Landon Mertz is the Chief Executive Officer of Cerion Nanomaterials and is a member of its Board of Directors.  Under his leadership, he has overseen a period of expansive business growth and investment into innovations to make advanced expertise in custom nanomaterial design & manufacturing both accessible and cost-effective for use by industry.

Throughout his 10+ year tenure with Cerion, Landon has been frequently recognized for his work to advance the growth and maturity of the nanomaterials community. An active member and participant in industry groups, he is a passionate champion of the critical concepts for successful commercialization of products utilizing nanomaterials and is frequently featured as a keynote speaker and contributor to industry publications.

Landon has over twenty years of experience building and monetizing new, innovative businesses across a diverse number of industries.  Previously he was the Chief Operating Officer of Festival Network, a firm who develops and acquires large-scale consumer entertainment events across the globe.  Prior to that he was the Chief Executive Officer of Intermedia, an experiential event marketing firm that produces events, meetings and conferences on behalf of Fortune 500 and 1000 companies.

Send a message

Mr. Stewart is the Chief Operating Officer of Cerion, where he oversees operations to ensure successful delivery of customer’s nanomaterial research, development, scale-up and manufacturing programs.

Mr. Stewart is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, with a B.S. degree in Chemistry and a M.B.A. His experience includes a 30-year career with the Eastman Kodak company, including 15 years of hands-on and leadership roles within its analytical operations, along with 15 years of management experience overseeing a variety of applications from chemical synthesis and scale-up, manufacturing, packaging operations and silver reclamation. During his time at Kodak he received several certifications in leadership and lean manufacturing as well as becoming a lead auditor for ISO Quality compliance and certification as a Six Sigma Black Belt Practitioner. Prior to joining Cerion, Mr. Stewart was the General Manager for Rochester Silver Works, widely regarded as the largest silver recovery and recycling operation in the United States. During this period, he was instrumental in the carve-out and sale of this integrated organization from Kodak to a private owner and served as the Chief Executive Officer for 6 years, while expanding sales to over $20M annually.

Send a message

Chris Skipper is Executive Vice President of Commercial Sales for Cerion, where he oversees sales and provides technical consultation for companies seeking to access Cerion’s advanced expertise in nanomaterial research, development, scale-up and industrial manufacturing for their product or system. Previously, Mr. Skipper served as the company’s Director of Business Development overseeing global business development initiatives, direct sales and marketing campaigns.Chris received a B.S. in Business Administration from the University at Buffalo in 2010 and an MBA from the William E. Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester in 2015. Prior to joining Cerion, Chris spent 3 years as a Territory Sales Manager for Fortune 500 tobacco company Altria, and then enjoyed a brief stint with Auburn, NY based food service and cleaning solutions company Johnston.Send a message

Dr. Brad Stadler is Executive Vice President of Life Sciences Sales for Cerion, where he oversees sales and provides technical consultation to companies seeking to leverage Cerion’s advanced expertise in nanomaterial design, scale-up, and manufacturing for their product or system. Previously, Dr. Stadler served as Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of a Cerion joint venture. Under his leadership he successfully led a multi-disciplinary team in the design of a tailored, therapeutic nanoparticle compound for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.Dr. Stadler earned a B.S. in Molecular Biology with a concentration in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University in 1997. Subsequently he earned a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 2007 where he explored the role of small, non-coding RNAs in viral infections. Thereafter, Dr. Stadler spent several years of postdoctoral training at the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Washington examining the roles of regulatory RNA molecules in the maintenance and differentiation of embryonic stem cells.Send a message

Dr. Sandford received a B.S. in Chemistry (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Hope College in 1990 and a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. After graduation, he joined Eastman Kodak Co. as a research scientist precipitating and sensitizing photographic emulsions with controlled particle sizes and morphologies resulting in improved film performance. Subsequent projects included synthesis, characterization and commercialization of novel antimicrobial actives, nano particulate metal oxide catalysts and silver-based battery materials resulting in new business, spin-off and licensing opportunities in addition to 4 U.S. Patents and 9 recently filed patent applications. Dr. Sandford provided technical support and guidance to new business ventures within Eastman Kodak including use of nanoparticles for medical imaging, high refractive index plastics for lenses and improved materials for longer life batteries. Most recently, he led the technical team for the Specialty Materials business that over the past two years commercialized several new antimicrobial products for the textile and plastics markets, provided technical support for new and existing products and developed novel technologies to address new market segments.

Send a message

Mr. Singer is part of the original group that founded Cerion in 2007 and is currently Executive Vice President in charge of Manufacturing with responsibility for chemical plant operations, new product scale-up, and capital programs. Prior to Cerion, Mr. Singer spent 16 years at Eastman Kodak as an R&D/Manufacturing project manager in imaging nanoparticle production, attaining certification as a Lean Manufacturing Six Sigma Black Belt Practitioner. He has managed startups and accreditation of chemical manufacturing operations on-site at Kodak plants in the USA, Canada, England, and China. In addition, he has led million-dollar cost reduction programs, new equipment design projects across eight countries, and new product commercialization efforts. As part of his product-process research, Mr. Singer has received three U.S. Patents in chemical process technology. Mr. Singer is a graduate of Lehigh University (highest honors, Phi Beta Kappa) with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.

Send a message

As the Executive Vice President of Marketing for Cerion, Tracy Gay leads all global brand, public relations and strategic marketing initiatives. Her passion for a customer-focused, multi-disciplined approach to marketing has driven strong results for large, mid-size and start-up companies alike. Tracy joins Cerion with more than 20 years’ experience. Most recently, Tracy was the marketing lead for Panasonic’s Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Solutions Group. She has also served as the vice president of marketing for Omni-ID, a global provider & manufacturer of industrial RFID solutions and has held senior-level positions at Frontier Communications, Citibank and others. She is currently the President of the Rochester Chapter of the American Marketing Association. Tracy received her bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina.Send a message

Mr. Gorski is the Executive Vice President of Accounting at Cerion, where he oversees accounting, finance, payroll, and employee benefits functions.

Prior to joining Cerion, Mr. Gorski held various domestic and international managerial finance roles at Harris, Bausch & Lomb, Eastman Kodak, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The scope of his professional experience includes leading teams in the areas of financial accounting and reporting, tax compliance and return filing, IT implementation and system conversions, international financial management and control, training and team building, financial & operational audit and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. Mr. Gorski is a graduate of Cornell University, with a B.S. degree in Business Management. He is also a graduate of the University of Maryland University College with a B.S. degree in Accounting and a Masters in Finance.

Send a message