Toby Strite

Toby Strite, PhD, has an extensive work experience history. Toby started their career as a Research Staff Member at IBM Zurich Research Laboratory in 1993, where they conducted R&D on LED-based optoelectronic displays. During their time at IBM, they received invention and achievement awards, co-chaired two international conferences, and served as Editor-in-Chief of a prominent Materials Research Society journal. In 1998, Toby joined JDSU as a Marketing Director, holding various product marketing and product line manager roles in California, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Poland. Toby managed international product line management, business development, and applications engineering for photonics businesses serving a wide range of markets. Toby led JDSU into the consumer electronics market with their gesture recognition diode laser technology used in Xbox Kinect. In 2014, Toby joined IPG Photonics as the West Coast Sales, Marketing, and Applications Director, and currently serves as the Senior Director of Strategic Marketing.

Toby Strite earned a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Physics from Bucknell University in 1987. Toby then went on to obtain a PhD in Physics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1993. Prior to their university education, Toby completed their high school education at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, MD, graduating with a High School Diploma in 1983. Toby attended Ridgefield High School in Ridgefield, CT for a year before transferring to Thomas S. Wootton High School.