Meet the Team

  • Dr Jake Biele

    CEO & CO-FOUNDER

    Jake is an award-winning entrepreneur, published scientist and keen photonics enthusiast. With a PhD in developing photonic integrated circuits (PICs) for quantum sensing, Jake has five years of experience in integrated photonics.

    Jake also has experience working in an early-stage, deep-tech start-up where he helped commercialise PICs for medical applications.

  • Dr Dominic Sulway

    CTO & CO-FOUNDER

    Specialising in the ground up development of novel photonic systems at unconventional wavelengths, Dominic is an expert in photonic integrated circuit (PIC) design, simulation and characterisation.

    Additionally, he has a wealth of experience in PIC post-processing and packaging, nonlinear optics, quantum optics, and thermo/electro-optics.

  • James Blatcher

    Integrated Photonics Engineer

    A PhD student studying Integrated Photonics at the University of Bristol, James is an expert in the simulation, design and characterisation of integrated photonic devices, with a keen interest in quantum photonics.

    James has joined the Light Trace team to help out with technical development and to gain exposure to life in a startup.

Our Advisors

  • Nick Sturge MBE

    After working at the UK semiconductor business Inmos, Nick co-founded Motion Media Technology which IPO’d in 1996.

    Nick then grew the SETsquared Bristol Centre to be ranked the world’s top university business incubator, in 2015, 2018 & 2019, and in 2013, founded Engine Shed, a collaboration between Bristol University and Bristol City Council, to drive sustainable and inclusive growth.

    Nick, a Chartered Director, is now a portfolio NED and strategic adviser and was awarded an MBE for services to the digital economy in 2019. He is a non-exec chair of Fusion Processing and techSPARK, a non-exec director of CFMS and a governor at Bath Spa University.

  • Dr Joshua Silverstone

    Josh is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at the Quantum Engineering Technology Labs, University of Bristol, and founder and CTO of Qontrol Ltd. Josh brings a wealth of knowledge to the Light Trace team with over 5 years experience launching and scaling a deep-tech startup.

    Josh runs his own quantum computing lab at the University of Bristol and is a world-renowned expert in silicon quantum photonics with publications in journals such as Science, Nature Photonics and Nature Communications.