CLIENT'S SUCCESS.
-
Allan (Al) Stephan has over 25 years of business and technology development experience and founded Stratos Product Development in 1987.
Stephan expanded his commitment to emerging technologies with the Stratos Group, LLC, a company dedicated to the conversion of science and technology into commercial products for the advancement of mankind and the protection of the environment. Stratos Group has incubated companies in several markets including life science, medical devices and computing, providing leadership, funding, facilities combined with Stratos’ scientific, design and engineering resources.
In 2007, Stratos Group co-founded Stratos Genomics, Inc. with Mark Kokoris and Stratos’ CTO Bob McRuer to pursue extremely low-cost nucleic acid sequencing with a technology called “Sequencing by Expansion.” Stephan is CEO.
In 2002, Stratos partnered with Micronics’ President Karen Hedine in the recapitalization and reformulating the microfluidics and molecular diagnostics provider. From 2002-2008, Stephan was chairman of the board. Sony acquired Micronics in 2011.
In 1999, Stratos co-founded Amnis, Inc. with the Washington Research Foundation (WRF) and David Basiji, a life science tools company, focused on innovative advancements in the imaging of biological cells in flow. Millipore acquired Amnis in 2011.
In 1997, Stratos founded Inroad, Inc. a wearable thin client computer for industrial applications. Voxware acquired Inroad in 2000.
Prior to forming Stratos, Stephan was a Program Manager and Sr. Mechanical Engineer developing high volume hand-held instrumentation at the Fluke Corporation. Stephan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington. Stephan is an avid bicyclist, skier and squash player.
-
John Havard has 24 years of experience in engineering and product design. He rejoined Stratos in 2007 after co-founding EnVision Instruments in 2003, where he led the development of two wireless optical instruments for the biotech industry as Director of Engineering. He also filled the roles of product architect and lead designer, and set up contract manufacturing and production testing.
He became Chief Engineer for Finesse Solutions after EnVision was acquired and merged into Finesse in 2005. During his previous 10-year tenure at Stratos, John was a Sr. Design Engineer and worked on products for clients ranging from Apple Computer and Hewlett Packard to startups including Therus and Sportbrain. His roles included electrical designer, technical lead, and project manager. Prior to joining Stratos initially, he worked as an engineer at Applied Microsystems and Loral Electronics Systems. John is an inventor on three US patents with another pending. He holds Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Engineering degrees from Dartmouth College.
-
With more than 20 years of experience as a business manager and engineer, Sean MacLeod is a respected thought leader in innovative product development practices and an expert in systems engineering, product strategy, new product development and venture starts.
As President of Stratos Product Development, MacLeod manages company financial performance, establishes new client relationships and works with companies of all sizes to set new product to market strategies. MacLeod maintains corporate business relationships with a wide variety of clients from small unknown venture-funded start-ups to large multi-national organizations including Abbott Laboratories, Agilent Technologies, Datascope, Microsoft, Novo Nordisk, Intel, Welch Allyn, Tektronix, Cardinal Healthcare and Medtronic.
MacLeod is a current board member of the Washington Technology Alliance. He lectures frequently at trade and business events and for educational institutions, including the Business and Engineering programs at the University of Washington, the University of Oregon and the Rochester Institute of Technology.
After holding positions in engineering, business development and marketing, MacLeod was appointed president of Stratos in 2004. He holds an MBA from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Prior to joining Stratos in 1994, he was a consultant in the aerospace industry and an engineer with United Technologies.
-
Michael Nelson has over 30 years of design experience and is the co-founder of Stratos Product Development.
Nelson has been granted numerous national and international design awards that span a wide range of markets from high-volume consumer to medical products. He has over 30 US Design and Utility patents and his most recent awards include 2008 Medical Design Excellence Award Winner, 2008 IDEA Winner and 2008 Good Design Winner.
He currently sits on the board of managers at Stratos and directs its Industrial Design Group. Passionate about understanding the user and creating meaningful, purpose-driven designs that connect, making what is designed more useful, useable and desirable.
During Nelson’s 23 years with Stratos, his clients have included Microsoft, Intel, Apple, Fluke, Hewlett-Packard, Tektronix, Cardinal Health, Abbott Laboratories, Philips Healthcare, Datascope, Medtronics, Sonosite, Tyco Healthcare and Nike.
Prior to forming Stratos, Nelson was responsible for the design of several industry leading handheld digital multimeters product lines at the Fluke Corporation. The meters are recognizable worldwide as the gold standard for the test and measurement industry. The trade dress is still the defining design language for Fluke’s brand today.
Nelson has a BFA from the University of Washington. He has been longstanding member of the University of Washington Industrial Design Advisory Board. He also has significant design experience in human factors, user experience design.
-
Harold Kawaguchi has over 30 years experience working with emerging growth companies. He is currently Chairman of Stratos Group LLC, the holding company of Stratos Product Development. He also sits on the board of Stratos Genomics, a development-stage gene sequencing company and Wildwest Technology, a company developing cloud-based small business applications. Kawaguchi is also a partner in Resolute, a commercial lighting company, specializing in lighting for the health care market.
Kawaguchi’s past experience includes co-founder and senior vice-president of Physio-Control Corporation, where he saw the company through its growth years to its merger with Eli Lilly and Company. He is past Chairman of the Washington Chapter of the American Electronics Association, past board member of Pacer Corporation, Wall Data, Red Hook Brewery, Ekos Corporation and Active Voice. With the exception of Ekos, all other companies had successful IPOs and were listed on the NASDAQ. Kawaguchi also was a general partner in Trinus Partners, a seed venture fund and formerly Associate Professor, Industrial Design at the University of Washington.
Kawaguchi has been an active member of the cultural community as a past board member of the Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Empty Space Theatre, the Henry Art Gallery, and KCTS, Public Television. He holds a BA in Industrial Design and a MFA from the University of Washington.
-
Michael Curneen has over 31 years experience in product development. He joined Stratos Product Development, LLC as one of the original founding members in 1988.
Curneen’s experience in the design industry includes work for companies involved in the manufacture of commercial and residential lighting, barcode technology, opto-electronics, commercial photo-processing systems, electronic test and measurement equipment, consumer products and medical devices.
In his 24 years at Stratos, Curneen has worked in all areas of the company encompassing engineering and design, project management and his current multiple operational duties. His expertise focuses on the client experience; from serving as an onsite project manager for Apple Computer in Cupertino, California – to his most recent focus of assisting in the creation of the Stratos Medical Device Group Quality System which was compliant to 21 CFR 820 at its inception in 2004. He has served as management representative for the Stratos Quality System and is currently involved with evolving the system to become ISO 13485 compliant.
Curneen has served on the board as Secretary of Stratos Group, LLC since its inception. He has held the position of Plan Trustee/Administrator for the Stratos Group LLC 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan since its inception in 1990.
Prior to joining Stratos in 1988, he was mechanical engineering supervisor of the handheld equipment division at the Fluke Corporation. He attended the Burnley School of Professional Art and University of Washington in Seattle.
-
Dick Burger has over 35 years of experience in the marketing, product development and manufacturing of electronic instrumentation and medical devices. His breadth of knowledge and experiences complements Stratos Product Development’s business strategies.
In 2008, Burger was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Stratos and is responsible for all quality and operation functions. He was instrumental in creating the Stratos Medical Device Group’s Quality Management System to support the needs of customers from the Life Science market. Prior to this role, Burger served as the Director of Project Management for Stratos and was instrumental in managing key programs that enabled the company to achieve record revenues.
Burger’s previous experience includes Director of Manufacturing Engineering at Inroad, Inc., a Stratos Group incubation company. He was also a Senior Manager at the Fluke Corporation and held several key positions - General Manager of the Fluke Microelectronics Organization, Engineering Manager, Manufacturing/Test Manager and Design Engineer.
Portland State College, Stanford Executive Institute for the Management of High Technology Companies and the Covey Leadership Center are among Dick’s academic achievements. He is currently an Advisory Board member for Central Washington University’s technical program.
