management team
Sharad Shekhar, a seasoned executive with 25 years of relevant experience building, managing, and exiting technology and industrial businesses, leads the management team as CEO.
Ali Radfar, M.D., a former venture capitalist, equity research analyst, and investment banker, with over $7.5B USD relevant transactional expertise in M&A, IPOs, and Private Placements within the Device, Instrumentation, and Biopharmaceutical sectors rounds out the management team as CFO.
Sean M Christian, MEng., a founding member of the Optical Society of America’s Applied Industrial Optics division, serves as the Company’s CTO.
Mr. Christian has over 26 years of experience designing, developing, and commercializing advance sensors and systems within each of the industries targeted by Neolitics. While his primary focus is R&D and intellectual property development, Christian has a strong operations and supply-chain management background with extensive business development expertise. Specifically, Christian’s expertise lies in manufacturing cost-reduction and scale-up practices and the creation of IP for enabling acquisition of market share in highly competitive and/or technology challenged market sectors.
Sean was both a National Science Foundation NSF-STC and a Charles E. Minor doctoral fellow at Virginia Tech as well as an ARCS Foundation and DOW Chemical Scholar at Texas Tech. He holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Texas Tech University with minors in Physics and Mathematics and a Masters of Engineering (MEng.) in Materials Science & Engineering from Virginia Tech.
advisors
Erik R. Deutsch is a senior engineering executive and recognized expert in MEMS, QCL, FTIR, and spectroscopy. He brings over 20 years of experience leading the strategic development of diverse new and existing technologies and bringing disruptive handheld and miniature spectroscopy products to market. He possesses the rare combination of innovative technical leadership with a strong business acumen with over 10 patents in novel spectroscopy technologies and systems. Dr. Deutsch received his B.A. in Physics with a minor in Computer Science from Vassar College and his S.M. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT with a focus in MEMS, Optics, and spectroscopy. Dr. Deutsch served as the company’s COO until April of 2021 and continues to serve the company today as Chief Technology Advisor.
key investors
Jerry Jasinowski is a founding member of Neolitics as well as former Chairman of the Board and an investor. He founded and is the former President of the Manufacturing Institute (MI), the 501(c)(3) affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), which is the largest US industrial trade association. Jerry was also the President and CEO of NAM for 14 years, a $20 million trade association with 13,000 corporate members and a staff of 180 people. He was the former Assistant Secretary for Policy for the US Department of Commerce as well as a former Senior Research Economist for the US Congress. In addition to serving on Neolitics’ Board, Jerry serves on the boards of the Timken Company (NYSE:TKR), Harsco Corporation (NYSE: HSC), Northwest Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ: NWBO), and the Phoenix Companies (NYSE: PNX).
Michael Campbell, former member of Board of Directors of Neolitics and an investor, was the first Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Arch Chemicals, Inc., a global specialty chemicals company created in early 1999 as a spinoff from Olin Corporation. Arch averaged annual sales of $1.5 billion during Mr. Campbell’s tenure and the company was acquired by Lonza Group, Ltd. In 2011. Mr. Campbell sits on numerous boards and was elected Chair of the Board of the American Chemistry Council as well as the National Association of Manufacturing. President George W. Bush appointed Michael to the Advisory Council for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN). He was subsequently reappointed to the Council by President Barack Obama.
Alan Wilson, former member of the Board of Directors of Neolitics and an investor, served as a U.S. Army Captain with tours in the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany. He joined McCormick and Company, Inc. in 1993. During his tenure there, he held many executive management roles, including President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman. Alan’s leadership during his six-year tenure as CEO was instrumental in quadrupling McCormick’s share prices. He has retired from his executive positions at McCormick and helped pave the way to their status as one of the world’s leading global spice companies with annual sales around $4.3 billion and a market cap of $13.2 billion. Alan currently sits on the Boards of Westrock, T. Rowe Price, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Grocery Manufacturers Association. He also chairs the board of visitors of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and serves at his alma mater on the University of Tennessee Business School Advisory Board.
Ed Ludwig is Neolitics’ only investor to have participated in every financial round since inception of the Company in 2015 and is a strategic investor in the life science’s sector. He is the former CEO of Becton Dickinson (NYSE: BDX), the world’s leading maker of reagents and medical / diagnostic instrument systems, with annual sales of $12.5 billion and market capitalization of $35 billion. During Edward’s tenure as CEO (‘00 to ‘11), Edward increased revenue 3x and increased EPS and market capitalization 2x.
Jim Nevels is a Strategic Investor in the Food & Beverage sector. Jim is the former Chairman of the Board of The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY), one of the world’s leading global chocolate manufacturers with annual sales of $7.5 billion and a market capitalization of $22.5 billion. Jim is currently the founder of The Swarthmore Group, an investment advisory firm established in 1991 which manages approximately $2.1 billion of institutional assets. Mr. Nevels was also previously Deputy Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
Raymond A. “Chip” Mason is a strategic investor with an unprecedented securities background. Chip Mason, for which The Mason School of Business at the College of William & Mary in Virginia was named, is the prior Chairman and CEO of Legg Mason, a preeminent brokerage company he founded at age 25 which went public in 1974.
Mason has chaired the Securities Industry Association, the board of governors of the National Association of Securities Dealers, the United Way of Central Maryland Campaign, the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education and the Greater Baltimore Committee.