About us
At Cylite, we’re committed to redefining and improving the future of eye health. Since 2013, our passionate team of Australian researchers and innovators has been developing a novel OCT to assist optometry, ophthalmology and research specialists as they continue to strive for better patient outcomes.
The story so far
In 2012, OCT had advanced to a point that it had changed the way optometry and ophthalmology was practiced. Despite that, clinicians were still facing the problem of eye movement artefacts, which inhibited their ability to acquire scans featuring sufficiently accurate eye measurements, especially in the anterior segment.
Utilising their more than 80 years’ of combined experience in optics, the Cylite founding team set out to change that. Having grown a number of companies in the optical and telecommunications space, which have generated over $1bn in revenues, they had amassed a great understanding in the field and used this knowledge to sketch out a proposal – it was a completely different approach to OCT that was more relevant to measuring the surfaces and layers of the eye. These plans were soon formalised, patent applications were developed, and an optical engineer validated the technology.
Not only had they come up with an alternative technology for anterior segment imaging, they also found a way to image the retina.
Next step was to validate the concept with the relevant industry experts. This involved presenting their work at numerous science conferences, including Photonics West, BiOS (biomedical optics and biophotonics exhibition), Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) and Laser World of Photonics.
Many awarded patents later, the technology looks set to redefine a new generation of OCT in ophthalmology and optometry.
Leadership Team
Kylee Hall
CEO
Kylee is a medical device industry expert and brings more than 18 years of senior leadership in sales, marketing and corporate management. She has a record of accomplishment in executing best practice business, sales and marketing strategies in Ophthalmic and Surgical devices.
Steve Frisken
Executive Director
Steve has >25 years experience in photonics, having previously founded Photonic Technologies (acquired by Nortel) and Engana (acquired by Finisar). He is also a prolific inventor, with 47 granted US patents in Optics and was the inventor of the Dynamic Wavelength Processor which has generated more than $ US 1 Billion in cumulative revenue. Steve was awarded the ATSE Clunies Ross Medal in 2013 (together with Simon Poole) in recognition of his success in the development and commercialisation of novel optical technologies. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and the recipient of the 2018 OSA Richardson Medal.
Grant Frisken
CTO
Grant has over 20 years medical and real time software experience, focussing in the areas of Corneal Topography, Ophthalmic Imaging, Perimetry and Optometric software. He designed the Medmont E300 Corneal Topographer software – the gold standard in corneal topography.
Trevor Anderson
Chief Scientist
Trevor has more than 25 years experience in Industrial R&D, Government Research Labs and Start-ups. Focussing in the areas of Optical Communications and Signal Processing, he was previously CTO and co-founder of MDI which applied the concept of machine learning to the measurement of optical signals in a communications network.
Gary Wyatt
VP Sales and Marketing
Gary brings to Cylite more than 18 years of professional experience in the Ophthalmic industry building and leading sales and marketing teams
Jason Miller
VP Manufacturing Operations
With a solid career that spans over 30 years in advanced product development, engineering, project management and applied research; turning great ideas into outstanding products is my key motivation.
Moshe Gizba
VP Engineering
Moshe is an experienced, result oriented Engineering Manager with over 22 years of engineering experience across R&D, NPI, Product development and complex manufacturing environments globally. Vast knowledge in designing production processes, production equipment, process automation, data metrics and systems for improving product performance and reliability. Extensive experience across new product development (NPD) life cycle from concept and R&D environment to high volume manufacturing (HVM), new product introduction (NPI), Product integration and product commercialization. A strong background in computational methods of data analysis as well as mathematical and statistical approaches and methodologies for complex problem solving.
Arnold Ouyang, PhD
VP Quality and Regulatory
Arnold is a well-established Regulatory Affairs and Compliance Manager. Having worked for various multi-national companies with footprints in different highly regulated industries, Arnold has 18 years’ experience of successful implementation and execution of regulatory affairs, compliance assurance and product safety strategies along the product life cycle to meet the different requirements of different global jurisdictions.
Scott Fisher
VP Product and Innovation
Scott leads the development of product conceptualisation, design, and integration at Cylite, translating customer needs into mass production. He is Chartered through the IMechE and is a Certified Product Owner. Scott has previously worked at ASML, SSTL and Insitu Pacific Ltd developing lasers, payloads for satellites and UAVs respectively.
Mandy Kelly
HR Business Manager
Mandy is an experienced Human Resources Professional with experience across a range of industries including consumer goods, sport and the tech industry. Skilled in Talent Management, HR Consulting, Employee Benefits Design, HR Strategy, Personnel Management, and Employee Engagement. Strong generalist human resources professional with over 20 years experience at senior level.
Andrew Parkinson
Chief Engineer
Andrew is a prolific and forward-looking engineering and management professional with over 25 years of experience across a broad spectrum of high-technology spaces, always at the cutting edge. I have a flair for innovation and a robust skillset across multiple engineering and scientific disciplines, and this has consistently generated significant commercial value.
The Board
Michael Panaccio
Chairman
Dr Michael Panaccio has deep experience in the development and commercialisation of businesses in the Life Sciences sector through his role as founding partner of Starfish Ventures. He brings decades of experience as a technology investor and company Director and is Chairman of the Board at Cylite.
Eitan Gertel
Board Member
Eitan Gertel, is an experienced entrepreneur and the former CEO of Finisar Corporation, a NASDAQ-listed company with a turnover of >$US1B. Prior to that, he was the founder and CEO of Optium Corporation, which he took from a VC-funded start-up to a $400M NASDAQ listing.
Bill Bartee
Board Member
Bill is the Managing Partner of Main Sequence Ventures whose mission is to help unreasonable thinkers build game-changing companies that do good. Prior to Main Sequence, he co-founded Blackbird Ventures where he was one of three General Partners and an Investment Committee member. Its first fund is among the top 1% globally for its vintage. Key market leaders Bill has led early-stage investments in include Culture Amp, Altium, Seek, Rome2Rio, Looksmart, Autopilot, Baraja, Q-CTRL, Pending.AI, Kapiche, Prospection, Cylite, and dozens more. Bill’s interests broadly are in breakthrough, science-based ideas that leapfrog today’s solutions.
Simon Poole AO
Board Member
Dr Simon Poole, AO, is one of Cylite’s founders has nearly 40 years experience in photonics in both academia and industry. He has been involved in successful technology commercialisation in Australia and globally for over 30 years and was awarded the Order of Australia in 2018 for his contribution to photonics in Australia. (See full bio under Leadership team)
Steve Frisken
Board Member
Steve has 25 years experience in photonics and is a prolific inventor. Steve was awarded the ATSE Clunies Ross Medal in 2013, is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and the recipient of the 2018 OSA Richardson Medal. (See full bio under Leadership team)