Our Team
Meet our dynamic team of innovative chemists,
engineers, and business leaders
Our Leadership
Craig Bandes has over 25 years of experience as a CEO, entrepreneur, and investor building companies in the technology, defense and professional services industries. Craig has been President & CEO of Pixelligent Technologies since 2009, a company that is leveraging next generation nanomaterial development and manufacturing technology to disrupt the chemicals industry. Pixelligent was recognized as the Manufacturer of the Year in 2017 by the Frost & Sullivan Manufacturing Leadership Council. Prior to rebuilding Pixelligent, Craig was the President & CEO of Global Secure Corp, a high tech company focused on providing homeland security software, training, and equipment solutions. He grew Global Secure from a start-up to over 175 people, with operations in 5 states, and completed four acquisitions. Craig has negotiated over $300 million in financial transactions, has completed acquisitions and strategic partnerships in the United States, Asia and Europe, and has built sales and distribution channels on a global basis. He sits on the Board of Directors of Pixelligent and is a member of the NanoBusiness Alliance Advisory Board. Craig received degrees in Finance and Entrepreneurship from Babson College.
Serpil Gonen Williams, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer, has over 20 years of experience in developing nanomaterials for various cutting-edge applications where the combination of high refractive index, high transparency, and low haze are essential. She has been instrumental in establishing Pixelligent’s PixClear®, PixJet®, and PixNIL® product portfolios. As the technical point of contact in several multi-million dollar JDAs with leading commercial partners and principle investigator in government grants, she has led the R&D and product development group in creating the highest quality metal oxide capped-nanocrystals and formulations for applications in AR/MR, display, sensor, and optical coatings. She manages Pixelligent’s IP portfolio and is an inventor of more than 40 patents and applications. She has also authored or co-authored 16 articles in peer-reviewed journals. She has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she studied solid-state and inorganic chemistry.
Tom joined Pixelligent in 2021. Tom is a Senior Level executive with 25+ years of experience assisting primarily high-technology growth companies in financial and operational capacities. Prior to Pixelligent, Tom was the CFO of Phononic, an advanced thermoelectric semiconductor technology company. Tom has also held CFO and CEO positions at companies such as Solid State Equipment Corporation, EMCORE Corporation and New Millennium Solar Equipment Company. Tom is a graduate of Boston University’s School of Management and is a member of both the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and NJ Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Sam Livingston, Senior Vice President of Manufacturing and Operations, joined Pixelligent in 2023. Sam’s expertise is scaling operations to manufacture chemicals, specialty materials, and other complex products for emerging innovators and industry leaders. His extensive experience spans R&D, process and project engineering, quality, and technology management, as well as new plant construction and lean manufacturing. As a senior executive, he has led strategic development and capital planning for large-scale manufacturing facilities, and implemented industry-leading health, safety, and environmental performance initiatives.
Over his 30+ year career, he has been a leader in the production of inorganic materials. His previous employers include Kerr McGee Chemicals, LyondellBasell, Millennium Inorganic Chemicals, TriWest, and Tronox.
Jason Repac, Vice President of Process Engineering, joined Pixelligent in 2015. He brings more than 14 years of leadership experience in specialty chemical, electronic materials, and nanotechnology manufacturing. Prior to joining Pixelligent, Jason worked in the OLED Display group at DuPont helping to lead the scale-up, design, construction, and commissioning of DuPont’s $30 million OLED formulation semi-works facility in Newark, DE. Jason earned a M.S. in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Maryland College Park. Jason is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt and Lean Practitioner.
Selina Thomas Monickam, Ph.D., Vice President of Research and Development, has been with Pixelligent since 2010. Currently, she leads the technical team in finding innovative ways to develop and scale metal oxide nanocrystals for high refractive index polymeric materials for various high-end optical applications. During her tenure at Pixelligent, she has been involved in developing nanocrystal dispersions, leading government grants, paving the way to formulations by developing Pixelligent’s first OLED formulations, and mentoring countless scientists. She has served as the Principal Investigator on several Department of Energy-funded programs totaling more than $3 million geared towards developing a High Refractive Index UV curable formulation for OLED lighting.
She received her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Maryland in 2006 and has 12 US patents and applications in the technology.
Neil Pschirer, Ph.D., Vice President of Product Development and Strategy, joined Pixelligent in 2023. Neil is an executive leader with 20+ years’ experience in the chemicals and electronic materials industries. He has proven experience in turning technology into business, leveraging his combined experience from both small start-ups and large corporations.
Prior to Pixelligent, Neil was the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of Optitune, an advanced materials and nanocoating company. There he helped Optitune to achieve first sustainable sales via strong focus on tech collaborations with brand owners. Before joining Optitune, Neil held several roles at BASF over a span of 15 years, spanning R&D, new business development and strategy, and eventually created an internal start-up in the display industry with an international team and product support lab in Taiwan. His four years’ operating out of Hong Kong helped him to build lasting relationships with major display panel makers and OEMs. In 2019 he took the role of Business Head Photoalignment Materials at newly acquired Rolic with full P&L responsibility, growing the business with major display companies.
Neil received his PhD in 1997 from University of South Carolina before conducting postdoctoral research at the Max Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany. He has co-authored over 30 scientific publications and is co-inventor of more than 15 patents.
Board of Directors
Andrew Gavin, member of the Board of Managers, is a serial entrepreneur and a programmer noted for co-founding the video game company Naughty Dog. His company, which wrote the first blockbuster game for the Sony PlayStation, was later sold to Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA). Shortly after leaving Naughty Dog, Andrew co-founded a new Internet startup called Flektor, and in May 2007, the company was sold to Fox Interactive Media, a division of News Corp. Andrew earned his Ph.D. at MIT, where he did research for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the Mars Rover Vision Project.
Andrew Ray represents public and private companies, financial sponsors, and management teams in a broad range of corporate and finance matters. Additionally, he counsels extensively in the telecommunications, media, and technology (TMT); government contracts; energy; and financial services sectors. Various industry publications recognize Andy as a leader in both M&A and communications. He recently led the team representing Oculus VR in its $2 billion sale to Facebook, which was named the M&A Advisor M&A Deal of the Year.
Craig Bandes has over 25 years of experience as a CEO, entrepreneur, and investor building companies in the technology, defense, and professional services industries. Craig has been President & CEO of Pixelligent Technologies since 2009, a company that is leveraging next-generation nanomaterial development and manufacturing technology to disrupt the chemicals industry. Pixelligent was recognized as the Manufacturer of the Year in 2017 by the Frost & Sullivan Manufacturing Leadership Council. Prior to rebuilding Pixelligent, Craig was the President & CEO of Global Secure Corp, a high-tech company focused on providing homeland security software, training, and equipment solutions. He grew Global Secure from a start-up to over 175 people, with operations in 5 states, and completed four acquisitions. Craig has negotiated over $300 million in financial transactions, has completed acquisitions and strategic partnerships in the United States, Asia, and Europe, and has built sales and distribution channels on a global basis. He sits on the Board of Directors of Pixelligent and is a member of the NanoBusiness Alliance Advisory Board. Craig received degrees in Finance and Entrepreneurship from Babson College.
Eileen M. O’Rourke, Chief Operating Officer, OTEC International LLC, and Treasurer, The Abell Foundation, Inc., has been involved in OTEC for a dozen years, starting with Abell’s exclusive license of the Anderson technology in 1999 to her current leadership role of this important strategic investment. Eileen has 30 years of experience in business finance and project management, with ten years managing direct investments in early-stage companies and providing innovative financing solutions in support of social mission activities. As Treasurer of Abell, Eileen is responsible for negotiating and managing direct investments in early-stage companies including deal structuring, board-level review and oversight, and active participation with management team in advancing commercialization of technologies. She negotiates and monitors loans, guarantees, and other financial arrangements in program-related non-profit projects and is also responsible for investment implementation and performance monitoring of portfolios.
Keith is a seasoned global semiconductor executive. He recently retired from onsemi (formerly ON Semiconductor) after two decades as President and CEO. He helped build the company into the market-leading supplier of intelligent power and sensing technology, reaching more than US$5.5B in revenue and market capitalization of nearly US$10B. Before that he held executive and general management positions at Fairchild Semiconductor Corp., Tritech Microelectronics in Singapore, and National Semiconductor Corp. He serves on the board of Veeco Instruments Inc. and the Semiconductor Industry Association.
Mudar Yaghi is the CEO and founder of AppTek, an AI and machine learning company specializing in speech recognition and machine translation. AppTek has sold technology assets to SAIC in the fall of 2010 and its MT platform to eBay in 2014. Mudar is also a founding investor and board member of Ignite Media Solutions, a provider of interactive voice, web, and mobile direct response solutions that is backed by ABS Capital. He is also an investor and board member at TCOM, which is a telecommunication aerostat systems company.
Peter Kirlin is a consultant and senior advisor to companies in the semiconductor and flat panel display industries. He retired as the Chief Executive Officer of Photronics (PLAB) in 2022, a position he held for 7 years after being named president in 2013. He joined Photronics as a Senior Vice President in 2008. During his 35-year career, Dr. Kirlin held senior leadership positions at several public companies including Group Vice President of ATMI, Chief Business Development Officer of Entegris, and Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the board of DuPont Photomasks. Dr. Kirlin brings leadership, strategic direction, extensive business experience, and a wealth of knowledge of the semiconductor and flat panel display industries to the board.
Advisory Board
Dr. E. Clayton Teague, member of the Technical Advisory Board, acted as Director of the Federal National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) from 2003-2011. In this position, he reported to the Office of Science and Technology Policy, which advises the President and others within the Executive Office on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs. He also has served as Chair of the American National Standards Institute Technical Advisory Group to the ISO Technical Committee on Nanotechnologies (ISO TC 229), acted as president of the American Society for Precision Engineering, is a fellow of the United Kingdom Institute of Physics, and worked as Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Nanotechnology for ten years.
Hal Shear has been serving on public and private company boards for over 25 years. He is also a recognized expert and advisor providing governance services to directors and boards throughout the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. He has served on more than 18 boards, and is currently Chairman of the Board of two privately held companies for which he provides strategic and operational advice, as well as governance expertise.
Masaru Iida is the President of Denzai Consulting. He spent 42 years in various roles at Nissan Chemical Ind., retiring in 2013 as Senior Managing Director. During his time at Nissan Chemical, he successfully introduced specialty chemical materials for many applications, including anti-reflective coatings for advanced semiconductor chips, alignment layers for LCD, HTL materials for OLED, and thick film technologies for electronics packaging. Under his leadership, multiple new technologies were successfully launched and transferred to volume production in leading applications. He is a graduate of Osaka Pref. University with degrees in Polymer Chemistry and Applied Chemistry. He joined the Pixelligent Advisory Board in 2014.
Dr. Robert Fleming has recently accepted a position as Vice President of Research and Technology at Zymergen, a late-stage startup company using microbiology to fundamentally change the way materials are made and what they are made of.
Prior to this role, Bob was the Chief Technology Officer of CLEARink Displays. During his tenure at CLEARink, he led the development of the world’s first full-color, video retro-reflective display leading to “Best in Show Award” at the 2017 Society for Information Display Conference, the IDTechEx Technical Development Materials award, and the “People’s Choice Award” at the 2019 Society for Information Display Conference. He recruited top talent and grew the R&D team from 3 to 14 people bringing together a multi-site and multi-disciplinary team from chemistry, physics, optics, electronics, hardware, and software to bring the CLEARink technology to market. Bob has over 22 years of experience bring new technologies from idea to commercial products in the fields of optics, electronics, materials, and devices. Prior to joining CLEARink Displays, Bob worked for the Imerys Corporation as Director of Materials Research.
Prior to joining Imerys, Bob was the Co-Founder and CTO of Shocking Technologies, Inc. a Silicon Valley electronic materials start-up where he grew the company from a 2 person start-up with an idea to 47 people and a product qualified in a cell phone with high volume manufacturing. Before Co-Founding Shocking Technologies, Bob worked 12 years for the 3M Corporation in Saint Paul, MN, in a broad range of R&D and management functions. While working at 3M, Bob developed new retroreflective fabrics, optical interference films for windows, flexible display materials, and nanocomposites for optical applications. In addition to developing new products and technologies, Bob also has expertise in scale-up manufacturing process technologies from organic reactions, milling, compounding, blending, roll-to-roll coating, thin film vacuum deposition, and roll-to-roll microreplication.
Bob earned his Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering at the University of Massachusetts. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Winthrop University. He is an inventor on over 57 issued United States patents, ranging in fields from nanocomposites, adhesives, optical interference coatings, retroreflectors, displays, battery separators, optical materials, and electronic materials. Dr. Fleming has also been an invited speaker with multiple publications.
Sri Peruvemba’s technology career spans more than 30 years and includes a lengthy stint at the Society for Information Display (SID), where he served on the Executive Board and held the role of Marketing Chair for a time. He is a longtime advocate for the advancement of electronic hardware technologies and an expert on sensors, electronic displays, haptics, touchscreens, electronic materials, and related technologies. He is currently CEO of Marketer International.
Yakov Kutsovsky is the CEO and Founder of MateriaX, an advisory firm enabling successful development and commercialization of new materials. He is also an Expert-inResidence at Harvard University, supporting faculty in assessing technology fit for different markets, evaluating and addressing open technical and business issues for the best path to market.
Over the last 15 years, Yakov was the CTO and Chief Scientific Officer of Cabot Corporation, a global specialty chemicals and materials company. Yakov led the development of multiple products and manufacturing innovations, commercializing new materials across established and emerging businesses. Yakov advanced Cabot-wide technology platforms including elastomeric composites, inkjet colorants, graphenes, carbon nanostructures and materials for next generation tires, adhesives, and batteries. Yakov built a track record of scaling organizational and technical capabilities – from grams in the lab, to tons in manufacturing sites and technology centers across the world. Yakov directed the technology scouting team and delivered a valuable pipeline of business opportunities through connecting technologies to customer needs. He also partnered with leading customers across the globe to establish collaboration programs leading to new products and technology licensing. Yakov identified and executed on multiple M&A opportunities, expanding Cabot’s technology portfolio. He was the President of Advanced Nanostructure Solutions (ANS), an acquired wholly owned Cabot subsidiary, scaling up and commercializing a new form of carbon nanotubes (CNS) to deliver superior performance in batteries, EMI shielding and silicones. Yakov has also led development and implementation of lab informatics solutions to accelerate materials development.
Yakov has published more than 20 papers and was granted 17 patents that cover a broad range of technical areas. Yakov earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and a MS in Chemical Physics from Novosibirsk State University in Russia. Yakov is a member of American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Material Research Society and American Chemical Society. Yakov served on the Advisory Boards of the Department of Energy, Environmental, Chemical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, Nanomanufacturing Center at UMass Lowell and the Department of Chemistry at MIT.
Our Partners & Investors
