Company
Management Team
A key competitive advantage for Pixtronix is its uniquely qualified team. The company’s management and employees are leaders in the fields of displays, optics and MEMS technologies and have proven track records in developing and commercializing leading-edge technologies in high volume, cost sensitive markets.
Anthony A. Zona, Chief Executive Officer
As CEO, Mr. Zona is responsible for the overall management and strategic direction of Pixtronix. A well known and successful entrepreneur, he brings over 25 years of experience in developing, managing, and marketing high tech solutions and businesses. Most recently he was Vice President and General Manager at Motorola where he was responsible for the Fiber-to-the-Premises business unit. He joined Motorola in 2004 through the acquisition of Quantum Bridge Communications, a leader in fiber access solutions for wireline telecom operators, which he founded and where he served as president and CEO. Prior to founding Quantum Bridge, Mr. Zona held various management and engineering positions at Bell Laboratories and Lucent Technologies developing and managing broadband access, transport, and data networking products. Before joining Bell Laboratories he was a systems engineer for Raytheon in the Systems Missile Division.
Mr. Zona holds a BSEE from the University of Rhode Island, an MS in Applied Mathematics from the University of Massachusetts - Lowell, and an MBA from Boston University.
Nesbitt W. Hagood, Ph.D., Founder, President & CTO
As President & CTO of Pixtronix, Dr. Hagood is responsible for the technology vision and direction of Pixtronix. A seasoned entrepreneur with proven success in both corporate and academic pursuits, Dr. Hagood brings over 20 years experience in the management of complex systems integration and development to the company. Prior to founding Pixtronix, he was Founder, Director and Chief Technology Officer of Continuum Photonics, Inc., where he established the company's technology strategy and led the development of its product platforms in the optical telecommunications and testing markets.
Dr. Hagood is also a former tenured professor in the Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics at MIT and is internationally recognized for his work in systems, actuation, and control technologies. While at MIT, he was also the Founder and Director of the MIT Active Materials & Structures Lab, growing this lab from initial concept into one of the largest interdepartmental labs at MIT. Dr. Hagood holds a BS, Ms, and Ph.D., from MIT, and is the winner of numerous awards including the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Technology.
Richard S. Payne, Ph.D., Vice President of Microfabrication
As Vice President of Microfabrication, Dr. Payne is recognized as one the leading worldwide experts in MEMS commercialization, bringing over 20 years of direct experience to Pixtronix. Prior to joining the team, he was the Vice President of Engineering and Manufacturing at Polychromix, Inc., where he coordinated the development and manufacturing of wavelength management products. Prior to this, Dr. Payne was Chief Scientist and General Manager of East Coast Operations at Optical Micro Machines. Dr. Payne was also the Product Line Director and Director of Manufacturing at the MicroMachined Products Division of Analog Devices, where he developed the ADI MEMS accelerometer, a MEMS device with cumulative production shipments of now close to 1 billion units.
Dr. Payne holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Yale University and a BA in Physics from Dartmouth College. He received the 1992 J.J. Ebers Award from the IEEE for Contributions to CMOS IC Technology, is a fellow of the IEEE, and holds over 20 patents in a variety of fields of device and process technology.
Kris E. Sahlstrom, Ph.D., Vice President of Manufacturing
As Vice President of Manufacturing, Dr. Sahlstrom brings over 20 years of experience in flat panel display and semiconductor engineering, manufacturing and management to Pixtronix. Most recently, Dr. Sahlstrom was Vice President of Operations at dpiX, LLC, where he managed both a 400% increase in existing facility manufacturing capacity and the building of a $100 million, 250,000 square foot, flat panel manufacturing facility for the fabrication of a-Si based X-ray sensors. Prior to dpiX, Dr. Sahlstrom was Director of Front End Engineering at Candescent Technologies, Inc., a company involved in the development of flat panel TVs. Earlier in his career, he was involved with various Silicon Valley start-ups, working primarily in GaAs development engineering.
Dr. Sahlstrom holds a BS in Chemistry from the University of Colorado and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Montana State University. He has also participated in the MIT Sloan School of Management seminars and holds four patents related to novel applications of flat panel display processing.
Mark D. Halfman, Vice President of Marketing & Business Development
With over 15 years of marketing, business development and finance experience, Mr. Halfman brings to Pixtronix a proven track record of defining, introducing and managing innovative technology products. Prior to joining Pixtronix, he held a variety of positions at industry leading semiconductor companies Xilinx, Inc. and Intel Corporation. Most recently, he was the Director of Marketing and Applications at Xilinx, where he developed and led the company's worldwide strategy and market penetration into portable consumer electronic devices.
Mr. Halfman holds an MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and a BA in Applied Mathematics from the University of California, San Diego.
John Fijol, Ph.D., Vice President, Module Engineering
As Vice President of Module Integration, Dr. Fijol brings over 15 years of experience in the development, fabrication and manufacturing of MEMS and micro fabricated electro-optical components. Prior to joining the team, Dr. Fijol was Vice President of Component Technologies at Confluent Photonics where he was responsible for the development of enabling micro fabricated components. Prior to this he held high level engineering roles at Standard MEMS, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, focusing on MEMS, liquid crystal electro-optic devices and wafer processing.
Mr. Fijol holds a Ph.D. and a MS in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida, and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Western New England College.
