POET appoints new Chief Financial Officer
Opto-electronics process developer POET Technologies has appointed Thomas R. Mika as chief financial officer, effective November 2, 2016. Mika replaces Kevin Barnes, who will remain with the company as corporate controller and treasurer.
"I am very pleased to announce Tom's appointment as CFO," said Suresh Venkatesan, CEO of POET Technologies. "He is an accomplished executive with significant financial and operational expertise and will be an exceptional addition to our senior management team. I would also like to thank Kevin for serving as CFO for the past several years and look forward to maintaining our strong working relationship in his new role."
Mika currently serves as the chairman of the board of Rennova Health, the successor company to CollabRx and its predecessor, Tegal Corporation, a semiconductor capital equipment company.
Since 2005, he has been the president and CEO, and at times the acting CFO of CollabRx and Tegal, retaining those positions following its merger with Rennova Health in November 2015.
Previously, Mika co-founded IMTEC, a boutique investment and consulting firm, serving clients in the US Europe and Japan over a period of 20 years, taking on the role of CEO in several ventures. Earlier in his career, Mika was a managing consultant with Cresap, McCormick & Paget and a policy analyst for the National Science Foundation. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.
Mika commented, "I am very excited about the opportunity to join POET Technologies. POET is a visionary company that is poised to disrupt optical data communications with its integrated optical solution. With a powerful technology platform, first mover advantage and experienced management team, I believe the Company is well positioned for strong commercial success. I look forward to joining the team and furthering management's goal of delivering long-term, sustainable shareholder value."
