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A world leader in the field of Nonimaging Optics CEO: Roberto Alvarez, President & CEO: Roberto Alvarez, MBA-Finance, the Wharton School , University of Pennsylvania and BS in Engineering, UCLA. Mr. Alvarez has over thirty years of entrepreneurial and management experience. He has headed several companies as CEO in the fields of Solar Energy, Solar Micro-utilities and Energy Conservation. He has also varied experience in Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering of thermal solar collectors, mainframe computers, computer peripherals, and other electromechanical devices. Mr. Alvarez has participated as co-inventor in several patents in the field of Nonimaging Optics, some of which are pending. Executive VP: Waqidi Falicoff, MA, A.A. School of Architecture, London, England and BA, SUNY at Stony Brook, has had a varied career in Architecture, Energy Sciences, Lighting and Nonimaging Optics. While a Professor at four Universities in 1970s and 1980s, Mr. Falicoff taught in the fields of architectural and energy sciences, including lighting, illumination and especially solar engineering. He did pioneering research during this period in solar energy systems. This culminated in his co-authoring the book “The Solar/Wind Handbook”. At LPI, Mr. Falicoff has been active in the development of “remote phosphor” LEDs leading to patented technology in this cutting-edge field. More recently he has performed R&D into concentrating solar PV systems. He holds 10 patents in the fields of Thermochromic Optics, Nonimaging Optics, Chemical Solvent Systems and has authored/co-authored 14 technical papers on nonimaging optics. Chief Scientist: Dr. H. John Caulfield received his Ph.D. in 1962 and ever since has done celebrated work in a variety of fields. He is perhaps best known for his work in Holography, especially for his popularization of the field as curator of exhibits and author of the National Geographic story that introduced over 25 million people to the subject. He has also done work in Computers (Byte magazine called him one of the 63 most influential people in that field), Optical Computing (Fortune magazine called him that field's pioneer), and in Image and Signal Processing (Business Week called him "One of America's 10 Top Scientists"). Dr. Caulfield's extensive body of work includes a long list of publications, including several books and a wide range of patents. He has published more than 250 refereed journal papers, 39 book chapters, 13 books, and holds 29 patents. Technology Director: Oliver Dross, MS Physics, University of Konstanz, Germany, has designed for and managed development programs in LED and incandescent automotive exterior lighting for a major automotive TIER 1. Mr. Dross worked several years for LumiLeds Lighting in R&D, optical designs of high brightness LEDs and their applications. He has setup optical laboratories equipped with a wide range of illumination test equipment. At LPI, Mr. Dross has been Technology Director, overseeing the optical design activities of the European LPI office and has been actively involved in a large number of designs in varied fields such as backlighting, general illumination, video projection, automotive headlamps, and solar concentration. He has published more than 12 papers, and holds 4 patents. Isabel Gavilanes-Pérez, Project Mgr., Ph.D. Physics, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain. Dr. Gavilanes carried out her research work in the Institute Hahn-Meitner at the Solar Energy Department, Advanced Technology Division, in Berlin, Germany, where she set up the lock-in Infrared Thermograpy Laboratory. In 2004, she moved to Pamplona, Spain, and was in charge of the PV characterization Laboratory at the Renewable Energy National Centre. She developed a spatially resolved and non-destructive procedure on chalcopyrite based PV solar modules for shunts localization. Chief Imaging Scientist: Ilya Agurok Dr. Agurok received his Ph.D. in optical engineering in 1987 from St. Petersburg Technical University’s LITMO. For 18 years he was a lead designer at a major optics production company. For 12 years he was principal scientist at Physical Optics Corporation. During this time Dr. Agurok developed new methods and software for optical system design and testing, software for an automatic interferometer, automatic focusing night-vision goggles and an innovative Hartmann auto-focus sensor. He has designed many other imaging optical systems for defense and medical applications. He has published more than forty papers and holds nine patents. Optical Scientist: Rubén Mohedano, Ph.D., Polytechnic University of Madrid, Summa Cum Laude, has been involved in non-imaging optical design, under the direction of Professors Miñano and Benítez, utilizing the SMS methods that they pioneered. He has led the development of high-tech concepts in fields such as Concentration Photovoltaics (where he participated in the design of 1000x concentration systems) and General Illumination (including advanced surgical illuminators). His most recent work has dealt with outstanding designs of LED automotive headlights. These concepts comprise a unique depth in optical sophistication and have buttressed the development of the SMS method in its 3D free-form version. He has participated in 5 patents, 2 books and more than 30 publications, including magazines, journals and congress proceedings. Optical Scientist: Julio Chaves, Ph.D. Physics, Instituto Superior Técnico, UTL, Lisbon, Portugal. Dr. Chaves did postgraduate work with distinction at the Solar Energy Institute, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. After joining LPI, Dr. Chaves has done design work at the California and Madrid offices and at LPI Precision Optics in Hong Kong developing the software programs used by LPI in the cutting of prototypes and mold inserts utilizing diamond turning machines. Dr. Chaves is the author of the book "Introduction to Non-Imaging Optics", published by CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group. He developed the new concepts of stepped flow-line optics and ideal light confinement by caustics (caustics as flow lines). He also participated in the early development of the simultaneous multiple surface design (SMS) method in 3D geometry. He holds seven patents and is the coauthor of more than 20 papers in the field of Non-Imaging Optics. Optical Scientist: Maikel Hernandez, Ph.D., Polytechnic University of Madrid, Summa Cum Laude, has been involved in the field of non-imaging optical design under the direction of Professors Miñano and Benítez, and has utilized a wide range of non-imaging optical design methods for such applications as General Illumination optics and Very High-concentration Photovoltaic System systems. He has used the SMS method for illumination optics and last-mile communication systems. Dr. Hernandez has considerable experience in solid-state lighting optics for automotive applications and was a key player in the design of the LED-based rear combination lamp for the 2003-2007 SRX Cadillac SUV. He has participated in 4 patents, 1 book and more than 25 publications, including magazines, journals and congress proceedings. Optical Scientist: Fernando Muñoz, Ph.D., Polytechnic University of Madrid, Summa Cum Laude, and M. Music, Royal Conservatory of Music of Madrid, has been involved in the field of non-imaging optical design under the direction of Professors Miñano and Benítez. His work includes the improvement in the design of 2D RXI concentrators. Dr. Muñoz has extended the Simultaneous Multiple Surfaces (SMS) design method to imaging optics and has designed ultra compact digital front and rear projection optics. He has published twelve papers and holds three patents. Associate: Juan Carlos Miñano, Ph.D., Prof. of Electronics (Chairman), Optical Communications and Optics at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain, is one of the brightest minds in non-imaging optics, having made pioneering contributions to wireless optical links, photovoltaic solar energy and illumination. Dr. Miñano has extensive technical knowledge and patents in those fields and will lend both breadth and depth to LPI's research and product development. Co-inventor of the 2D and 3D Simultaneous Multiple Surfaces (SMS) design method, Dr. Miñano is a world renowned nonimaging optical scientist. Associate: Pablo Benítez, Ph.D., Prof. of Electronics, Optical Communications and Optics at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain. Dr. Benítez has published many papers on nonimaging optics and ultra high numerical aperture imaging concentrators (such as:"Ultra-compact Nonimaging Devices for Optical Wireless Communications" Optical Engineering, May 1999) and is the co-inventor of the 2D and 3D SMS non-imaging optical design methods. Dr. Benitez has extensive experience in the design and manufacture of advanced optical components for a variety of applications, including free space optical communications and high concentrating optics for use with photovoltaic cells. Associate: Roland Winston, Ph.D., Prof. of Physics (Chairman), University of California at Merced and former Prof. (Chairman) of the Dept. of Physics, University of Chicago, is known as the "father of Non-Imaging Optics", with over 25 patents in this field, including the invention of the Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC). His contributions to this field are extensive, including such highly praised works on the subject as his seminal book on the subject, "High-Collection Non-Imaging Optics", which he co-authored with Dr. W. T. Welford. Dr. Winston will contribute extensively to LPI's optical applications and theoretical work. Associate: William Parkyn, BS, MIT, is a pioneer in the field of Nonimaging Optics, as well as in Solar Energy, having run his own solar water heater manufacturing company and having been one of the country's leading test engineers of thermal solar systems. Before being associated with LPI, he co-founded TIR Technologies, which later became Teledyne Lighting and Display, where he was a senior optical scientist for several years. His professional work also includes space systems engineering for SDI and digital image processing for the Viking Mars Lander. Mr. Parkyn has helped LPI write many of its patents and holds many illumination-optics patents of his own. |
