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Technology Stocks : IPG Photonics - IPGP -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: D. K. G. who wrote (5)12/9/2000 12:01:38 PM
From: D. K. G.  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 18
 
Management Profile
VALENTIN P. GAPONTSEV, Ph.D. has been our Chief Executive Officer and
Chairman of the Board of Directors since inception. Dr. Gapontsev founded the
IPG Group with the creation of NTO IRE-POLUS, and has been President and
Managing Director since its inception. Dr. Gapontsev has over thirty years of
experience in the field of non-radiative energy transfer in rare earth ions and
solid state materials and is the author of numerous scientific articles. In
1994, he founded IPG Laser, and in 1997, he founded IPG Fibertech. Dr.
Gapontsev holds a Ph.D. degree in Physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics
and Technology.

HON. JOHN H. DALTON has served as our President and as a member of our
Board of Directors since September 2000. Mr. Dalton was appointed Secretary of
the Navy by President Clinton in 1993 and served in that capacity until 1998.
He served as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of
EPCAD Systems, a metal technology firm, from October 1999 until June 2000. He
has been a member of the Boards of Directors of Transtechnology Corporation
since April 1999; Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. since May 1999; and Niagara
Mohawk Holdings Inc. since June 1999. Mr. Dalton graduated with distinction
from the U.S. Naval Academy and earned an M.B.A degree from the Wharton School
of the University of Pennsylvania. He holds an honorary Doctor of Laws degree
from Trinity College.

EUGENE SHCHERBAKOV, Ph.D. has served as the Managing Director of IPG
Laser since August 2000 and has been a member of our Board of Directors since
September 2000. Dr. Shcherbakov served as the Technical Director of IPG Laser
from 1995 to August 2000. From 1983 to 1995, Dr. Shcherbakov was a senior
scientist in fiber optics and head of the optical communications laboratory at
the General Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Science in Moscow. Dr.
Shcherbakov graduated from the Moscow Physics and Technology Institute with an
M.S. in Physics. In addition, Dr. Shcherbakov attended the Russian Academy of
Science in Moscow, where he received a Ph.D. in Quantum Electronics from its
Lebedev Physics Institute and a Dr.Sci. degree in Laser Physics from its
General Physics Institute.

TIMOTHY P. V. MAMMEN has been our Chief Financial Officer since July 2000
and a Vice President since November 2000. Previously, Mr. Mammen served as the
Group Finance Director and General Manager of UK Operations for IP Fibre
Devices Ltd. since May 1999. Mr. Mammen was Finance Director and General
Manager of United Partners Plc, a commodities trading firm, from 1995 to 1999.
Mr. Mammen received an Upper Second B.Sc. Honours degree in International Trade
and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science and
is a Chartered Accountant and a member of the Institute of Chartered
Accountants Scotland.

JOHN GEAGEA has been our Chief Operating Officer since June 2000. From
1987 to 2000, Mr. Geagea worked for Italtel S.p.a., a telecommunications
company, in various capacities, including as Director of Russian Operations
from 1994 to 1996, Director of the Socrates Project from 1996 to 1998, Director
of International Industrial Activities from 1998 to 1999 and Director of
Contracts Management from 1999 to 2000. Mr. Geagea holds a B.S. in Computer
Engineering from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) and an M.S. in
Electrical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

BENJAMIN PENG-CHIH LI has been our Chief Technology Officer since July
2000. From 1991 to 1999, Mr. Li served as a Section Manager at SDL, Inc., a
manufacturer of fiber optic components. He holds an M.S. in Electrical
Engineering from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

DENIS GAPONTSEV, Ph.D. has been our Vice President of Research and
Development since August 2000 and has been a member of our Board of Directors
since September 2000. From 1994 to 1996, Dr. Gapontsev worked as a scientist at
NTO IRE-POLUS. He worked at IP Fibre Devices Ltd. from 1996 to 1998 and at IPG
Laser GmbH from 1999 to 2000. In these positions he researched fiber lasers and
Raman fiber lasers. Dr. Gapontsev holds a B.S. and an M.S. in Physics from the
Moscow Physics and Technology Institute and a Ph.D. from the University of
London.

DENNIS LEONARD has been our Director of Manufacturing since March 2000.
Mr. Leonard was the Director of Manufacturing of Specialty Optics at Lucent
Technologies (formerly SpecTran Specialty Optics Company), a corporation that
produces fibers for communication, from 1997 to 2000. From 1993 to 1997, Mr.
Leonard was the Director of Manufacturing of Laser Imaging Equipment at Gerber
Systems Corporation, a corporation that develops and manufactures laser imaging
systems. He holds a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester
Polytechnic Institute and an M.B.A. degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute.

STEFANO CECCHI, Ph.D. has been the Managing Director of IPG Fibertech
since its inception in December 1997. From 1992 to 1997, Dr. Cecchi managed the
development and production of optical amplifiers and conducted research
projects on components for fiber optic communications at Italtel S.p.a. He
holds a Ph.D. degree in Quantum Optics from the National Institute of Optics of
the University of Florence and conducted post doctoral scientific research on
lasers and non-linear spectroscopy in Italy and abroad.

PETER V. MAMMEN has been our Treasurer since December 1998 and has been
an adviser to the IPG Group since 1996. From 1989 to 1996, Mr. Mammen was
Marketing Consultant to Francis Shaw & Company of Manchester, U.K. He holds a
B.A. in Humanities from the University of Madras.

PAOLO SINNI has been our Secretary since August 2000 and our Controller
since January 1999. He was the Controller of Technical Communications
Corporation from 1993 to 1996, of Melles Griot, Inc. from 1996 to 1997 and of
SpecTran Specialty Optics Company from 1997 to 1999. Each of these companies is
in the fiber optics industry. Mr. Sinni holds a B.S.B.A. in Accounting from
Nichols College.

VALENTIN FOMINE, Ph.D. has been a Department Head of IPG Laser since 1998
and previously as an Optical Engineer at NTO IRE-POLUS since 1990. Dr. Fomine
received his Ph.D. specializing in radiophysics from the Institute of Radio
Engineering and Electronics at the Russian Academy of Sciences. He received his
undergraduate education at the Department of General Physics of Saratov State
University, Russia.

IGOR SAMARTSEV has been the Director of Research and Development of IPG
Laser since 1997 and has been employed as a scientist with NTO IRE-POLUS since
1990. He is a graduate of Chelyabinsk Physical Mathematical School and received
a First Class degree from the Moscow Physical Technical Institute.

NICHOLAI PLATONOV, Ph.D. has been our Principal Scientist of IPG
Photonics since October 2000. Dr. Platonov served as a scientist at IPG Laser
from 1998 to 2000 and at NTO IRE-POLUS from 1996 to 1998. Dr. Platonov was a
research scientist at the Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics of the
Russian Academy of Sciences from 1979 to 1996. He received his Ph.D. from the
Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics of the Russian Academy of
Sciences and received his undergraduate degree from the Moscow Physical
Technical Institute.

ROBERT A. BLAIR has been Vice Chairman of our Board of Directors since
September 2000 and Chairman of our National Advisory Board since February 2000.
He is currently the President of the Blair Law Firm P.C. Mr. Blair was an
equity partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, a law firm, from 1995 to 1999. He
is a trustee under Winkler Trusts, which are the primary source of equity for,
and owners of, real estate ventures developed by The Mark Winkler Company. Mr.
Blair is managing partner of several real estate partnerships and has been a
manager/principal in cellular telephone ventures. Mr. Blair holds a B.A. in
Mathematics from The College of William and Mary and a J.D. from the University
of Virginia School of Law.

MICHAEL C. CHILD has been a member of our Board of Directors since
September 2000. Mr. Child has been employed by TA Associates, Inc., a venture
capital investment firm, since July 1982 where he currently serves as a
Managing Director. In addition, he has served as a member of the Board of
Directors of Finisar Corporation, a producer of fiber optic subsystems and
network performance test systems, since November 1998 and Fargo Electronics
Inc., a developer, manufacturer and supplier of plastic card printers, since
July 2000. Mr. Child holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University
of California at Davis and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of
Business.

WILLIAM F. KRUPKE, Ph.D. has been a member of our Board of Directors
since November 2000. Since May 2000, Dr. Krupke has been the President of
Applied Lasers, a company which provides consulting services related to laser
technology and applications, and he has served as a consultant to various
companies that concentrate in those fields. From 1972 to 1999, Dr. Krupke
served as Technical Manager for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, which
provides research and development for the United States Department of Energy,
and Deputy Associate Director of the laboratory's Laser Directorate. He
received a B.S. degree in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and
M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Physics from the University of California at Los
Angeles.

Our Chief Executive Officer, President, Chief Financial Officer,
Treasurer and Secretary are elected by the Board of Directors. All other
executive officers are elected by the Board of Directors or appointed by the
Chief Executive Officer and all officers serve at the discretion of the Board
of Directors. Each of our officers and directors, other than non-employee
directors, devotes his full time to the affairs of IPG Photonics.

Our Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Valentin P.
Gapontsev, is the father of Dr. Denis Gapontsev, our Vice President of Research
and Development and a director. Our Treasurer, Peter V. Mammen, is the father
of our Chief Financial Officer, Timothy P.V. Mammen. There are no other family
relationships among any of our directors, officers or key employees.



To: D. K. G. who wrote (5)12/11/2000 6:04:47 PM
From: Glenn Petersen  Respond to of 18
 
Also from lightreading.com:

lightreading.com

DECEMBER 11, 2000
PREVIOUS NEWS ANALYSIS

IPG Files for IPO

Late last Friday (December 8) IPG Photonics Corp. (proposed Nasdaq: IPGP)
filed for a $150 million IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In doing so, it's ignoring the no-nonsense mood of the stock market. But then,
IPG appears to be a less risky proposition than some of the companies that have
gone public (or have tried to) recently -- IPG is actually profitable (see IPO
Nostalgia ).

In fact, IPG has been making money since day one, it claims. According to its
S-1 filing, the company managed a profit of $24,000 in the year ending December
31, 1997. And in the nine months ending September 2000, it increased profit to
$1.5 million, thanks to registered sales of $32.5 million.

These numbers are testimony to the sound engineering that underpins IPG's
products. The company boasts 30 PhDs on its staff (out of a total of 160
employees), who are working to develop and improve a range of high-power fiber
lasers and amplifiers (see IPG Hides Its Light Under a Bushel ).

Though IPG also sells lasers for industrial processes, such as laser welding, the
company really hopes to take off by taking advantage of emerging telecom
markets -- Raman amplification for long-haul networks, fiber in the access
network, and optical wireless (free-space) systems.

According to the S-1 filing, IPG's multiple-output fiber amplifiers will make it
possible to increase the number of users that can be accessed by hybrid cable
TV networks. For optical wireless, IPG offers high-power amplifiers with automatic
power adjustment. These are needed to maintain the optical power of the link at a
constant level despite atmospheric disturbances such as fog and rain.

IPG's opportunity, however, is not without risk. The company cites TeraBeam
Networks Inc., an optical wireless manufacturer, as its biggest customer (40.2
percent of sales). But it's early days for Terabeam, which has only a few
installations under its belt. Terabeam's purchasing power clearly depends on
winning more contracts -- and of that there's no guarantee (see The Truth About
TeraBeam ).

IPG's second largest customer (19.6 per cent of sales) is Marconi
Communications PLC (Nasdaq/London: MONI). Other customers include ADC
Telecommunications Inc. (Nasdaq: ADCT), Alcatel SA (NYSE: ALA: Paris:
CGEP:PA), Corvis Corp. (Nasdaq: CORV), JDS Uniphase Inc. (Nasdaq: JDSU),
and Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LU).

But, as the S-1 points out: "None of these customers have any minimum
purchase obligations, and may stop placing orders with us at any time... Our
customers may purchase, and in several cases have purchased, fiber amplifiers
and fiber lasers from other vendors, regardless of any forecast they may have
previously provided to us."

There's one other worrying factor about IPG's customers. With the exception of
TeraBeam, all of the customers listed above are also competitors and could use
their considerable resources to out-maneuver the younger, smaller, company --
particularly as IPG says it hasn't had the resources to protect its intellectual
property with patents.

The lead underwriter is Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc., part of Merrill
Lynch & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MER). IPG has subsidiaries and operations in several
countries: IPG Laser GmbH (Germany), IRE-POLUS Co. (Russia), IPG Fibertech
Srl (Italy), IPG Fibre Optics Ltd. (U.K.), and IPG Inc. (Canada).