Irvine’s Newport Corp., a maker of lasers, light filters and other gear used by researchers, on Thursday said Chief Executive Robert Deuster is set to retire.
Deuster, 57, plans to retire on Oct. 5, the company said.
Robert Phillippy, 47, Newport’s president and chief operating officer, is set to take the helm and also become a director. He’s been at the company for 11 years in various posts.
Phillippy headed up the integration of Spectra-Physics Lasers Inc., which Newport bought a few years ago. Before becoming president, Phillippy spearheaded the company’s transition from a maker of parts for science researchers to a provider of entire systems.
The company now makes lasers and other products as well as the entire equipment to control them.
Newport sells to customers in the aerospace, bioscience, healthcare, semiconductor and manufacturing industries.
The company got its start in 1969 selling steel tables designed to isolate laser experiments from vibration.
It counted a recent market value of about $558 million.
