Management Team – Quantum Design
Stuart Schoenmann, Chief Executive Officer
Stuart Schoenmann has more than 30 years' experience as a hands-on CEO in applied technology and industrial markets with manufacturing and engineering orientation, as well as demonstrated success implementing change and improvements in manufacturing, engineering, sales, marketing, and organizational development. As a former CEO of a multinational $185 million photonic technology business with more than 1000 employees, Mr. Schoenmann led an eight-year business transformation. A creative strategic planner with proven ability to identify and develop key market opportunities, he is an adaptable and decisive leader of diverse multi-functional teams in developing state-of-the-art technological products and implementing dramatic operational improvements. Stuart Schoenmann was named Global CEO of Quantum Design in 2024.
Karen De Los Reyes, Chief Financial Officer
Karen De Los Reyes has led the accounting team at Quantum Design since 2014. During this time, Karen has modernized the company's business processes including the implementation of a new Enterprise Resource Planning system. In 2020, Ms. De Los Reyes added Information Technology to her responsibilities and assisted in making remote working achievable at QD. Prior to joining QD, Ms. De Los Reyes worked for a variety of privately and publicly held high-tech engineering and manufacturing companies primarily in financial planning and analysis. Ms. De Los Reyes has an MBA from Northeastern University, and a BS in Business Administration with an emphasis in accounting from California State University, Northridge. In 2022, Karen De Los Reyes was named Global Chief Financial Officer of Quantum Design.
Stefano Spagna, Ph.D., Vice President of Strategy and Innovation
Stefano Spagna earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science in 1995 from the University of California San Diego. Shortly after, he joined Quantum Design as a Research Physicist and became its Chief Technical Officer in 2008. In 2015, Dr. Spagna spearheaded Quantum Design's undergraduate physics laboratory initiative which includes online resources for students and educators. An active scientific researcher and published author, in 2019, Dr. Spagna joined the editorial board of Physical Review Applied, a leading scientific publication published by the American Physical Society. A vocal advocate of helium conservation, Dr. Spagna helped launch July 10th as "Helium Conservation Day," aimed at increasing awareness for helium conservation around the world. In 2022, Dr. Spagna was named Global Vice President of Strategy and Innovation of Quantum Design.
Dan Polancic, Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Dan Polancic joined Quantum Design as a Sales Engineer in North America in 1996. Since that time, his responsibilities and successes have grown to include not only larger territories and teams of sales associates, but other responsibilities within the company such as leadership of the Applications Department, market research, product development, and coordination of international offices. Mr. Polancic earned his BS in Business Administration from Bethel University. In 2014 Mr. Polancic was named Director of Quantum Design Product Sales, then in 2022 was promoted to Global VP of Sales and Marketing for Quantum Design.
Jan Gardner, Director of Human Resources
Jan Gardner, Global Director of Human Resources, has successfully built and scaled Quantum Design's HR department to meet the growing needs as the business expanded internationally. From starting an HR department as a single-person operation in 1993 to growing a team that meets the diverse needs of an international company, Jan has navigated the unique challenges of both domestic and global HR functions, aligning people strategies with business growth and organizational goals. With a background spanning budget lodging, sports apparel catalog sales, and a solid foundation from a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Jan also holds a Professional in Human Resources Certification and has served on the National Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Regional SHRM School to Work Committee.
Aashish Chourey, Ph.D., Director of Business Development
Aashish Chourey joined Quantum Design in 2010. Before joining Quantum Design, Dr. Chourey spent 18 years as a sales lead in the superconducting magnet system industry. His most recent position was Sales and Marketing Director at American Magnetics, Inc., where he was responsible for developing their worldwide distribution network. He played an active role in the evolution of the MAxes vector field magnet systems for research in Spintronics, as well as initializing an R&D 100 award-winning DOE program for Thermo Magnetic Processing in collaboration with the Material Science Group at ORNL, the EATON Corporation and the Ajax TOCCO Corporation. Dr. Chourey has a background in developing sales teams for a wide range of scientific and analytical instrumentation and has a Ph.D. in Physics from Mumbai University in the area of High Tc superconducting thin films.
Doug Bird, Director of International Technical Support (Service)
Doug Bird joined Quantum Design's engineering group in 2005. Mr. Bird led the launch of the PPMS VersaLab and PPMS EverCool-II option. To support QD's continued growth, in 2012, he moved to the role of US Customer Service Manager, and then Director of International Technical Support in 2019. Mr. Bird has a BS in Physics from the University of California, San Diego and a MS in Physics from San Diego State University.
William Neils, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer
William Neils earned his Ph.D. in Physics in 2002 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. William joined Quantum Design in January 2005 as part of the research and development group. He helped to develop the dilution refrigerator temperature option and the PPMS DynaCool platform among other products. In mid-2015, Dr, Neils was asked to lead a separate, focused development group at Quantum Design called Q-Works. As part of this group, he helped conceive and develop the OptiCool magneto-optical cryostat platform introduced by Quantum Design in 2018. In December 2022, William Neils became the Chief Technology Officer of Quantum Design.
