About us
Advancing the frontiers of imaging for biosciences, environmental science, advanced materials research.
Revolutionizing Spectroscopy
Photothermal Spectroscopy Corp (PSC) has pioneered the breakthrough technique of optical Photothermal Infrared (O-PTIR) technology that eliminates key limitations of traditional IR Spectroscopy providing submicron spatial resolution for IR and transmission-like FTIR quality spectra in non-contact reflection mode. More recently, PSC has developed the world’s first simultaneous Infrared and Raman microscope and imaging system, providing IR and Raman data from the exact same spot, at the same time, with the same submicron spatial resolution. PSC’s vision is to enable the power of IR spectroscopy to be applied to high value problems in industry and academia via
the adoption of O-PTIR.
Management team
The Photothermal Spectroscopy Corp. founding team is made up of the world’s leading scientists in the field of submicron analysis, and senior business talent with experience in the scientific equipment industry. This combination of scientific and market knowledge enables Photothermal Spectroscopy Corp. to translate its revolutionary scientific expertise into the building of a profitable high growth business.
Dean Dawson
Dean has a passion for marketing and business development of high technology products. His experience spans different stages in market adoption ranging from pioneering and scaling new technologies like the photothermal AFM-IR in startups like Anasys to growing the market share of products in established market leaders like Bruker. At Anasys, Dean was the VP for Marketing and he helped the founding team to establish the photothermal AFM-IR as the leading technology for nanoscale IR spectroscopy leading to widespread adoption in leading academic and industrial institutions. When this market success led to the acquisition of Anasys by market leader Bruker, Dean joined Bruker as the Senior Director and Business Unit manager, nanoIR Spectroscopy Products. At Bruker, Dean was responsible for effectively integrating the nanoIR within Bruker’s engineering and manufacturing organizations. He was instrumental in the creation of the ICON-IR product that integrated the nanoIR into Bruker’s flagship and market leading ICON AFM platform and which has the promise to disrupt the high end AFM market. Dean has held other roles at Bruker including Senior Director of Product Management for Bruker’s research AFM division. Dean also worked for Veeco Instruments as the Senior Director of Product Management, overseeing the development and growth of Automated AFM for industrial markets. Dean has a BS in Applied Physics from De Montfort University, UK and Master’s in Engineering Management from Coventry University, UK.
Kevin Kjoller
Kevin is regarded within the SPM industry as one of the world’s leading technology and applications experts on the Scanning Probe Microscope. Kevin has been involved with the research and development of SPMs since 1987, mostly within Digital Instruments, and then later Veeco Metrology. At different points through his 16 year career with DI/Veeco, he managed all of the applications and research for SPM product development. Kevin currently serves as Vice President at Photothermal Spectroscopy Corp. He previously worked for Anasys Instruments, where he was responsible for development of the award-winning nano thermal analysis technology and VESTA systems, as well as pioneering applications for Anasys’ patented nanoIR spectroscopy. He has a BS in Physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Craig Prater
Dr. Craig Prater is CTO and co-founder of PSC and previously served as CTO for Anasys from 2007-2018, until the acquisition of Anasys by Bruker and the founding of PSC. Previously Craig served as a visionary leader in atomic force microscopy research, technology, and product development at Digital Instruments/Veeco (now Bruker). Craig was recognized in 2005 as the first Technology Fellow at Veeco, the highest technical rank in the organization. Craig has co-authored more than 140 scientific and trade publications and patents with more than 10,000 citations. Craig has also been PI on several successful research projects with DOE, NSF, and NIST. Craig has performed photothermal spectroscopy research since 2007 and has led O-PTIR technology development since 2017 and was recognized with the 2023 Williams-Wright Award for “significant contributions to vibrational spectroscopy while working in industry.” Craig has a PhD in Physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Roshan Shetty
Before co-founding Photothermal Spectroscopy Corp., Roshan Shetty served as co-founder and CEO for Anasys Instruments. Anasys pioneered the field of nanoscale IR Spectroscopy, via photothermal IR (PTIR) technology that uses an AFM probe as the IR absorbance detector. The AFM-PTIR technique was widely adopted by leading academic and industrial researchers. Anasys was acquired by Bruker in April, 2018. Prior to Anasys, he was the Director of Strategic Alliances for Veeco Instruments, where he laid the foundation for the widely successful Quantitative nano-mechanics (QNM) product platform at Veeco/Bruker Nano. The QNM platform revolutionized the field of nano-mechanics and contributed to over $100 Million in cumulative revenues. He conceived of and executed the $13.2 Million Strategic Alliance with Dow Chemical in nano-mechanical characterization that won a $6.6 Million NIST ATP award from a field of 800 corporate applicants. In a former life on another galaxy, Roshan was the co-founder/COO of Alafolie.com, a click/mortar wedding registry based in Paris, Milan and Munich that raised over $20Mill and employed over 100 people with strategic online/offline partnership with Galeries Lafayette. He was a former Investment Banker at Alex Brown, San Francisco and Operations Manager at KLA Tencor, San Jose. He has an MBA from INSEAD, a Masters in Optical Sciences from the University of Arizona and a BS in Electrical Engineering from BITS, Pilani.
Andrew Stuart
Andrew Stuart is a seasoned software director with over 25 years of experience in developing software for a diverse range of systems and technologies. Beginning his career as a research scientist in nanostructures, he developed software for various systems before joining Diffraction International where he designed and developed Durango, an open data format universal interferometer control and analysis platform for optical surface metrology. At Anasys Instruments, he served as a software director, overseeing the development of software for production and R&D nanoscale imaging and spectroscopy systems.
Andrew earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and a Master’s degree in Physics from the University of Minnesota. His work has been widely recognized for its transparency of data manipulation and open data formats, making it easier for users to work with and share data.
Scientific advisors
Professor Ji-Xin Cheng
Professor Cheng is universally regarded as one of the world’s foremost experts in the field of vibrational spectroscopic imaging. He is a co-inventor of the O-PTIR (Optical Photothermal Infrared) spectroscopy technique pioneered by Photothermal Spectroscopy Corp. He is also a co-inventor of the CARS (Coherent Anti-stokes Raman scattering) microscope which he invented together with Professor Sunny Xie of Harvard University.
Curtis A. Marcott, Ph.D
Curtis Marcott is currently a Senior Partner at Light Light Solutions, a spectroscopic consulting firm. A former research fellow at Procter & Gamble, Curt was the 2011 President of the Society of Applied Spectroscopy and is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Applied Spectroscopy. He is a past member of the editorial advisory boards of Analytical Chemistry and Vibrational Spectroscopy, the A-page advisory panel of Analytical Chemistry, and the board of managers of the Coblentz Society. He served as program committee chairman for the 2009 FACSS Conference and the Sixth International Conference on Advanced Vibrational Spectroscopy (ICAVS-6). Dr. Marcott received the 1993 Williams-Wright Award from the Coblentz Society for achievement in vibrational spectroscopy, and was named the 2001 Cincinnati Chemist of the Year. Dr. Marcott is currently an Affiliated Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Delaware and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Miami University in Oxford, OH. Curt obtained his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Minnesota in 1979.
Our patents
Photothermal’s mIRage® products and technology are protected by one or more of our 42 patents.
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