Matthew Vargas
Interim CEO, Vice President, Sales
Mr. Vargas, age 38, has served as the Company’s Interim Chief Executive Officer since May 2024 and the Company’s VP, Sales, since December 2022, after serving as the Company’s Sales Director from August 2022 until December 2022. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Vargas served as the TACNAV Business Development Manager at KVH Industries, Inc. (“KVH”), a maritime communications and inertial navigation company, from November 2020 until August 2022, when the Company acquired KVH’s inertial navigation business. From August 2018 to November 2020, he served as Vice President, Business Assistance of RI Commerce Corporation, a business support company. From April 2015 to November 2020, Mr. Vargas served in various roles, including COO and Veteran Advocate, for Veterans Assembled Electronics, a company with the mission to meet the electronics industry workforce demand by leveraging the Veterans Administration and U.S. Department of Labor infrastructure. Mr. Vargas received a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography and Environmental Engineering at the United States Military Academy, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from University of Rhode Island.
Tom Minichiello
Chief Financial Officer
Tom Minichiello is the Chief Financial Officer of EMCORE Corporation, joining in August 2019. Prior to taking this position, Tom was Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, and Secretary of Westell Technologies, a supplier of communication network infrastructure and remote monitoring solutions. Previously, he was at Tellabs, an optical networking equipment provider, where his positions included interim Chief Financial Officer, Vice President of Finance and Chief Accounting Officer, Vice President of Financial Operations, and Vice President of Finance for North America. Prior to Tellabs, Tom served in various leadership roles at Andrew Corporation (now CommScope), Phelps Dodge, Otis Elevator, and United Technologies. He began his career in the finance organization at Sterling Drug. Tom holds a Master of Business Administration in Entrepreneurship and Operations Management from DePaul University, a Master of Science in Accounting from the University of Hartford, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Villanova University. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
Ryan Hochgesang
Vice President and General Counsel
Ryan Hochgesang joined EMCORE as Vice President and General Counsel in May 2017. Prior to joining EMCORE, Mr. Hochgesang served as VP, General Counsel of Surf Airlines Inc., a private membership-based airline, as Senior Corporate Counsel of Rentech, Inc., a publicly held energy and natural resources company, and as VP, Assistant General Counsel of Opnext, Inc., a publicly held designer of fiber optic components and modules. Prior to those roles, Mr. Hochgesang practiced corporate law at the Los Angeles office of Latham & Watkins LLP from 2003 to 2008. Mr. Hochgesang holds a B.A. degree from the University of Southern California and a J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School.
Janet Liu
Vice President of Quality and Organization Performance
Janet Liu was appointed EMCORE’s Vice President of Quality and Organization Performance in 2016. Ms. Liu joined EMCORE China in 2013 as Senior Director of Manufacturing Quality and has been leading EMCORE’s quality and reliability programs since 2014. Prior to joining EMCORE, Ms. Liu worked for various business units at Motorola for 20 years, holding a variety of management positions including Senior Director of New Product Launches, Customer Quality Director and Master Black Belt for the Greater China region. Ms. Liu was certified as a Motorola Black Belt in 1998 and a Master Black Belt in 2000. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Optical Physics from Shandong University in China and a Master of Science degree in Applied Mathematics in Statistics from New Jersey Institute of Technology.