Thomas McWaid, PhD

Thomas McWaid, PhD has extensive experience in the engineering and technology fields. Thomas has held roles such as Chief Technology Officer, VP Electrochemistry, Principal Engineer / Director of Electrochemistry, Principal Engineer / Manager of Electrochemistry, Senior Engineer, Principal Engineer, Group Leader, Director of Mechanical Engineering, and Sr. Staff Engineer.

Dr. McWaid's most recent role was Chief Technology Officer and VP Electrochemistry at Verdagy, a position they have held since 2021. Prior to this, they were VP Electrochemistry at Chemetry from 2016-2021, Principal Engineer / Director of Electrochemistry from 2016-2018, and Principal Engineer / Manager of Electrochemistry from 2018-2021. From 2014-2016, they were a Senior Engineer at Calera Corporation, and a Principal Engineer at CooperVision from 2013-2014.

From 2010-2013, Dr. McWaid was a Group Leader and Principal Engineer at Freeslate Inc. In this role, they led engineers, designers and technicians in support of internal R&D, directed research and product development programs. Thomas also used Solidworks to create 3D models, PDMWorks to archive assemblies, parts and drawings, and Agile to release product documentation to Manufacturing.

Prior to Freeslate Inc., Dr. McWaid was Director of Mechanical Engineering and Group Leader at Symyx Technologies from 1999-2010. In this role, they led a mechanical engineering Group that supported Polyolefin and Performance Polymer research departments. Thomas was also a Sr. Staff Engineer at KLA-Tencor from 1995-1999.

Dr. McWaid began their career as a Research Engineer and NRC Postdoc at NIST from 1991-1995. In this role, they defined and performed experimental and theoretical studies to determine and improve the performance of stylus profilers, phase measuring interferometric microscopes and scanned probe microscopes. Thomas also began design and construction of an atomic force microscope that utilizes heterodyne interferometers for measurement traceability.

Thomas McWaid, PhD, obtained their Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from UC Santa Barbara in 1982. Thomas then went on to receive their Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the same university in 1986. Finally, they obtained their Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from UC Santa Barbara in 1990. In 2011, they completed a Certificate in Computer Programming from UCSC Extension.