By John Holland, Chief Revenue Officer
OLEDWorks’ journey to become the manufacturer of the thinnest and brightest OLED lighting panels on the road didn’t happen overnight. We didn’t always have world-class production facilities, and it took years of research and product iteration to achieve the product quality we have now. But what we have always had, since day one, are bright minds who are passionate about OLED lighting technology and are dedicated to the advancement of our organization.
None of the accomplishments we have achieved would have been possible without our people, and we are ever grateful for their contributions to our ongoing success.
OLEDWorks’ Founders
A team is only as strong as their leadership. Thankfully, since its founding, OLEDWorks has always had the brightest minds and most innovative leaders at its helm. Each of our cofounders brought their unique expertise to our organization and laid the groundwork for the success that OLEDWorks has achieved.
Dr. John Hamer
Dr. John Hamer, COO, is a lauded engineer with decades of experience in OLED technology advancement. Dr. Hamer was the Senior Technical Manager on the team responsible for creating the world’s first production facility for AMOLED display, a joint venture between the teams at Kodak and Sanyo Electric Co. While Sanyo eventually faced financial hardship, this JV produced the world’s first viable active-matrix OLED display technology and demonstrated the future potential for OLED cell-phone displays.
After this success, John returned to Kodak to lead research on increasing brightness through multi-stack OLED architecture, color correction algorithms, and power distribution within display technology. Much of this research is used to this day by global OLED TV manufacturers after Kodak sold off its OLED display division.
After the sale of the OLED division at Kodak, John co-founded OLEDWorks with Dr. Michael Boroson and David DeJoy as he recognized the technology’s potential and wanted to keep its future success within our hometown. Since then, Dr. Hamer has continued to lead advancing technical research in the field of OLED display and microdisplay, and has been recognized for entrepreneurship by the American Chemical Society.
OLED microdisplay prototype
Dr. Michael Boroson
With over 28 years of OLED experience, Dr. Michael Boroson, CTO, has been instrumental to the advancement and commercialization of this technology. Before co-founding OLEDWorks with Dr. John Hamer and David DeJoy, Michael led technical teams that demonstrated the world’s first cell-phone-size full color AMOLED display. He has also leveraged his OLED experience to transfer technology, processes, and equipment used in OLED display research and development to commercial manufacturing.
While at OLEDWorks, Michael has led the development of the world’s highest brightness, longest lifetime, and most reliable white OLED lighting panels. Additionally, as OLEDWorks has increased its focus on the automotive industry, he has spearheaded the development of rigid and bendable, highly segmented automotive OLED lighting panels used for tail, stop, and turn lighting. In 2021, Dr. Boroson was honored alongside Dr. John Hamer for entrepreneurship by the American Chemical Society.
Flexible (left) and rigid (right) segmented automotive lighting demonstrators
David DeJoy
A serial entrepreneur, David DeJoy is a Rochester native with four successful business ventures under his belt. Beginning his career at one of the Big Five accounting and audit firms, David went on to found DeJoy & Co. Advisors & CPAs, an award-winning accounting and advisory firm based in his hometown.
Shortly after the sale of the Kodak OLED division, David was approached by Michael Boroson and John Hamer who shared with him their ideas for an OLED company that kept this innovative technology in the city it was invented in. While the original business plan was less than ideal, the two engineers’ passion encouraged him to help develop a viable path toward profitability and sustainable growth. After a short while, David agreed to join the business full-time as the third cofounder.
“No one accomplishes anything alone,” said David in one of our recent conversations. “You need to surround yourself with experts and people you trust to have in your corner along the way.” He believes that much of OLEDWorks’ success can be traced to experts like the other cofounders and strategic leaders within the organization.
OLEDWorks founders in early Rochester facility. Left to right: Michael Boroson, David DeJoy, John Hamer
Our Growth
Since the inception of OLEDWorks, our team has grown responsibly and has continued to expand our operations and capabilities. Our largest expansion can be attributed to the purchase of the Philips OLED Division in April of 2015, which included their IP, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, and incredible team. Led by Wolfgang Görgen, Managing Director OLEDWorks GmbH, this team has been crucial to the precise engineering and superior product quality that OLEDWorks has become known for.
Exterior of OLEDWorks production facility in Aachen, Germany
Additionally, OLEDWorks invested heavily in its sales, marketing, R&D, and administrative teams beginning in 2018 as it began to pursue the expansion of its sales and distribution channels more seriously. Since then, our team has increased to over 200 employees across the United States and Germany, each working toward sharing the capabilities of world-class OLED technology globally.
The Future of Our Team
OLEDWorks is on an upward trajectory thanks to the dedication and passion of our team. With the thinnest and brightest OLED panels on the road and several exciting announcements to come soon, our passionate and skilled people are what drive our success.
And with the exciting new projects and goals that OLEDWorks has set for itself, we will need to invite new members to join our team to supplement our existing skillset. Centered around our two facilities in Rochester, NY and Aachen, Germany, we have set ambitious expansion goals over the coming years to continue to innovate and share the benefits of OLED technology with a wider audience.
If you are interested in joining the OLEDWorks team, check our Careers page to learn more about open positions.
