Imago chief executive leaving amid worker layoffs

Madison, Wis. - Timothy Stultz, the chief executive officer of Imago Scientific Instruments since 2003, will leave the Madison nanotechnology company and become president and CEO of the Silicon Valley-based Nanometrics, Inc., an announcement made at about the same time the company let go of 10 employees, according to a report in the semiconductor industry publication Fabtech.

The publication reported that 10 of the company's 45 employees were let go as part of a restructuring.

Stultz, who will remain as Imago's chairman, will be succeeded as CEO by Tom Kelly, who founded the company and has served as its chief technology officer, the report said.

In addition, Manny Lakios, who has served Imago as senior vice president of field operations, will be promoted to president and chief operating officer.

Lakios told Fabtech that Stultz's departure is not connected with the layoffs, but a pre-emptive strike to ensure continued profitability.

Imago is best known for the manufacture of an atom probe microscope that is used as a tool in the semi conductor, data storage, and biomaterials industries.

At Nanometrics, Stultz will join a nanotechnology company that makes measurement devices for use in the semiconductor and precision electronics industries. Nanometrics, a publicly traded company based in Milpitas, Calif., reported $22.1 million in net income in 2006 on $96.4 million in sales, and employs 300 people.

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