Ashish Vengsarkar
Chief Executive Officer

Ashish Vengsarkar joined Nistica as CEO in the Spring of 2006.  He came to Nistica from Meriton Networks where he was Vice President of Global Business Development. Prior to Meriton, Ashish founded the ROADM pioneer Photuris in January 2000, where he was Vice President of Product Marketing.  

Ashish began his career in Bell Labs developing optical fiber devices and subsystems.  He transitioned to Lucent’s optical business unit as Director of Product Management for Metro Optical Networks where he led the launch of the WaveStar 400G optical transport system.  He has more than 30 patents, many of them utilized in current optical networking products.  

Ashish received his Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Master's and Ph.D. Degrees in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech and an Executive MBA from the Wharton School, where he was a Palmer Scholar.

Thomas Strasser
Founder and Chief Technology Officer

Tom Strasser co-founded Nistica in the Fall of 2005.  Prior to founding Nistica,   Tom was Chief Technologist and Director of Intellectual Property at the optical networking startup Photuris.

Tom's experience ranges from knowledge of components to optical networks, including seven years as a technologist and manager in AT&T and Lucent Bell Labs.  He invented and led product realization efforts that led to commercially deployed WSS ROADMs, Tunable Dispersion Compensators, and undersea qualified OADM fiber gratings. He is a recognized technology leader in optical fiber communications, and served as the Technical Program Chair of OFC 2004 and General Chair of OFC/NFOEC 2006.

Tom received a B.S. degree from Alfred University and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Cornell University. During his graduate studies on periodic guided-wave devices, he worked at Eastman-Kodak Research Labs.

Jefferson Wagener
Founder and Vice President Engineering

Jeff Wagener co-founded Nistica in the Fall of 2005.  As a founding member of Photuris, Jeff delivered a unique mixture of creative genius and practical product realization expertise to all aspects of optics, software, and electronics in the ROADM subsystem technology.

Jeff has led invention and product realization efforts in groundbreaking subsystem technologies, including the first commercially deployed WSS ROADM and the first Optical Channel Monitor integrated into a transport system. He has made major contributions to the delivery of innovative solutions to manufacturing issues, test regimen, database integration, reliability and quality assurance that are critical to achieving qualified, carrier-class technology.

Jeff received a B.S. in Engineering Physics from Cornell University and a Ph. D. in Applied Physics from Stanford University.

Jeffrey Harris
Vice President Operations

Jeff joined Nistica as Vice President of Operations in January 2007.  Prior to joining Nistica he held VP and Director level positions at cutting-edge optical companies including Ciena, Lucent-Chromatis, and AirFiber.  During his tenure at Ciena he oversaw manufacturing operations headcount growth from 30 to 600 employees and revenue growth of $0 to $195 M in the first twelve months of commercial production. 

Jeff has proven leadership and planning skills in all areas of operations including manufacturing, production control, quality, and materials management. He also has extensive, first hand experience in start-up operations with an emphasis on team building in world class, high-tech manufacturing.

Well versed at thinking “outside the box,” Jeff possesses an uncompromising approach that utilizes all assets available to achieve a common goal.  He received his Bachelors Degree in Business from Louisiana State University.