Manuel Aschwanden
CEO | Co-founder
Manuel holds an MSc in electrical engineering and a PhD in nanotechnology from ETH Zurich. Besides his excellent engineering skills he also gained a broad knowledge in economics during his business education at Imperial College London and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to Optotune, Manuel has gained experience in engineering at Avalon and ABB. He has been serving as CEO since 2008.
David Niederer
CTO | Co-founder
David has an MSc in mechanical engineering and is the second co-inventor of Optotune’s core technology. During his studies at ETH Zurich he specialized in industrial process engineering, innovation management and micro and nanotechnology. David has been responsible for product and process development at Optotune since 2008.
Mark Ventura
VP Sales & Marketing | Co-founder
Mark holds an MSc in electrical engineering from ETH Zurich. Having lived and worked in Gothenburg, Paris, San Francisco and Boston, Mark has an international profile with a broad network. He started his career as strategy consultant with Bain & Company. Mark co-founded Optotune in 2008. After building up operations he now focuses on sales, marketing and product management.
Stephan Smolka
Deputy CEO | VP Engineering
Stephan holds an MSc in physics from HU Berlin and a PhD in quantum optics from TU Denmark. Before joining Optotune in 2014 he worked at Siemens and a biotech startup as a computer scientist and was a postdoc at ETH Zurich. Since 2018 he leads the engineering team at Optotune and coordinates project management.
Markus Keil
VP Global Operations
Markus holds an advanced degree as Dipl. Ing. in Applied Physics from the FH Wiesbaden. He is serving for the last 25 years in different Operations functions at various multinational Semiconductor Companies. After over 15 years at AMD / Globalfoundries and as CEO of an SME, he most recently was responsible for the global operations and supply chain group of a US-based Semiconductor iDM. Markus has extended experience in high-volume Operations and Supply chain management and developed multiple factories in the US, Europe, and Asia. Markus joined Optotune and NextLens in late 2021.
Christian Herr
VP Finance & Administration
Christian holds various degrees in Finance, the latest being CGMA from CIMA in London. Prior to joining Optotune, Christian held various local-, regional- and global Financial Leadership Roles with stock-listed companies in different industries such as Biotech, Electronics, Logistics and Consulting. Having lived in Los Angeles, Buenos Aires and worked mostly internationally, Christian has an international profile and -network. Since May 2023 he does lead the Finance and Administration Team at Optotune.
Adrian Wethli
VP HR
Adrian studied psychology at the University of Zurich. He joined Optotune in 2019 and leads the HR team since 2023. Prior to joining Optotune, Adrian held various HR positions in smaller companies and industries such as finance, fast-moving consumer goods, and real estate. Before entering the HR field, Adrian was a coach and teacher of children of all ages, focusing on English language instruction and learning strategies.