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. Tom also 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 and 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 / Education and Workforce Development

Bio

Josanne DeNatale is the co-founder of FocusPath LLC and serves as its Senior Consultant for Workforce Development & Community Outreach. She was the National Marketing & Workforce Development Operations Director for the American Center for Optics Manufacturing where she led the team that established four new college-based training programs for Optics Technicians. Previously, Josanne was president and co-founder of Cognitive Marketing Inc, a brand development and strategic marketing consultancy based in Rochester, NY, that served universities, colleges, independent schools, educationally oriented nonprofit organizations, and economic development initiatives across the country. Josanne served as chair of the Board of Advisors of the Horizons Student Enrichment Program at The Harley School of Rochester. She 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 and 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, 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 University.

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 (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.

N. Darius Sankey, PhD

Innovation Acceleration Capital

Venture Capital and
IP Management

Bio

N. Darius Sankey is a seasoned executive with over three decades of experience in venture capital, high technology, and IP portfolio management. He is currently a Managing Director and founding member of Innovation Acceleration Capital (IAC), an organization dedicated to fueling open innovation by bridging the gap between R&D and commercialization.

Since January 2024, Dr. Sankey has served as a Visiting Professor at The Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester. He is developing graduate curricula designed to equip PhD engineering students with essential skills in IP strategy, valuation, and venture capital business models. His academic footprint also includes serving as an adjunct professor at the UCSD Rady School of Business since 2008.

Dr. Sankey’s extensive leadership background includes:

  • Intellectual Ventures: Senior Director of Portfolio Management, heading investment strategy for a $2.5B IP fund.
  • Sway Ventures & Ocean Tomo: Managing Director leading Innovation Management and serving as Co-President of Ocean Tomo China.
  • DFJ – Zone Ventures: Managing Director from 1999–2010.
  • Strategic Roots: Early career roles at McKinsey & Company, RAND, and AT&T Bell Laboratories.

He has served on numerous boards, including Mosaic Microsystems, Neven Vision (acquired by Google), and SPIE’s Finance Advisory Committee. He is also a key member of the investment committee for Luminate, the world’s largest optics accelerator.

Dr. Sankey holds a Ph.D. in Optical Engineering from the University of Rochester and dual B.S. degrees in Physics and Electrical Engineering from MIT.

Alexis Vogt, PhD

Monroe Community College
and New York Photonics

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 at the University of Rochester, 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.