Unilase was established in 2013 by Dr Ara Minassian with the aim of providing high performance lasers and amplifiers for demanding industrial and scientific applications.

Previously, he was the Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Midaz Lasers. In that role he was involved in development of market leading diode-pumped solid-state lasers and amplifiers for industrial laser manufacturing applications. These included Q-switched lasers with industry leading pulse rates (>1 MHz) and amplifiers with ultra high gains (>10⁴). These unique properties of Midaz patented technology and product reliability created great interest within the laser industry, culminating in the successful sale of the company to Coherent in 2012. Following the acquisition, Dr Minassian joined Coherent as a Senior Laser Development Engineer and was responsible for transfer and integration of Midaz technology within all major laser divisions in Coherent.

Prior to that, Dr Minassian spent several years as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the Photonics group at Imperial College London. His research activities were focused on development of novel laser architectures that included self-adaptive laser oscillators with real-time intra-cavity aberration compensation capabilities.

Dennis has 35 years of Board-level experience as a CEO and in international business development with high-technology companies. He has held directorships and senior management commercial roles with SMEs covering industrial and medical markets including Melles Griot (photonics), Willett International and Leica Microsystems, which were acquired by Bibby Scientific and Danaher (USA).  He served on the Board of Midaz Lasers from its start-up and right through to the sale of the company to Coherent Inc in 2012. Dennis is actively engaged with investors and has closed funding for a number of companies operating in high-growth technology markets.

After graduating in Applied Physics, and having obtained an MSc in Applied and Modern Optics at the University of Reading, he started his career as an optical engineer in the fibre telecoms sector. Dennis is a chartered physicist and was elected Fellow of the Institute of Physics, UK in 1998.