Sean Adams
Vice President, Operations
Sean has a wide array of experience from personnel management to ERP systems, as well as expertise in several areas of engineering, manufacturing, and process control.
Prior to joining Bristol Instruments in 2018, Sean came from a fourteen-year career at Hover-Davis, where he worked in various engineering positions. He has also held previous product and mechanical design positions for the Burleigh Products Division of EXFO and Ben-Mer Manufacturing.
He holds an Associate degree in mechanical technology from Monroe Community College and has also completed his Journeyman’s Apprenticeship, with extensive experience as a tool and die maker.
Peter Battisti
President and Chief Financial Officer
Peter has a proven record of success in leadership, long-term business planning, and operations-centered financial management. For almost 20 years, Peter was the Chief Financial Officer at Burleigh Instruments, and then at EXFO Burleigh Products Group, where he was responsible for facilities operation and expansion, human resources, IT operations, and all facets of internal financial reporting.
He is a certified public accountant with a B.B.A. in accounting from St. John Fisher College.
Michael Houk, Ph.D.
Chief Technology Officer
Prior to Bristol Instruments, Michael was the product development manager and senior optical engineer for the EXFO Burleigh Products Group. During his 12-year tenure at Burleigh Instruments, he either managed, or participated in, the development of over 20 interferometer-based products. Before joining Burleigh, he led the effort to start a corporate optics laboratory for optical scanning and telecommunications research at Reliance Electric Company.
Michael holds 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 Professor Duncan Moore. He also holds a B.A. in physics from Kalamazoo College.
He is currently a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Photonics Spectra magazine.
Steve Person, Ph.D.
Vice President, Engineering
Steve joined Bristol Instruments in 2014, where his expertise in optical interferometry has been a key contribution to the company’s new product development. Prior to joining Bristol, Steve worked as an Image Scientist at ITT Space System Division (formerly Exelis), where he worked on modeling the optical performance of space-based imaging systems.
He holds a Ph.D. from the Institute of Optics from the University of Rochester. His thesis work, under the direction of Professor Lukas Novotny, focused on developing instrumentation for the optical detection and imaging of nanoparticles and fabrication of nanostructures with novel light scattering properties. He also holds a B.S. in Physics from the University of Rochester.
Brian Samoriski, Ph.D.
Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Brian has been involved in the photonics industry for over 30 years, and is a proven leader with a successful record of commercial growth through product innovation and customer satisfaction. Before Bristol Instruments, he held several positions at EXFO Burleigh Products Group and Burleigh Instruments, 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. He began his career as a Scientific Sales Engineer with Coherent, Inc.
Brian holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Syracuse University where he studied the properties of organometallic molecules using laser spectroscopy. He also holds a B.A. in chemistry from The College of the Holy Cross.
John Theodorsen
Chief Operating Officer
John is an experienced engineer with a broad base of knowledge in product development, manufacturing, manufacturing engineering, customer service, and sales. His particular area of expertise is in the design of products for manufacturability and serviceability.
Before Bristol Instruments, John honed his engineering skills at EXFO Burleigh Products Group, Burleigh Instruments, and LaserMax, Inc. where he held positions in the product development and manufacturing departments.
He holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Cornell University.