908 Devices – Executive Biographies
Leadership Team & Founders
Dr. Kevin J. Knopp
President and CEO
Dr. Knopp is a co-founder & CEO of 908 Devices Inc. An experienced high-tech
entrepreneur, Kevin co-founded Ahura Scientific in 2002, and was Senior Vice
President overseeing Operations, R&D and Safety and Security Sales through
Ahura’s acquisition by Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2010, where he continued as
Vice-President and Site Leader of the Portable Optical Analysis division. Kevin
served as an independent board member for Crystal IS until its acquisition by
Asahi-Kasei. Previously, Kevin was a laser development manager at CoreTek
Inc., acquired by Nortel Networks in 2000. He earned B.S.E.E from Boston
University, M.S.E.E, and Ph.D. degrees in Optics from the University of
Colorado. Kevin is an inventor on more than 20 US patents, is an author on more
than a dozen refereed publications, and his products have received R&D 100,
Business Week IDEA, GSN, CPhI Gold, Cygnus, and Frost & Sullivan awards.
Dr. Christopher D. Brown,
VP and CTO
Dr. Brown is a co-founder, VP and CTO of 908 Devices Inc. Prior to founding 908
Devices, Chris was a platform architect at Apple in California leading
investigations into future-gen hardware/software technologies. Before joining
Apple, he headed Product Development and Engineering at Ahura Scientific and
later Thermo Fisher Scientific, which acquired Ahura Scientific in 2010. Joining
Ahura in 2004 he established the company's core embedded analytics and
chemometrics capability, led product and market development for the
pharmaceutical/industrial vertical, and established the international applications,
and scientific support teams. Prior to Ahura, Chris held several senior leadership
roles at InLight Solutions developing multiple clinical, in-vivo and non-invasive
biodiagnostic products across a range of imaging and spectroscopic
modalities. He has published some 150 papers and presentations, and more
than 30 granted/pending patents. Chris received his B.Sc. from Brandon
University and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Dalhousie University where he developed
chemometric techniques for mass spectrometry and chromatography.
Dr. Christopher J. Petty
VP, Business Development & Marketing
Dr. Chris Petty is a co-founder and VP of Business Development and Marketing
with 908 Devices. Chris is an executive with over 21-years experience in the
analytical instrumentation industry. Chris has been responsible for development
of new markets and market expansions introducing product platforms in
numerous high growth acquired businesses at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Chris
defined and implemented growth strategies, stood up new vertical segments and
was responsible for full P&L as VP and General Manager for both Ahura
Scientific and Polychromix businesses. Prior, Chris successfully executed growth
and expansion strategies in the Life Science sector as VP/GM for Thermo
Fisher’s NanoDrop business, a high-growth innovator focused on DNA, RNA and
protein measurements. As Director of Product Development, for Thermo he led
the development and introduction of numerous market-leading Raman and FTIR
platforms. He has more than 25-refereed papers and conference presentations,
has won R&D 100 and Frost & Sullivan awards for his products, and an American
Marketing Association award for interactive promotional campaigns. Chris
received a Ph.D. in Chemistry and B.Sc. in Physics from Southampton University
in the UK with industrial sponsorship from PerkinElmer.
Dr. J. Michael Ramsey
Science Founder
Dr. J. Michael Ramsey is the Goldby Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. Dr. Ramsey is also the director of the
UNC Center for Biomedical Microtechnologies, a center focused on fostering
collaborations between medical researchers or clinicians and developers of
microtechnologies for enhancing access to biological information. His present
research interests include highly miniaturized mass spectrometry, micro- and
nanofluidics, and single molecule DNA sequencing, single cell assays and pointof-care clinical diagnostic devices. Dr. Ramsey is the sole scientific founder of
Caliper Technologies (NASDAQ:CALP), later renamed Caliper Life Sciences and
acquired by PerkinElmer in late 2011 for $600M. Caliper is the leading
commercial supplier of microfluidic technologies; tools primarily used in the
pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Dr. Ramsey is also the scientific
founder of 908 Devices Inc. and serves as chair of the Scientific Advisory Board.
Philip Gardella
Chief Financial Officer
Phil Gardella joined 908 Devices in 2012 and serves as Chief Financial Officer.
Phil is an accomplished, operationally oriented finance executive with more than
twenty-five years of startup through Fortune 500 finance & accounting, and Big 4
public accounting leadership experience. He has particular experience working
with growing, early stage technnlogy companies. Phil’s CFO positions
encompass diverse industries including Life Sciences (with Quanterix and
LightLab Imaging), Wireless (with Bluesocket), Software (with PowerSteering
Software), and Telecommunications (with Vitts Networks). Phil’s senior finance
and accounting roles have included PricewaterhouseCoopers, Pepsico and
Digital Equipment Corp.
Phil achieved a BSBA in Accounting from Northeastern University, a Finance
MBA from Babson College and he is a CPA in Massachusetts and New
Hampshire.
Board of Directors
Kevin Hrusovsky
President, Life Sciences and Technology, Perkin Elmer
E. Kevin Hrusovsky was appointed President, Life Sciences and Technology,
PerkinElmer following PerkinElmer’s acquisition of Caliper (CALP). Kevin served
as CEO of Caliper Life Sciences from July 2003, when Zymark Corporation was
acquired by Caliper. With a strong commercialization and external focus, Caliper
was transformed into a leading edge personalized medicine / health technology
company. Its market value grew the fastest in the entire life sciences landscape
during the period 2009 – 2011. CALP was sold in late 2011 for $650M cash.
Prior to the acquisition, he served as President and CEO of Zymark. Under
Kevin’s leadership, Zymark was transformed from a custom robotics job shop
into a leading life sciences tools and informatics company. Prior to this, Kevin
was Director of International Business, Agricultural Chemical Division, and
President of the Pharmaceutical Division, for FMC Corporation. From 1983 to
1992, he held several management positions at E.I. DuPont de Nemours,
including North American Sales and Marketing Head, Teflon.
Hrusovsky currently sits on the Board of 908 Devices, the Educational Board of
the Massachusetts Biotech Council, the Advisory Committee for the Center for
Biomedical Engineering at Brown University, the Association for Laboratory
Automation, the JALA Editorial Board, and the Strategy Committee of Children’s
Hospital Boston. He formerly served on the boards of SeraCare, Caliper Life
Sciences, Xenogen Corporation and Alliant Medical Technology. Hrusovsky
received an Honorary Doctorate degree from Framingham State University for
contributions in life sciences. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering
from Ohio State University and an M.B.A. from Ohio University.
Keith L. Crandell
Co-founder and Managing Director, ARCH Venture Partners
Keith Crandell is a co-founder and a Managing Director of ARCH Venture
Partners. He focuses on chemical and specialty materials companies, electronics
and instrumentation, optics and photonics, communications, and enterprise
infrastructure businesses. He previously served as Senior Manager at ARCH
Development Corporation, where he was responsible for ARCH Venture Fund I
activities at Argonne National Laboratory.
Mr. Crandell has played a key role in the formation and initial funding round of
Quanterix, Alfalight, PixelEXX Systems, ALIS Corp. (acquired by Carl Zeiss
SMT), Eichrom Industries (acquired by Gary Comer, Inc.), Nanophase
Technologies (NANX), and Illinois Superconductor. He was also responsible for
ARCH's investment in New Era of Networks (NEON, acquired by Sybase-SY),
Apropos Technology (APRS, acquired by Syntellect-ESL), Teach.com (acquired
by Intellinex), CelebrateExpress (BDAY, acquired by Liberty Media-LINTA),
Ahura Scientific (acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific-TMO), Adesto
Technologies, Ciespace, Boreal Genomics, and Crystal IS (acquired by Asahi
Kasei-AHKSY), among others. He is a director of Quanterix, Nanosys, Alfalight,
Adesto Technologies, Boreal Genomics, PixelEXX Systems, Univa, and
Ciespace. Mr. Crandell also serves as a director of the Illinois Venture Capital
Association.
Prior to the founding of ARCH, Mr. Crandell was with the specialty chemical and
polymer company, Hercules, Inc. He holds an M.B.A. from The University of
Chicago, an M.S. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Arlington, and a
B.S. in Chemistry and Mathematics from St. Lawrence University.
Mark Spoto
Managing Director, Razor’s Edge Ventures
At Razor’s Edge, Mr. Spoto is responsible for the fund’s day-to-day business
operations. His primary responsibilities include the identification and evaluation of
investment opportunities, market and industry analyses, deal structuring,
fundraising, and LP relations, as well as support of and advice to Razor’s Edge
portfolio companies. Prior to joining Razor’s Edge, Mr. Spoto was a partner in the
Reston, Virginia office of Cooley LLP, a national law firm. He worked with many
emerging and high growth technology companies and investment funds, and his
practice focused on mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, private equity and
public securities offerings, and general corporate representation. His operating
company clients were engaged in high-growth industry sectors including
software, government contracts, aerospace/defense, telecommunications, and
media. From 2008-2011, Chambers USA named Mr. Spoto to its list of America’s
Leading Lawyers for Business, and in 2009, he was selected by The Legal 500
as a leading lawyer in the fields of venture capital and emerging companies. Prior
to practicing law, Mr. Spoto was an aerospace engineer, working on the Air
Force Titan IV rocket program for McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Company.
He holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Boston University and a J.D.
from Georgetown University Law Center.