About the author: Sharayah Follett
As the Market Development Manager at Kopp Glass, Sharayah focuses on uncovering and developing growth opportunities involving emerging technologies. Sharayah’s role is unique; it allows her to collaborate directly with customers to understand their needs and then apply those insights to develop and execute marketing and sales strategies. Sharayah earned both her B.S. in Marketing and Masters of Business Administration (M.B.A.) degrees from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. Sharayah leads an active lifestyle; when not at work she can be found teaching spinning and boot camp classes or trying out new fitness classes and healthy restaurants around Pittsburgh.
About the author: Darin Bernardi
As a Senior Account Executive, Darin identifies new opportunities and areas of growth and gives our customers unique insights on how they can become more profitable through product differentiation. With a background in chemical engineering, Darin is a resource to lighting engineers looking to incorporate glass into their designs. Darin earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University and soon after began working at Kopp Glass. Over the past 16 years, Darin has worked closely with our customers and is always available to discuss the latest aerospace news or the next innovative light-based technology. He is also an active participant of several SAE A20 Aircraft Lighting Committees. An adventurer, Darin is always on the go and spends his free time traveling, hiking, surfing, and skiing. In all situations, he enjoys meeting new people and learning their story.
About the author: Jim Forish
Jim started at Kopp Glass in 1996 as a Quality Engineer. Since then, he’s implemented process improvements that have elevated Kopp Glass to a new standard of quality. As Director of Quality & Process Improvement, Jim collaborates with customers and provides design recommendations that decrease manufacturing costs, improve performance, and result in groundbreaking designs that set our customers apart. Jim is our resident aviation geek with over 17 years of experience engineering, manufacturing, and testing aircraft lenses for a wide variety of aerospace applications ranging from the small piston powered aircrafts to the iconic Concorde, to numerous military platforms. In his quest to ensure high-quality products for the aerospace industry, he has been a contributing author to SAE AIR5689: Light Transmitting Glass Covers for Exterior Aircraft Lighting. Jim resides in Monroeville, PA with his wife of 12 years, Lindsay, their 2 year old son Casey, and their dog Ike. Jim spends most of his free time at home chasing a crazy toddler, remodeling his home, or restoring cars.
About the author: Adam Willsey
Adam joined Kopp Glass in 2009 after graduating from the NYS College of Ceramics at Alfred University with a Bachelors of Science (B.S.) in Biomedical Materials Engineering. In 2013, he completed his Masters of Science (M.S.) in Materials Science from Alfred University. The emergence of LEDs and other lighting technologies has introduced complex challenges to the lighting industry. As the Manager of Research and Engineering, Adam works closely with our engineers and production team to develop new glass compositions that meet our customer's color and transmittance requirements, while ensuring efficiency. Forever a glass advocate, he passionately explores new materials and technologies that will leverage glass manufacturing into exciting new markets. When not at work, Adam can be found jogging the streets of Pittsburgh, golfing, working on his new home, or cheering on the Pittsburgh Pirates, Penguins, and Buffalo Bills.
About the author: Mike Ulizio
As a New Product Development Engineer, Mike develops a strong understanding of customer needs and works with the Kopp Glass commercial and technical teams to provide innovative solutions in the forms of molded glass. Mike is a Pittsburgh native and graduate of The Pennsylvania State University where he earned a B.S. in Engineering Science and Mechanics and a B.S. in German. He has four years’ experience in thin film organic electronics and five years’ experience in automotive glass product development. He enjoys exploring Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas while jogging, hiking, biking, and skiing with his friends and his wife, Mallory, and their dog, Rocky.