’s optical communication grp to TE Connectivity in 2010, where he served as VP Global Sales. He started his career at Qlogic Corp., and held several growing responsibilities in applications engineering, product marketing, and leading the Fiber Channel marketing grp, prior to joining Primarion Inc. in 2001. Samir holds a BSEE degree from California State University, Fullerton.
- ARLON MARTIN - VP Marketing, Contracts and Government Affairs
Arlon has an extensive background in the semiconductor and optoelectronics industries and has held executive level positions in sales, marketing, product and technical management. Prior to Kotura, Arlon served as VP Sales and Marketing at Agility Communications. Before joining Agility, Arlon held numerous management and marketing positions with Lucent Technologies and AT&T. He began his professional career at Bell Laboratories where he spent 5 years designing CAD tools. Arlon received his MS degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan.
- WAYNE WHITE - VP Operations
Wayne brings immeasurable expertise in silicon and silicon photonics process development and manufacturing to Kotura. Previously he held positions of VP of Operations at Forza Silicon, a fabless provider of image sensors, at Luxtera, and at Photobit, later acquired by Micron Technology. White began his career with Hughes Aircraft as Manager of Wafer Fabrication, and later became Operations Manager for Motorola Semiconductor Products, now known as Freescale. Mr. White holds an MS degree in Physics from Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
- XAVIER CLAIRARDIN - VP Product Marketing and Sales
Xavier brings to Kotura extensive executive experience in high technology products, general management, business development and product marketing and sales in the fiber optic and communication industries. Prior to Kotura he held the position of President of NKT Integration USA. Xavier was also a co-founder and VP of Marketing at Molex Fiber Optics which he helped turn into a $200M+ business. Xavier holds an MS degree in electrical engineering from Ecole Central, Lille in France.
- YICHENG LU - VP China Business
Yicheng Lu has a broad background in sales, business development, and R&D in optical components and fiber optic sensors. Prior to Kotura, Yicheng held the position of Sales Director and Country Manager of Great China at JDSU from 2006. Before joining JDSU, he was a Sales Director at Bookham in charge of the sales and business development activities since 2001. Before that, he had various roles in R&D at Bookham with 3 patents granted from 1995. Yicheng was a research fellow at Brunel University and received his Ph.D. in Engineering from Brunel University in the UK, and Master and Bachelor degrees in materials from NPU in China.
- DAVID CHANG - Sr. Director Finance and Administration
David’s comprehensive background includes financial and systems management experience working with technology startups and business consulting firms. Prior to Kotura, David served as Director of Finance for Lightcross, Inc., and as Senior Manager of Strategic Projects for Stamps.com, Inc., a publicly-traded Internet company. David began his professional career as a senior consultant with Arthur Andersen Business Consulting. David holds an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in Economics and Computer Programming, an MBA from the USC Marshall School of Business in Corporate Finance and has completed the Mergers and Acquisitions Program at Wharton School of Business – UPenn.