Tom Brennan

Tom Brennan joined ARCH in 2008 as a Venture Partner. He has special focus on ARCH activities at Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Life Sciences Accelerator in New York. During his first year with ARCH, he served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), a position supported by a Department of Energy grant awarded to ARCH early in 2008.

Mr. Brennan began his career as a member of the technical staff at AT&T Bell Labs, then joined SNL in 1986 where he became a senior member of the technical staff focused on the material growth of III-V semiconductor materials and devices. Mr. Brennan’s work included the growth of some of the first ‘vertical cavity surface-emitting laser’ (VCSEL) material at SNL and in the U.S., and the development of new and unique VCSEL manufacturing techniques. In 1994, Mr. Brennan and a colleague from SNL collaborated with ARCH Managing Directors, Clint Bybee and Keith Crandell, to license the VCSEL technology from SNL and co-founded MicroOptical Devices (MODE). Mr. Brennan was Co-President of MODE through December 1997 when EMCORE Corp. acquired the firm and established a new business unit called EMCORE Photovoltaics, which Mr. Brennan started-up and led as its General Manager. In 2001, Mr. Brennan was named President and CEO of Zia Laser, a spin-out from the Center for High Technology Materials at the University of New Mexico, which developed quantum dot laser diodes. He also served as Chairman of Medical Lighting Solutions, which uses solid state lighting to treat disease.

Mr. Brennan holds an A.S. in Chemistry from the Florida Institute of Technology, a B.S. in Biochemistry from Monmouth College, and an M.S. in Material Science from Steven’s Institute of Technology. He has published more than 120 articles and holds twelve patents issued and pending.