Management

Management Team

Meet the international team that manages ficonTEC on a global basis

Torsten Vahrenkamp, CEO

ficonTEC Service GmbH, Achim, Germany

 

Torsten holds a Diploma for Applied Laser Technologies from the University of Applied Sciences in Emden, Germany in 1998. During further work at the Institute of Laser Technology in Emden and at the University of Loughborough, UK, he built a fully automated laser lithography system for rapid generation of microstructures in sub-micron dimensions. He also developed a process to generate the world’s first in-glass diffractive optics using ion exchange processes in gradient refractive index glass – a process that is still used today for the generation of waveguides in glass.

Torsten is Chief Executive Officer of ficonTEC and, together with CFO Matthias Trinker, one of the co-founders of the company. When founding the company in 2001, the goal was to provide fully and semi-automated assembly and test solutions for the photonics industry.

View the interview for Torsten’s EPIC CEO Award 2021 here.

Connect
company-corporate-management-vahrenkamp

Matthias Trinker, CFO

ficonTEC Service GmbH, Achim, Germany

While Matthias originally hoped to become a professional skier, several injuries in his younger years eventually forced him to realize that he had to look for a new challenge. He started with an apprenticeship in retail sales for a sports equipment supplier, but being a qualified ski instructor at the time, Matthias was also able to work as an instructor in parallel to this, as well as during his scholastic and university education.

From there he progressed on to, and finally graduated from the Bundeshandelksakademie für Berufstätige – a form of further education Business School for those already employed – and then cemented his initial financial education with a degree in Business Economics through joint studies at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria, and at the PFH Private University of Applied Sciences in Göttingen, Germany.

Between completing his degree in 1997 and before co-founding ficonTEC together with Torsten in 2001, Matthias worked as a financial controller for Siemens Thailand, based out of Bangkok. Matthias is Chief Financial Officer at ficonTEC and is actively involved in the on-going financial growth and organizational expansion of the company.

Connect
company-corporate-management-trinker
company-management-07

Elfriede Schug, CCO

ficonTEC Service GmbH, Achim, Germany

Elfriede’s working career began in 1981 with the completion of the qualification as a chef, this in parallel with her responsibilities as a single mother to her then 4-year old daughter. After several years of successful employment, she then pursued and gained a second qualification (Bachelor, with distinction) in Business Economics with a Major in Controlling at the HWP Hamburg. In 1994 Elfriede assumed her first commercial financial responsibilities for a food wholesaler, for which she also established Controlling.

Following the birth of her third daughter in 1999, and with a view to the intercompatibility of both career and family commitments, Elfriede founded her own company with the goal of providing financial support services to start-ups. Towards the end of 2013 she took on an accounting role within ficonTEC’s financial accounting department. Elfriede’s responsibilities grew accordingly with the rapid growth of the company, and at the end of 2014 she became Head of Finance | Controlling.

One of the particular challenges of the rapidly growing organization at that point encompassed the implementation of an ERP system, which Elfriede has accompanied from the start. Since 2017 Elfriede is now also on the Board as CCO and is an authorized signatory for ficonTEC. Today, her focus lies with the on-going development of Controlling.

Simon Viets, Director Global Business Development

ficonTEC Service GmbH, Achim, Germany

Simon gained a Diploma degree in Microsystems Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences Bremen in 2005. Following that he worked at Trioptics GmbH on the development of optical measurement systems for the mobile phone industry, before (from 2010 and due to rapid company growth) subsequently establishing a global service organization as Head of Customer Service.

From 2013, he additionally assumed responsibility as Head of Quality Management at Trioptics, where he was responsible for the implementation of a quality management system according to ISO 9001, which included the optimization of all company processes. In 2015 Simon transitioned to a role as Deputy Head of Sales, a position he held until mid-2018 before deciding to leave Trioptics after 13 years for a new challenge.

Upon moving to Automated Engineering, Inc. (a.k.a. AEi, a MYCRONIC AB subsidiary), Simon initially took on the role of Director of Sales Europe, but was given additional responsibility in early 2020 as Director of Sales China & Southeast Asia. For all of his roles at AEi, Simon’s principal remit was Business Development for optical metrology and for manufacturing systems for the automotive industry.

Starting 2022, Simon is Director Global Business Development at ficonTEC Service GmbH, with Headquarters in Achim/Germany.

Connect

Dr. Moritz Seyfried, Director R&D

ficonTEC Service GmbH, Achim, Germany

Moritz holds a Master’s degree from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, UK, a Diploma degree from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, as well as a PhD from Bremen University, Germany – all in the field of semiconductor optics.

He spent most of the following ten years working in the field of organic and inorganic semiconductor optics, ranging from basic research of light-matter interaction phenomenon to photonics product assembly.

Moritz joined ficonTEC in 2012, has been Manager R&D since 2014 and Director R&D since 2023, located within ficonTEC HQ in Achim, Germany.

Connect
company-corporate-management-seyfried

NEW – European Sales Team

NEW – Arne Bentfeldt, Head of Technical Sales
ficonTEC Service GmbH, Achim, Germany

In a response to evolving technological priorities within ficonTEC’s portfolio, from 1st January 2024 Arne Bentfeldt has taken up the role of Head of Technical Sales. Arne’s career in photonics started in January 2000 where he joined Aifotec as a Process Engineer. From 2011 he joined ficonTEC as a Project Manager, progressing later to Operations Manager, and finally joining Sales in 2018 as Technical Sales Manager. Arne’s more than 20 years’ experience in photonics, his substantial commensurate knowledge for both process and system design for integrated photonics, as well as his historical knowledge of ficonTEC systems globally makes him an ideal choice for his new role as Head of Technical Sales. Primarily with a focus on European Sales, Marketing and Technical, his responsibilities additionally include global Sales support.

With the intent to provide renewed support for ficonTEC’s evolving customer base and role within the greater integrated photonics eco-system, and also to complement Arne’s new role, the European sales team has undergone restructuring – European Sales Managers Malte Ennen and Andon Bano both bring with them exceptional backgrounds in photonics:

Malte Ennen graduated in Engineering Physics & Photonics where he subsequently excelled in research on system design and laser microprocessing machines. Transitioning from academia to Pulsar Photonics, Malte served as a Technical System Architect, contributing to customized laser systems, followed with a role at SmarAct where he was able to hone his sales engineering skills, with a focus on semiconductor and fundamental research applications. Malte has been with ficonTEC since 2022.

Andon Bano has a background in Electronic Engineering and a PhD in Metrology (optical fiber-based sensors – surface plasmon resonance and fiber bragg grating sensors), both from Politecnico di Torino. Before joining ficonTEC in 2023, he previously worked as a Sales Engineer for Menlo Systems with responsibility for their femtosecond lasers.Aside from his mother tongue Albanian, Andon also speaks English & Italian fluently, and is working on his German and Turkish.

Arne, Malte and Andon together play a pivotal role at ficonTEC by engaging with customers and proposing tailored assembly and testing solutions across diverse integrated photonics related sectors such as telecom/datacom, lidar & camera systems, micro-optics, sensing and more. They also support the fostering of collaborative partnerships within both industry and the R&D community.

Connect Malte Connect Arne Connect Andon

Stefano Concezzi, CEO

ficonTEC, Inc., Orlando, FL, USA

Stefano has a PhD in Physics from the University of Parma, Italy. After various regional and international managerial roles in Sales & Marketing within Italy in his early career, starting around 2002 Stefano was elevated to directorship roles within Sales & Marketing at NI, based in Austin, TX/USA. From there he progressed to Director – Science & Big Physics, where he was responsible in particular for profitably developing their offering and support for key international scientific R&D and so-called Big Physics (USDoE, CERN, ESRF, ITER, ELI and others). Since 2012 Stefano has been Vice President of (in order) Scientific Research, Automotive & Energy Initiatives, and Automotive at NI, logging various strategic developments and financial achievements across an international customer base.

Before moving to ficonTEC, Stefano helped successfully guide the expansion of Eldor Corporation SpA (an Italian-based and diversified automotive manufacturer) into the USA.

Stefano started at ficonTEC Service GmbH as Corporate Vice President in Q3 2019 and was charged with helping ficonTEC prepare for the next growth phase. Starting from 2022, Stefano is CEO of ficonTEC, Inc., ficonTEC’s new US operations based out of UCF/CREOL.

Connect

 

stefano-concezzi-management

Soon Jang

Formerly ficonTEC (USA) Corp., San Clemente, CA, USA

Soon has an MBA from the University of California at Irvine (UCI), a PhD/MSEE in Quantum Electronics, and a BS in Physics from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). He has worked in the photonics/opto-electronics industry for over 27 years, during which he has gathered a unique combination of broad technical expertise and diverse business management experience in the field. Soon has additionally led various fiber-optics industry standardization committees, and co-developed various device technology programs with major universities and related renowned research institutions.

Between 2007 and 2021, Soon Jang was responsible for ficonTEC’s successful North America business operations, including Sales, Marketing and Business Development. With the new formation of ficonTEC’s US operations starting 2022, Soon will continue to provide vital Business Development and Key Account Support in the region at least through 2026.

Connect

 

company-corporate-management-jang

Alex Cao, General Manager

ficonTEC Service GmbH (Shanghai) Co., Limited, Shanghai, PR China

Alex holds a Master’s Degree in IT and has more than 10 years of experience in the semiconductor conductor (IC testing and burn-in) and also more than 10 years of experience in photonics automation systems and components, especially for telecom, datacom and HPDL. He initially started working with ficonTEC in 2003 and was responsible for the first of ficonTEC’s customers in China in 2004.

Since joining as General Manager of ficonTEC China, located in Shanghai, China, Alex has been responsible for Sales & Marketing of ficonTEC’s products and the growth of ficonTEC within China.

Connect

Jüri Karelson, Operational Manager

ficonTEC Eesti OÜ, Tallinn, Estonia

Jüri graduated with a Diploma in Engineering from Tallinn Technical University, Tallinn, Estonia, in 1984. Following this he worked within the telecommunications industry for many years in management and production roles in different countries around the world. From 1999 he worked for Telecom Operator Elisa and T2, as Director of Network and Member of the Board, where his main responsibilities were GSM/UMTS/4G radio network operations and development of the Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania markets. Before joining ficonTEC, he worked from 2012 until 2016 as Executive Director for JOT Estonia Ltd., a Finnish company representation in Tallinn, Estonia.

Jüri took the role of ficonTEC Eesti Operational Manager in Tallinn, Estonia, in 2017.

Connect
company-corporate-management-karelson

Kitisak Rakkarn, General Manager

ficonTEC Service (Thailand) Limited, Pathum Thani Province, Thailand

Kitisak holds a BE in Electronic Engineering and has more than 10 years of experience in electronics manufacturing. He joined ficonTEC in 2013 and was responsible for the first of ficonTEC’s customers in Thailand, and since then he has been responsible for Service and Support of ficonTEC’s products and the growth of ficonTEC within Thailand.

Kitisak is the General Manager of ficonTEC Service (Thailand) Limited, located in Pathum Thani Province, Thailand.

Connect
company-corporate-management-rakkarn
company-management-08