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About Bristol Instruments |
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Management Team |
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Bristol Instruments, Inc., located near Rochester, NY, was founded by three former employees of Burleigh Instruments. Bristol Instruments designs, manufactures, and markets precision scientific instruments used in basic and applied research, engineering, and production test applications. The new company has focused its early efforts on the photonics research market that consists of scientists and engineers at colleges, universities, and government laboratories. These researchers are involved primarily in the fields of chemistry, biology, and physics.
The primary technology that is utilized by Bristol Instruments is optical interferometry. Detailed analysis of interference phenomena, a consequence of the wave properties of light, can result in a variety of precise measurements. In particular, Michelson and Fizeau interferometer-based technologies are employed to develop instruments for accurate spectral characterization. Such analysis is important for applications such as high-resolution laser spectroscopy, photochemistry, and optical remote sensing. In the future, Bristol Instruments will expand its product offering to provide solutions in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and petroleum industries. |
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Bristol Instruments is managed by a core team of professionals that consists of Dr. Brian Samoriski, Dr. Michael Houk, and John Theodorsen. Together, this group has over 35 years of successful experience with Burleigh Instruments. Their particular area of expertise consists of optical interferometer technology, and its use in precise measurement instrumentation. |
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Brian P. Samoriski, Ph.D. — President
Brian Samoriski has been involved with the laser and electro-optics industry for over 20 years, 13 of which were at Burleigh Instruments. He is a proven business leader with a successful record of commercial growth through product innovation and customer satisfaction.
Before co-founding Bristol Instruments, Brian was President of Technical Marketing Strategies, a marketing consulting firm. While at Burleigh, Brian held several positions including General Manager and Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Most of Brian’s experience was with Burleigh’s Optical Instrument Division, which included products such as optical wavelength meters and Fabry-Perot interferometers. Brian began his career with Coherent, Inc. as a sales engineer for the scientific laser group.
Brian has a Ph.D. in chemistry from Syracuse University where he studied the properties of organometallic molecules using laser spectroscopy. He received a B.A. in chemistry from The College of the Holy Cross. |
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Michael T. Houk, Ph.D. — Vice President, Technology
Mike is a technology leader who has experience in all aspects of product development including product conceptualization, project management, and optical, mechanical, electrical, and software design.
Prior to Bristol Instruments, Mike was a project manager and senior optical engineer for the EXFO Burleigh Products Group. During his 12 year tenure with Burleigh, Mike either led, or participated in, the development of over 20 products. These were all interferometer-based products that required expertise in optical, electrical, mechanical, and software design. Before joining Burleigh, Mike was responsible for starting a corporate optics laboratory for optical scanning and telecommunications research at Reliance Electric Company.
Mike obtained a Ph.D. in optical engineering from the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester. He studied the design, fabrication, and testing of index gradients in fluoride materials under the direction of Duncan Moore. Mike received a B.A. in physics from Kalamazoo College. |
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John T. Theodorsen — Vice President, Operations
John is an experienced engineer with a broad base of knowledge. He has worked in a variety of areas including product development, manufacturing, manufacturing engineering, customer service and repair, and sales. John’s particular area of expertise is in the design of products for manufacturability and serviceability. John also has entrepreneurial experience having started a water sport venture.
Before Bristol Instruments, John was a development engineer for the optical instrument products at EXFO Burleigh Products Group. Before this, he was responsible for the customer service, manufacturing engineering, and quality control of the optical instrument products. John began his career with Burleigh as a product development engineer, later transferring to a sales capacity. John split his career at Burleigh with an attempt to market a water sport invention, and with LaserMax, Inc. working as a design, applications, and manufacturing engineer.
John received his B.S. in electrical engineering from Cornell University. |
