Technology >> CEO Interviews >> February 6, 2013

Interview with the CEO & COO: EMCORE Corporation (EMKR)

Hou, Hong Q.
Hong Q. Hou, Ph.D., is the CEO of EMCORE Corporation. He joined the company in March 1998 and has served in a variety of leadership roles. He costarted EMCORE's photovoltaics division, and subsequently managed the fiber optics division. He was Executive Vice President of Business Development and Product Strategy before becoming Vice President and General Manager of EMCORE's Ortel division. From 1995 to 1998, he was a principal member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Prior to that, he served with AT&T Bell Laboratories, engaging in research on high-speed optoelectronic devices. He holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of California, San Diego, and a B.S. from Jilin University in China. He has published over 150 journal articles and holds seven U.S. patents. Profile
Larocca, Christopher
Christopher Larocca is the COO of EMCORE Corporation. He joined the company in May 2004 as Senior Director of Business Development and Product Strategy. Prior to his current role, Mr. Larocca served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of EMCORE's solar photovoltaic division, and previous to that as Vice President and General Manager of EMCORE's fiber optics broadband division. Between April 2001 and May 2004, he served as Vice President of GELcore, a solid-state lighting joint venture between EMCORE and General Electric. Prior to joining GELcore in 2001, Mr. Larocca held a variety of commercial and Six Sigma roles within General Electric's lighting division. Mr. Larocca holds an MBA from the University of Southern California and a B.S. in civil engineering from Clemson University. He is also a board member of Langfang Emcore Optoelectronics Co. Ltd. Profile
TWST: Please start by giving us a history of EMCORE.

Dr. Hou: EMCORE was a company founded in 1984 in New Jersey by scientists from AT&T Bell Laboratories. Our original business was