Valentin P. Gapontsev, Ph.D., founded IPG in 1990 and has been our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of our Board of Directors since our inception. Prior to that time, he served as senior scientist in laser material physics and head of the laboratory at the Soviet Academy of Science's Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics in Moscow. He has over thirty years of academic research experience in the fields of solid state laser materials, laser spectroscopy and non-radiative energy transfer between rare earth ions and is the author of many scientific publications and several international patents. Dr. Gapontsev holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. In 2006, he was awarded the Ernst & Young ® Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Industrial Products and Services in New England. He is the father of Denis Gapontsev, our Vice President-Research and Development.

Eugene Shcherbakov, Ph.D., has served as the Managing Director of IPG Laser GmbH, our German subsidiary, 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 served as our Chief Financial Officer since July 2000 and a Vice President since November 2000. Between May 1999 and July 2000, Mr. Mammen served as the Group Finance Director and General Manager of the United Kingdom operations for IPFD. Mr. Mammen was Finance Director and General Manager of United Partners Plc, a commodities trading firm, from 1995 to 1999 and prior to that he worked in the finance department of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. Mr. Mammen holds 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 of Scotland.

Angelo P. Lopresti has served as our General Counsel and Secretary and one of our Vice Presidents since February 2001. Prior to joining us, Mr. Lopresti was a partner at the law firm of Winston & Strawn from 1999 to 2001. Prior to that, he was a partner at the law firm of Hertzog, Calamari & Gleason from 1998 to 1999 and an associate there from 1991 to 1998. Mr. Lopresti holds a B.A. in Economics from Trinity College and a J.D. from the New York University School of Law.

Denis Gapontsev, Ph.D. , has served as our Vice President of Research and Development since August 2000. From 2000 until 2005, he was also a member of our Board of Directors. From 1994 to 1996, Dr. Gapontsev worked as a scientist at NTO IRE-Polus. He worked at IPFD from 1996 to 1998 and at IPG Laser from 1999 to 2000, where 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. He is the son of Dr. Valentin P. Gapontsev.

George H. BuAbbud, Ph.D., Vice President, Telecommunications Products, joined IPG in July 2002. Prior to joining IPG, Dr. BuAbbud was Vice President and Chief Technical Officer for the Access Network Systems division of Marconi Communications, Inc. He was with Exxon, Reltec then Marconi for 17 years. He developed Marconi's widely deployed deep fiber broadband access platforms with connections to over 2 million subscribers in North America. He was concurrently an adjunct professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington from 1993 to 2002. He holds a B.E. in Electrical Engineering from the American University of Beirut, a M.S. and a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska.

Alexander Ovtchinnikov, Ph.D., has served as our Vice President, Components, since September 2005 and as Director of Material Sciences from October 2001 to September 2005. Prior to joining us, Dr. Ovtchinnikov was Material Science Manager of Lasertel, Inc., a maker of high-power semiconductor lasers, from 1999 to 2001. For 15 years prior to joining Lasertel, Inc., he worked on the development and commercialization of high power diode pump technology at the Ioffe Institute, Tampere University of Technology, Coherent, Inc. and Spectra-Physics Corporation. He holds an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Electrotechnical University of St. Petersburg, Russia, and a Ph.D. from Ioffe Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

William Shiner has served as our Vice President-Industrial Markets since March 2007 and as Director of Industrial Markets since August 2002. Prior to joining IPG, Mr. Shiner served as Chief Operating Officer for Convergent Prima from 1995 to 2002. Between 1980 and 1995, Mr. Shiner served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Coherent Industrial. In 1973, he co-founded Laser, Inc., which was acquired in 1980 by Coherent, Inc. Mr. Shiner holds a B.S.E.E. and an M.B.A. from Northeastern University and is the current President of the Laser Institute of America.

Igor Samartsev has been the acting General Manager of our Russian subsidiary, NTO IRE-Polus since 2005. He served as the Technical Director of NTO IRE-Polus from 2000 to April 2005 and, from 1993 to 2001, he was the Deputy Director of NTO IRE-Polus. Mr. Samartsev holds an M.S. in Physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.