Dr. Richard E. Russo to Serve as Executive Chairman.

Applied Spectra, Inc. announced today the appointment of Dr. Jong H. Yoo as president and chief executive officer (CEO).

Applied Spectra, Inc. announced today the appointment of Dr. Jong H. Yoo as president and chief executive officer (CEO), effective December 9th, 2016. Dr. Jong H. Yoo is currently Executive Vice President of Applied Spectra and succeeds Dr. Richard E. Russo who has served as the company CEO since its inception in 2004. Dr. Russo will serve the Company as Executive Chairman and continue to advise the company on strategic direction, technology and government business.

“As a co-founder of Applied Spectra, Jong has led the successful commercialization of highly innovative laser ablation chemical analysis technologies,” said Dr. Richard E. Russo. “He has played an instrumental role in developing and differentiating our products, and formulating strategy for market adoption. I am confident that his vision and ability to lead the team will take the company to the next phase of growth.” “I am honored to have the opportunity for this leadership role at Applied Spectra. Thanks to Rick’s vision and drive, today Applied Spectra has the most innovative and strongest product portfolio of Laser Ablation (LA) and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instruments for a wide range of analytical applications,” said Dr. Yoo. “Our next focus will be on streamlining our technologies and further positioning our products for high volume commercial markets to accelerate our growth. I look forward to working with our team who have shown tremendous dedication and passion at Applied Spectra.” Dr. Jong H. Yoo has served various roles at Applied Spectra since co-founding the company in 2004. As Director of Technology Development, he led several government contracts and SBIR/STTR projects to develop, deliver, and commercialize LA and LIBS technologies for different markets. As Vice President of Technology Marketing, he set the company strategy to validate prototype products against market requirements and to further streamline and enhance products for market adoption. In his latest role as Executive Vice President, he oversaw sales and marketing. Dr. Yoo earned a BS degree from University of California at Berkeley, a MS degree from Stanford University, and a Ph.D degree from  University of California, Berkeley, all in Mechanical Engineering. About Applied Spectra, Inc. Applied Spectra, Inc. is the global leader in development, manufacturing, and commercialization of innovative laser ablation based analytical instruments. The company’s suite of LIBS and LA instruments replace complicated and toxic sample preparation procedures involving acid digestion. Applied Spectra’s instruments provide commercial industries and R&D communities with innovative cost-effective technologies to track elemental and isotopic information for QC, material development and discovery, and process control applications.