Behind the Spec: Optical Manufacturing Director Franklin Wang

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Meet Franklin Wang, Atonarp's Director of Optical Manufacturing.

Franklin has more than 20 years of experience bringing optical technologies to market. Learn more about his role and why he is excited by Atonarp's work.

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What is your role at Atonarp?

I work as a leader supporting new product introduction (NPI) of Atonarp Optical Spectroscopy (AOS) products, working closely with our product development team and our manufacturing partners. We collaborate on a wide array of areas, including our approach to designing our products for manufacturing (DFM), as well as cost reduction during all the phases of the new product development life cycle. With the growth of Atonarp, I'm also responsible for planning and establishing the team of Manufacturing Testing and Process Engineering as we continue to commercialize products and scale our manufacturing processes.

My current focus is supporting the initiative to develop a medical device which may revolutionize the approach of medical dialysis diagnostics. The core of the product implements some cutting-edge technologies, including Coherent Anti-stokes Raman Spectroscopy (CARS), ultra-fast fiber laser and Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA). Atonarp is at the global forefront in working to introduce these disruptive technologies into the healthcare sector. 

What is your training and professional background?

I am a 20-year veteran in the field of optical components, sub-systems, and instruments. Prior to Atonarp, I worked at Zeiss Group for more than 11 years in the field of medical device advanced manufacturing, in particular the highly-regulated X-ray microscopy environment (FDA, cGMP, ISO13485, ISO9001, etc.). 

What drew you to join Atonarp? 

Atonarp intrigued me initially because of the team’s ambition to implement CARS and OCTA technologies into healthcare applications, which nobody else has successfully done before. I was convinced that there would be many opportunities to push myself and grow. 

I've been with Atonarp for about two years at this stage and I’ve already had the opportunity to observe and contribute to its significant growth and advancement in that time. 

"Our team is incredibly motivated to work together to bring the world a revolutionary non-invasive life science product family."

What kind of challenges do you face in your position?

What Atonarp is developing represents genuinely innovative technologies and first-of-their-kind products. Unexpected challenges always arise during such bold pursuits. Having an incremental and resilient approach is how we continue to progress year over year.

As with all companies, the pandemic has had an impact on us, in particular on the pace of our ability to establish the manufacturing team in Fremont, CA. We have had to pivot and develop creative solutions to deal with resource shortages. 

Fortunately, Atonarp has a collaborative global team so that we can overcome those challenges together. I am fortunate to work with a team that offers strong technical expertise, critical thinking, a can-do attitude, commitment to team-work, embracing of diversity, and persistence.   

What excites you about Atonarp's mission?

Atonarp's products and business perspective are well-aligned with the emerging market and their potential is recognized by our investors. We have a hard-working and dedicated team across the globe that supports each other with passion and cares for each other like a family. We are also fortunate to have the support of world-leading advisors. 

When you take all of these factors together, our team is incredibly motivated to work together to bring the world a revolutionary non-invasive life science product family.

What do you do in your free time? 

I enjoy hiking, yard work, playing basketball and table tennis with my kid, poker with friends and family, and leisure travel, of course. One unexpected thing I enjoy doing is playing "Pokemon Go" with my wife on our daily walks. Gotta catch ‘em all!