STELLAR Leadership
Who We Are
Thomas G. Brown, PhD
University of Rochester
PI / Interim CEO
Bio
Thomas G. Brown is director of The Institute of Optics and is a Mercer Brugler Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Rochester. He also holds a secondary appointment as a senior scientist at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. He has been on the faculty of The Institute since July of 1987, has held the rank of full professor since 2008, and is a Fellow of Optica and SPIE. He serves on the boards of the Luminate business accelerator, the New York Photonics Cluster, and the New York State photonics board, serves as chair of the annual multidimensional microscopy conference (Photonics West) and is the outgoing Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Modern Optics. He was the founding director of the Robert E. Hopkins Center for Optical Design and Engineering, the architect of the optical engineering curriculum at the Institute of Optics, served as a program co-chair for the centennial program of Optica, and is former president and honorary member of the Rochester Local Chapter of Optica. He was foundational in establishing the plans for the Test, Assembly, and Packaging program within AIM Photonics and serves on the leadership council of AIM Photonics. He led the effort to establish the NSF-funded STELLAR regional innovation engine centered on advancing laser technology in the Rochester, NY region and serves as PI and interim CEO.
Josanne DeNatale
FocusPath Consulting
Co-I / Workforce Development & Education
Bio
Josanne DeNatale is the Senior Consultant for Workforce Development & Community Outreach at FocusPath Consulting. Previously, DeNatale was president and co-founder of Cognitive Marketing Inc, a brand development and strategic marketing consultancy based in Rochester, NY that serves universities, colleges, independent schools, educationally oriented nonprofit organizations, and economic development initiatives across the country. DeNatale serves as chair of the Board of Advisors of the Horizons Student Enrichment Program at The Harley School of Rochester. DeNatale has also served as an advisor to the Center for Student Opportunity and their I’m First (ImFirst.org) initiative and the Rochester College Access Network (RCAN) of the Rochester Education Foundation.
Leah George VanScott, MBA
Greater Rochester Enterprise
Co-PI / Economic Development and Regional Coordination
Bio
Leah George VanScott manages relationships with corporate executives, site selectors to attract private capital investment and new jobs to the 9-county Greater Rochester, NY Region. GRE is described as the concierge to the region, providing critical information and connectivity to key business partners to support growth. Leah was directly involved in the attraction and expansion of Coca-Cola Fairlife, EvolvOptic, QED Technologies, Vuzix Corp., Corning, and many other companies. Leah serves on the Board of Directors of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, St. John Fisher’s School of Business Dean’s Advisory Council and is a Co-PI on the region’s NSF STELLAR Engine bid. Leah is a recipient of the Rochester Business Journal’s Women of Excellence, and 40 Under 40 awards, and St. John Fisher’s ‘Victor E. Salerno Award for American Enterprise’ and Excellence in Management. Prior to joining GRE, Leah spent more than a decade as a broadcast journalist. She graduated from SUNY Geneseo with a B.A. in communications, public relations and business and earned an M.B.A. from St. John Fisher College.
Stefan Preble, PhD
Rochester Institute of Technology
Co-PI / R&D Coordination and Higher Education Workforce Development
Bio
Stefan Preble is the Bausch and Lomb Professor in Microsystems Engineering & Director of the Microsystems Engineering Ph.D. Program at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). He is an expert in Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) design, fabrication, testing and packaging. His research is focused on the development of PICs for high performance computing, communication and sensing applications. He received a B.S. from RIT in Electrical Engineering (2002), and Ph.D. in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Cornell University (2007). He leads education initiatives for AIM Photonics, including, the online course, “Photonic Integrated Circuits 1” which has trained thousands on PIC design; he also leads AIM Photonics Testing & Packaging workshops and Hands-on Photonic Education Kits (HOPE) kits. He has published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and has received several awards recognizing his work, including a DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) Young Faculty Award and an AFOSR (Air Force Office of Scientific Research) Young Investigator Award.
Sujatha Ramanujan, PhD
Luminate NextCorps
Co-PI / Entrepreneurship and Business Acceleration
Bio
Sujatha Ramanujan is a serial entrepreneur and seasoned executive with 25 years of experience in Clinical Devices and in Consumer Electronics. Sujatha has started, built, and grown three startup businesses in cardiac surgical equipment, optical communications, and nano materials. In addition, as CTO and Product Line Manager of Mammography CAD and Pediatric Businesses within Kodak and Carestream, her team developed and launched clinical equipment and Clinical IT on every continent. Sujatha has held scientific, technical leadership, and laboratory head positions in Chrysler Corporation, GE, Kodak, Carestream, and Intrinsiq Materials. She holds 28 issued US patents. As a corporate investor for Kodak, then later working with regional investment councils she provides guidance to startups, M&A strategies for growing businesses, and vetting of technologies to investors. She has served on investment advisories in US, Canada, and Israel. Dr. Ramanujan holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan and is an Executive Board Member of the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
Alexis Vogt, PhD
Monroe Community College
Co-PI / Education and Workforce Development
Bio
Alexis Vogt, PhD is the Endowed Chair and Professor of the Optical Systems Technology program at Monroe Community College (MCC). A visionary leader in optics education and workforce development, Dr. Vogt has secured more than $17 million in funding to expand and modernize the program. Under her direction, enrollment and completion rates have grown exponentially, establishing MCC as a national model for optics technician training. In addition to her role at MCC, Dr. Vogt serves as Executive Director of Workforce and Higher Education at AmeriCOM, where she is scaling her successful workforce initiatives to partner institutions across the United States. Before entering academia, Dr. Vogt held key industry positions at Melles Griot and Bausch + Lomb. She earned both her B.S. and Ph.D. in Optics from the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester. Her contributions have earned international recognition, including the 2023 SPIE María J. Yzuel Educator Award, the 2021 RRPC Leadership Award, and the 2020 IEEE Technical Skills Educator Award.
Jonathan Zuegel, PhD
Laboratory for Laser Energetics
Co-I / Extreme Laser R&D
Bio
Jonathan Zuegel serves as the Laser and Materials Technology Division Director, and a Distinguished Scientist at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) and as a Professor of Optics in The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester. Dr. Zuegel led the Laser Development and Engineering Division from 2014 to 2019, and the Laser Technology Development Group from 2001 to 2014. Jon is a Fellow of Optica (formerly OSA) and he has served in numerous professional capacities chairing scientific conferences and international advisory committees. Jon joined LLE in 1996 after receiving his Ph.D. in Optics from The Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester. He served in the U.S. Navy in the Department of Energy, Division of Naval Reactors after receiving his B.S. (1983) and Masters of Engineering (1984) degrees in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.
Engine Support
Natalie Antal, MS
Luminate NextCorps
Bio
Natalie Antal is the Director of Sponsored Programs at NextCorps, Inc. She oversees grant programming, including proposal creation, post-award fiscal management, program implementation and operations, and sponsor reporting. Prior to joining NextCorps, Natalie served as the Finance, Operations, and Program Administrator with the Institute for Matter At eXtreme Energy Densities (IMAXED) at the University of Rochester. She spent nine years as the Associate Director of the University of Rochester’s Ain Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, where she managed grant- and donor-funded student co-curricular programming such as business plan competitions and a student incubator. Natalie holds a bachelor of science degree in public relations from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University and a master of science degree in marketing from the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester.
Dustin Newman, MDiv
University of Rochester
Institute of Optics
Bio
Dustin has spent eight years at The Institute of Optics, beginning his career as the Undergraduate Program Coordinator. During his first five years, he worked directly with the undergraduate population and expanded his role through extensive involvement in marketing and strategic projects, which led to his current position with both The Institute and STELLAR.
In addition, Dustin serves as a chaplain (Major) in the U.S. Army Reserve and has completed 18 years of service.