SemiNex (Peabody, MA) has named Daniel Chu as its new VP of marketing and business development, a role in which he will drive business growth across the company’s portfolio of high-power indium phosphide (InP) and gallium antimonide (GaSb) semiconductor lasers for lidar, medical, military, and industrial markets. Educated as a laser physicist from Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) with a PhD degree, Chu has extensive experience in product management, applications engineering, and business creation. His career spans over 25 years in the laser and optics industry, with tenures at companies such as Osram and SDL Inc.
Chu brings his technical laser expertise and market experience to assist customers in developing laser systems; he leads the company’s commercial team in supporting customers to pursue long-range lidar with triple-junction laser diodes. This new technology at the eye-safe 1550 nm wavelength allows lidar manufacturers to achieve 3X the distance and 24X the detection probability compared to a 905 nm emitter. He developed a benchmark calculator based on lidar physics to deliver the target performance for high-speed autonomous vehicles and works directly with lidar customers to optimize their lidar designs for both performance and cost.
Besides working at the company’s headquarters, Chu will also work closely with customers in Asia Pacific, where the company established a regional office in the Chinese city of Liaoyang in 2020.