Mr. David Baynes – Chairman

David is CEO of Fusion IP plc, the university intellectual property commercialisation firm and Phase Focus’s lead investor. David previously worked at Celsis International plc from its incorporation to its flotation on the full list of the London Stock Exchange in July 1993; Toad plc (now TG21 plc), which he co-founded, and was took from start-up to a full listing on the London Stock Exchange; Whereonearth Limited; and Codemasters Limited.

Dr. Ian Pykett – CEO

Ian has 25 years’ international experience in the commercialisation of high-tech innovations. He has previously worked as CTO of Intermagnetics General Corporation, where he grew a three-person R&D group into an energy technology spin-out subsidiary valued at £130 million; and as co-founder and CEO of Advanced NMR Systems, Inc. that increased its value to $75 million from its flotation value of $6.5 million. Ian was awarded the 1997 Rank Prize in Optoelectronics for Advanced NMR’s commercialisation of an innovation now used world-wide for functional MRI brain imaging. He has advised on innovation commercialisation and intellectual property asset management for university, RDA, start-up, SME and plc clients, and is Chairman of the UK STFC research council’s Innovation Partnership Scheme panel. A graduate of the universities of London, Birmingham and Nottingham, Ian has been elected to Fellowships of the Institute of Physics, and the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine.

Professor John Rodenburg – Chief Scientific Officer

John is recognised internationally for his pioneering development of the Ptychographical Iterative Engine (PIE) – the phase retrieval algorithm that forms the basis of the Phase Focus Virtual Lens. A Professor in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Sheffield, he is currently Principal Investigator on the £4.3 million “Ultimate Microscopy” lensless microscopy research programme, which is funded via the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s Basic Technology mechanism that “supports only basic, high quality technology research and training by selecting the most exciting and innovative ideas and the best people.” A graduate of the universities of Exeter and Cambridge, John has been elected to Fellowships of the Institute of Physics, and the Royal Microscopical Society.

Dr. Gary Gibson – Director of Sales and Marketing

Gary has over 12 years of experience working in high technology industries both in Europe and also in the US. He has held senior positions in a number of different companies, both blue chip and start-up such as Intense, Kromek and JDS Uniphase. He played a key sales role at Bede Scientific where a significant fraction of the company’s revenues were realised through his efforts. In addition to his sales and marketing experience he has a strong technical background with a PhD from Imperial College, London, where he won a number of scholarships and awards. He worked as a post-doc in the University of Cambridge prior to his move into industry.

Dr. Neil Loxley – Non-Executive Director

Neil is CEO at Instrumental Ltd., a firm that sells wireless telemetry systems. He was formerly CEO at Bede plc, the driving force in transforming Bede Scientific Instruments from a specialist scientific instruments company into a global semiconductor equipment company. A graduate of the universities of York and Durham, Neil is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, and is a non-executive Director of the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund.

Dr. Martin Humphry – Technical Director

Following the award of his PhD in the area of nanotechnology instrumentation, Martin was appointed post-doctoral research fellow at Nottingham University, and founded and led a spin-out company to commercialise a novel scanning probe microscope technology. Previously he had been a Design Consultant for Reuters ADL, where he was technical lead on the development of a real-time foreign exchange pricing system that is now in use throughout the world in many of the world’s largest banks.

Dr. Andrew Maiden – Optical Microscopy Consultant

Andy Maiden is a Post-Doctoral Research Scientist in Prof. Rodenburg's "Ultimate Microscopy" research programme at the University of Sheffield. He obtained an M. Eng. In Electronic & Electrical Engineering from Birmingham University (where he was recognised as Top Graduate) and has a PhD in Holographic Lithography from Durham University.

Mr. Nicholas Sleep – Software Systems Consultant

Nick’s background is in Computer Science, where he obtained a Masters degree from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. He also holds an MBA from Cranfield University School of Management. He has extensive general management and SME business development expertise, having been Business Unit Manager for the Informatics Business Unit at the Automation Partnership; VP Business Development at Procognia; VP Business development at Sense Protoemic; Chief Executive of Magnecell, Limited; and Chief Executive of Axordia Limited, acquired in 2008 by the Intercytex Group.

Mr. Joseph Robinson – Marketing Specialist (US)

Joe has 15 years of Sales Experience and 10 years of corporate management experience in microscopy including the role of Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at FEI Company Inc., the world leader in electron microscopy technologies and applications. He was founder and CEO of a semiconductor diagnostics and yield management instrument company that was acquired in 2007 by Omniprobe Inc., a leader in accessories for electron and ion beam microscopes.