Meet the Leaders in Optics and Light Shaping

Jonathan Waldern, Chief Executive & Technical Officer

Dr. Jonathan Waldern has over twenty years’ experience building teams to bring to market a variety of breakthrough "Smart Glass" (SG) products using Holographic, Lithographic, Metamaterial and Nano based thin film materials and processes. These include a range of unique Head-Up Displays (HUD’s), scanners, integrated optical telecom modules and more recently, award winning Metamaterial SG products, for architectural, consumer and automotive applications. In 2023 he launched range of metamaterial enhanced prescription lenses for AR glasses, including electrochromic dimming, heating and RF antennas. He is the founder of DigiLens Inc., a world leader in waveguide optics and AR displays. In partnership with Collins Aerospace and Continental Corp., his team developed the world’s first aerospace and automotive waveguide based HUD’s. He is the recipient of a SID, “Best in Show” award for a Helmet AR-HUD, partnering BMW Motorrad. With two IPO's to date, he is also the recipient of business awards and over 150 patents in functionalized films, electro-optical materials and high volume inkjet and R2R holographic optic manufacturing processes. Whilst an early pioneer in Virtual Reality and inducted into the XR Hall of Fame, he holds degrees in engineering and a PhD from Loughborough University of Technology, UK government fifth generation computing initiative including AI.

Engin Arik, Chairman of the Board/Founder

Dr. Engin Arik, Chairman of the Board/Founder, & former CEO/President of Luminit, has over three decades of experience in founding, leading, and profitably growing high tech companies working in holography, nanotechnology, lighting, displays, optical sensors, fiber optics, and laser-based fluid measurement instrumentation. He has a PhD and MS in Engineering from Harvard University, post-Master's degree from von Karman Institute in Belgium, ScB in Mechanical Engineering, and AB in Economics from Brown University. He is the author and co-author of many published papers, book chapters, and patents.  Dr. Arik successfully led the 2005 founding of Luminit as a spin-off of Physical Optics Corporation, completed technology licensing agreements with Hitachi Chemical and Asahi Kasei Corporation of Japan, and recently led the spin-off of Luminit Automotive Technologies (LAT) and Holoptic from Luminit.

Stanley Kao, Vice President of Business Development
 

Stanley Kao received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from UC Irvine and his MS in Mechanical Engineering from UC Pomona. He has over 17 years of engineering project management and new product development experience, with extensive business development experience in Asia Pacific. He joined Physical Optics Corporation in 2004 and was instrumental in the successful launch of Luminit in 2005 Prior to joining POC/Luminit, he managed a variety of projects for technologies such as night goggles, laser range finders and opto-electrical equipment. While at RSI Associates, he developed contract case studies that included fuel cell commercial power generation, system turbine blade fracture analysis, and electrical and hybrid vehicle analysis. At Luminit, he is responsible for new business and product development.  

Suleyman Turgut, Chief Revenue Officer
 

Suleyman Turgut received his Bachelor’s degree in Optical Engineering from the University of Rochester, Master’s degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology and his MBA from USC’s Marshall School. Since joining Luminit in 2006 he has driven the adoption of Luminit’s high performance holographic diffusers into many leading edge lighting and high technology products. Prior to joining Luminit Suleyman has held positions at Intel, ADE (now KLA-Tencor) and IQE.    

Joseph Gilbride, Chief Financial Officer
 

Joe Gilbride received a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and MBA in Finance from Stern School of Business at New York University and is a Certified Public Accountant. Having begun his career at Ernst and Young, Joe has held various leadership positions within global enterprises during his career, gaining significant experience in several industries including energy, software, advertising, and marketing communications. This experience covers accounting and reporting processes, as well as experience in all aspects of mergers and acquisitions.