Our Team
Opsydia emerged from Dynamic Optics and Photonics group, part of the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. We combine decades of world-leading scientific research with extensive and successful industrial experience.
Andrew Rimmer
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Andrew has over 25 years experience in the electronics/technology industry including SME/PE backed companies. He was a member of the leadership team at Irisys, a PE backed start-up which pioneered low cost thermal imaging and people tracking solutions. Andrew is experienced in technology solutions for instrumentation, security, retail, telecare, cleantech and thermal imaging.
Prof. Martin Booth
Founder and Director
Martin is a Professor of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. His research covers various areas of optical microscopy, laser machining and adaptive optics. In particular, his work has centred on the development of adaptive methods for compensation of aberrations in high resolution optical systems and the use of dynamic elements for laser beam shaping and parallelisation. This work has contributed to scientific and industrial applications ranging from biological imaging and neuroscience to quantum optics.
Dr. Patrick Salter
Founder AND Director
Patrick is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford. With a background in soft matter physics focused on liquid crystal display technology, his research now mainly concerns optical fabrication using ultrashort pulse lasers. The direct laser write processing platform enables high resolution fabrication inside a wide range of transparent materials. Patrick has developed techniques using adaptive optics for aberration correction, parallelisation and beam shaping to enhance the functionality and scalability of the processing.
Dr. Alistair Smith
Chairman
Dr Alistair Smith spent most of his career in the instrumentation industry running divisions of public companies such as Oxford Instruments plc and VG Instruments plc (now part of Thermo Fisher). He has extensive experience of instrumentation sales to overseas markets. Since 2000 he has acted as Chairman or NXD for a number of technology companies: in two such cases he was a founder, raised venture finance, and steered them to very successful trade sale exits.
Lewis Fish
HEAD OF PRODUCT
Lewis graduated in 2017 from the University of Oxford with an MEng in Engineering Science. Under the supervision of Prof. Martin Booth and Dr. Patrick Salter, his Master’s project focused on the adaptive laser fabrication of holographic structures in glass. Lewis joined the company as our first Engineer at spin-out.
Dr. David Myles
Head of Systems Engineering
David has been developing novel laser micro-machining processes for high volume manufacturing applications since 2013. During his industrial doctorate, he developed a patented mask imaging process reducing the cost of high resolution laser ablation and is a named inventor on a number of laser micro-machining patents. Since completing his industrial doctorate with Heriot-Watt University, David has gone onto complete an MBA with Edinburgh Business School.
Leigh Henry
Finance & Office Manager
Leigh has over 10 years experience in administration, office management and quality management. Beginning her career in the legal sector after graduation from the University of Southampton, she then moved on to working in the University of Oxford before gaining recent experience in an exciting early-stage Oxford tech spin-out. Her most recent focus has been on operational and information security and the implementation of quality management systems to ISO9001 standard.
Marc Hudson
Mechanical Design Engineer
Marc graduated with a BSc in Computer Aided Mechanical Design from Oxford Brookes university. He has eight years’ experience in the automotive industry working as an electrical technician and parts quality engineer. He also has two years of experience working as a quality engineer for a high-end audio electronics company, producing front of house consoles and studio consoles for audio engineering. During his time as a parts quality engineer, Marc was involved with solving safety critical issues with engine control units and airbag deployment.
Dr. Simon Henley
Chief Scientist
Simon has over 20 years’ R&D experience across industry and academia. He completed a PhD in Physics at the University of Bristol, studying defects in optoelectronic materials. After postdoctoral work in Bristol studying laser ablation, he moved to the University of Surrey, reaching the position of Senior Lecturer in the Electronic Engineering Department. Upon leaving academia, he worked on a range of high-tech projects at a laser & inkjet systems manufacturer, where he was responsible for leading the large R&D team.
Barry Thompson
Technical Support Engineer
Barry graduated with a BEng in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Huddersfield. He has over 20 years’ experience in assembly, commissioning and support for laser systems and has commissioned systems globally in varying industries, from semiconductors to food packaging. Barry is responsible for providing ongoing support to our systems in the field, combining an aptitude for problem solving with his passion for travel.
Sarah Griffiths
Finance & Office Administrator
Sarah started her career in the health and wellness industry, gaining experience in management, marketing and HR and administration. She earned her BSc in 2015, training and then practicing as a Midwife, where showing initiative, responsibility and patience were essential. She brought these qualities to Opsydia as Finance & Office Administrator in 2019, alongside studying for a Diploma in Bookkeeping.
Jonathan Pease
Software ENGINEER
Jonathan is a recent graduate in Engineering Science from the University of Oxford. He specialised in information engineering, machine learning and control theory, and completed a Master’s project studying non-linear feedback control systems. During his degree, he interned at Opsydia before joining the company full-time as a Software Engineer in 2019.
Marta Krüger
DPhil Student
Marta worked with Opsydia on a lab project for her MSc in Diamond Technology at the University of Warwick, before graduating in 2019. Sponsored by Opsydia, she is part of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Diamond Science and Technology and her DPhil work is focused on laser written components in diamond for the development of new sensors and sensing applications.
Joseph Dixon
Systems Engineer
Joseph graduated from the University of Oxford in 2021 with a Master’s degree in Physics. During his time there he built a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor for adaptively correcting wavefront aberrations. As his Master’s project he built a radio telescope and used it to observe the spiral arms of the galaxy. Joseph joined Opsydia in September 2021 after a successful internship the previous summer.
Andy Penfold
Head of Production Engineering
Andy’s career began in the Royal Air Force as an Aircraft Engineer working on the Chinook Helicopter, serving both UK and Overseas. His last decade has been spent working across the aerospace, nuclear and defence sectors leading and supporting teams in design and manufacture of high complexity products, systems, and processes across the globe from inception to full rate production, including in-service support across Manufacturing Engineering, Operations and Quality disciplines