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management team

Advanced Thin Films is managed by a team of highly experienced coating engineers with over 100 years of cumulative experience in thin film coating technology. All team members have technical expertise and possess the necessary complimentary skills to ensure the success of your project.

Ramin Lalezari

President & Chief Technical Officer

With over 25 years experience in the optics industry, Ramin has an extensive background managing all operations including research, product development, production, and business development. Ramin is a leading expert in the field of IBS coatings. He has been awarded three US patents on products and processes used in the fields of semiconductor manufacturing and optical telecommunications.

1984 – MSEE University of Colorado, Boulder
1982 – BSEE University of Colorado, Boulder

Donald Weaver

Chief Operating Officer

Donald co-wrote Advanced Thin Films’ business plan and secured financing for most of the capital equipment during the initial years of the company. Donald has 15 years of experience in the optics industry and is the COO in charge of manufacturing, finance, and accounting.

2000 – MBA University of Colorado, Boulder
1994 – BSEE University of Colorado, Boulder

Darren Berns

Senior Scientist

Management of technology development and key programs for ATF. Darren has over 20 years experience in Optics and Photonics. Expertise in Engineering and Business Program Management. Top performing executive with a career-long record of systems-level Problem solving, Personnel management, Innovation, NPI technology transfer, and Best practices implementation. Broad ranging technical product and program management and cross-functional team development experience spanning large government organizations to start-up companies.

1997 – Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
1993 – M.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota
1991 – Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota

Rob Patterson

VP of Sales & Marketing

Rob brings over 15 years experience in optics and thin film deposition. Rob has hands-on experience including running and building IBS deposition systems. Rob’s communication skills and technical background help him in his current role leading the Sales department. He also designs many of the coatings deposited at Advanced Thin Films and provides technical solutions for some of our customer’s most difficult applications.

2002 – Masters in Engineering Management, University of Colorado, Boulder
1993 – BSME University of California, Berkeley

Scot Davidson

Sales Manager

As the Sales Manager for Advanced Thin Films, Scot is the primary contact for our customer base. Scot has over 10 years experience in the industry including hands-on time running coating equipment. His extensive understanding of optics and coatings is a key element in successfully meeting our customer’s requirements.

2001 – MS Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado
1997 – MS Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
1995 – BS Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Shauna Simonis

Lab Manager

Shauna has over 25 years experience in the optics industry including operating coating equipment and fixtures. She is also an expert in the cleaning and inspection of optics. Shauna is in charge of ensuring that all components in the lab are processed in accordance with our quality procedures and plays a key role in managing lab workflow.

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