Leadership Team

Tim Lester

Chief Executive Officer

Tim Lester joined Bridgelux in 2010 and has served for 6 years as its Chief Financial Officer while adding the duties of Chief Operating Officer in 2012. His guidance and expertise as an industry veteran has helped Bridgelux achieve its position as best in industry for product performance, quality and service levels.

Mr. Lester brings more than 25 years of financial and operational experience to Bridgelux, including leadership positions with several semiconductor and LED industry players such as ASIC design house eSilicon, LED manufacturer Lumileds Lighting and Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG,AEX:PHIA).

Mr. Lester received his master of management degree from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and his undergraduate in accounting from Marquette University. He is a CPA.

Dr. Frank Hu

Senior Vice President, Global Quality

Frank Hu joined Bridgelux in 2007 and serves as Senior Vice President of Global Quality. Dr. Hu’s key area of focus and scope includes all aspects of quality and reliability for package and chip technology, as well as chip product roadmap.

Prior to his current position, Dr. Hu was General Manager of Die Business at Bridgelux from January 2014 to January 2015, he also served as Vice President of Manufacturing from May 2011 to January 2014. Dr. Hu was brought to Bridgelux as Director of Fab operations when he joined the company in 2007.

Before joining Bridgelux, Dr Hu held various technical and management positions in R&D, engineering and operations at a number of technology companies in the Silicon Valley, including Lightwave Microsystems, Candescent Technologies, Agilent Technologies (NYSE: A), Avago Technologies (NASDAQ: AVGO) and Novalux Inc.

Dr Hu received his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Lanzhou University, a master’s degree from Chinese Academy of Sciences and a Ph.D from the University of Alabama. After obtaining his PH.D., Dr. Hu spent two years as a postdoctoral research fellow at California Institute of Technology on optoelectronics material and devices research and development.

Dr. Brian Cumpston

Vice President, Product Development

Brian Cumpston joined Bridgelux in 2014 and serves as Vice President of Product Development. Dr. Cumpston is responsible for innovation focusing on delivering high quality light that is robust, connected and designed for the future.

His responsibilities at Bridgelux have also included the development of high-performance substrates and processes for new lighting products. His work focuses on the rapid progression of projects from the R&D phase to high volume manufacturing.

Dr. Cumpston has 20 years of experience developing innovative products for the display, photovoltaic, and LED lighting industries. Prior to Bridgelux, he held engineering and technology development positions at both private and start-up companies with responsibilities ranging from product and process development to pilot manufacturing oversight and hardware prototyping.

Dr. Cumpston holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Arizona and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also completed two years of post-doctoral study at the California Institute of Technology.

Aaron Merrill

Vice President, Marketing

Aaron Merrill joined Bridgelux in 2012 and services as Vice President of Marketing. Prior to this position, Mr. Merrill managed marketing development and execution of Bridgelux’s LED packaged products for over three years, successfully launching cutting-edge products and positioning Bridgelux as an innovator in the LED industry.

A high-tech semiconductor veteran, Mr. Merrill has over 16 years experience in product development, product marketing, and new market development. Mr. Merrill has held global marketing positions with Seagate Technology, Modus Link, and Invensys Energy Metering. He received his Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Brigham Young University, and an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Dr. Jesus Del Castillo

General Counsel

Jesus Del Castillo joined Bridgelux in 2011 and serves as General Counsel. Dr. Del Castillo was appointed General Counsel in September 2016, and prior to that appointment, held various roles in the company's legal department, including Chief Intellectual Property Counsel.

Before joining Bridgelux, he worked as an attorney at a major international law firm, and as an in-house counsel for Seagate Technology LLC. He began his career as an engineer working in major technology companies including Seagate and IBM.

Dr. Del Castillo earned bachelor degrees in Physics and Mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley, a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California at Davis focusing on solid state physics, and a Juris Doctor degree from Santa Clara University School of Law. He is admitted to practice law in California.

Markus Maile

Vice President, Sales EMEA

Markus Maile joined Bridgelux in February 2009 and serves as Vice President of Sales for EMEA. Based in Germany, Mr. Maile is responsible for the sales of Bridgelux products throughout all of Europe, Middle East and Africa.

He manages the regional account team, as well as Bridgelux European distribution partners. Since joining Bridgelux, Mr. Maile has successfully grown Bridgelux market share and brand awareness across Europe from the ground up, while working against industry-wide price erosion to maintain margins.

Mr. Maile brings over 20 years experience in Sales and Engineering management throughout semi-conductor and high tech companies including Lumileds, Agilent Technologies, Hewlett Packard and Applied Materials. He holds an MS degree in Optoelectronics from Fachhochschule Aalen University in Aalen, Germany.

Dr. Andy Man

Senior Vice President, Asia Business

Andy Man joined Bridgelux in 2012 and serves as Senior Vice President of Asia Business, managing all go-to-market and sales activities within the region. Since joining Bridgelux, Andy has successfully managed the Bridgelux die business, showing strong revenue growth coupled with margin expansion, while tightly managing product mix and inventory levels. Andy believes in hands-on value selling, both with our customers and distribution partners.

Andy Man has over 20 years’ sales and marketing management experience in the industry. Prior joining Bridgelux, as managing Director for the Asia Region at California Micro Devices, Mr. Man built the Asia Sales team of twenty people. While there, he established channel partners in China, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and Korea. Under Mr. Man, California Micro Devices’ Asia business grew to account for the majority of worldwide sales.

Andy Man has also held Sales & Marketing positions at National Semiconductor in Hong Kong, China and throughout Asia Pacific. He holds a Doctoral of Business Administration degree from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, a Master degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a Bachelor degree of Science from The University of Hong Kong.

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