Linda is a recognized leader in M&A advisory. Spanning the spectrum of photonics enabled markets, she advised on acquisitions and financings valued at more than $1.5billion. She founded CERES in 2005 to serve photonics companies underserved by generalist investment bankers. Prior, she held product management, engineering and sales positions at public and private equity financed photonics companies. Linda has 30 years of experience in merger & acquisition advisory, strategic marketing, product management, sales, engineering, and business valuation. At CERES, Linda sources and leads buy and sell side M & A advisory engagements with clients spanning a full spectrum of photonics enabled markets - from multi-billion dollar corporations and private equity firms to entrepreneur-operated privately held companies. Linda completed the FINRA Series 79 Registered Investment Banking Representative exam and is an Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) specializing in the valuation of privately held businesses with core photonics technology.Linda has demonstrated success in identifying market opportunities, developing new products and managing inorganic and organic growth for both market leading and emerging companies. Her operating experience crosses a wide breadth of markets - from optical components and lasers to clinical and analytical instrumentation and medical devices to pharmaceutical and semiconductor equipment. She held senior marketing and sales management positions at market leaders, Thermo Electron/Newport/Spectra Physics, and QIOPTIQ/Excelitas. She also held executive marketing positions at emerging, venture capital funded companies commercializing integrated optics and MEMS technologies.Linda is a recognized leader in the photonics community having chaired technical conferences in photonics, frequently lecturing in technology entrepreneurship, publishing and speaking on mergers, acquisitions and private placements in photonics technology enabled companies. Linda is a Fellow of SPIE, the International Society of Optics and Photonics; Board Member of Optica Foundation; and Advisory Board Member of Luminate, the largest business accelerator for optics, photonics, and imaging startups. She is a member of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Winning WomenTM.