Tobin C. Island, Ph.D.
TRIA Beauty Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer
Toby obtained his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford
University. He began his career at Star Medical, where he led research
and development of a novel laser-based imaging system along with
overseeing numerous clinical studies and authoring the user manual for
the LightSheer™ hair removal laser. Toby's passion for excellence and
science drives the innovation of TRIA's revolutionary light based skin
solutions.
How does your background (as a TRIA
founder) influence your approach to light science?
In the beginning, it was our hope that we could bring the benefits of
office-based treatments to the home. We've shown that we can and provide
people with access to great phototherapy. We've learned what aspects of
the science and engineering are most important for our particular
products and our customers.
What is the best advice you've received?
A company is its people—hire great ones. And we have. You won't find a company with more capable and dedicated people than TRIA. It's wonderful to be a part of.
How do you relate to customers?
Hardly a day goes by where I don't interact with someone who's using or is interested in our products.
What TRIA advancements are you most excited about?
I'm thrilled that we've been able to simultaneously lower costs while at the same time making the products better, such as faster and easier to use.
Lisa D. Parr, Pharm.D.
Vice President Clinical, Regulatory & Quality
Lisa brings more than 20+ years of experience of leading
worldwide clinical development programs and regulatory approvals across
several therapeutic areas. An expert in regulatory and clinical affairs,
Lisa gives TRIA extraordinary leverage as the company continues to grow
its product portfolio and expand globally.
How can light set a new standard in
personal care from a clinical perspective?
Professional laser and light therapies have become the gold standard for
removing unwanted hair, and for treating the photoaged skin. At TRIA,
we've been able to bring these professional-based treatments into the
homes of consumers, while delivering highly efficacious results.
What is the importance of safety and ease of use?
All of TRIA's laser and light devices are FDA-cleared and required to undergo rigorous clinical testing to demonstrate the device's safety and efficacy.
Describe TRIA's clinical research.
Our clinical and basic science research is conducted in state-of-the-art testing facilities and academic institutions, with world-renowned dermatologists and surgeons leading the research.
How does TRIA work to address global skincare needs?
We appreciate that different skin types have different needs and we do a really good job of ensuring our products meet the skincare needs of ALL of our customers worldwide.
Harvey I. Liu, Ph.D.
Vice President, Engineering
After obtaining his Ph.D. in Semiconductor Device Research from
Stanford University, Harvey spent time in Boston working at MIT's
Lincoln Lab designing high-speed complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor
devices for satellites. It was during this time that he fell in love
with the medical device industry and became involved in both dermatology
and ophthalmology. He believes that light therapy is the way of the
future and TRIA Beauty is the premiere provider of best-in-class
light-based medical devices for use at home.
What sets light-based skincare
apart from other treatments?
Light therapy is inherently a more effective treatment to affect tissues
below the skin's surface [than other topical treatments]. Its
skin-penetrating property and selective absorption by the desired
targets makes it an ideal non-invasive treatment.
Describe your approach to
innovating with light?
TRIA's approach for innovating with light is to identify the unique
light spectrum and develop light engine technology with sufficient power
to achieve effective therapy.
How do you ensure customer satisfaction?
We design simple-to-use and elegant devices that customers can adopt into their routine safely and simultaneously achieve great results.
What part of your job are you most passionate about?
I am always excited about controlling light to do good—making complicated technology accessible by all is a wonderful challenge.
Dave Youngquist
Sr. Director, Product Design and Mechanical Engineering
With four U.S. patents to his name, Dave is an expert in new
product definition and development of medical devices. Not only did he
architect skin rejuvenation prototypes of Fraxel®, he was also involved
with the Thermage® product line engineering at Solta Medical. At TRIA,
Dave provides technical leadership in state-of-the-art mechanical and
industrial design as well as product development.
How do TRIA engineers develop
industrial designs?
We start with dozens of prototypes that include functional breadboards,
design (look and feel) models and functional devices that are used in
early clinical investigations. We partner with design firms and test
prototypes with consumers.
At what point do you know when a prototype is ready to be a commercial design?
With the look and feel models, we usually get to one that connects with a lot of people—one that looks and feels just like the end product we had in mind.
How does TRIA deliver the same dermatologist proven technology at home?
By capitalizing on technological advances in diode—based laser light sources, and smart design. We pride ourselves on ease of use with the consumer in mind.
Is there anything about working
with light that is challenging?
The optical elements that are required, such as precision lenses, are
generally expensive items that require custom designs—taking a long time
to develop and produce. Getting these components quickly and
economically into home devices is challenging.
Larry Wang, Ph.D.
Sr. Director of Electrical Engineering / Software
Larry is an entrepreneur and a technologist. After getting his
Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from UC Berkeley
with an emphasis in microwave circuit and high-speed analog circuit, he
worked in large companies, co-founded a startup and did independent
consultation. His broad experience not only adds to TRIA's technical
superiority but also enhances product development discipline and
efficiency.
What scientific or engineering
philosophies have led to the success of TRIA?
Quality stems from the TRIA team's deep understanding of the design.
Every colleague has a solid background in his expertise and is very
conscientious of his work while pursuing the best performance. Most care
is paid to the user interface, a critical factor in our consumer
products!
How has TRIA changed customer behaviors?
TRIA's consumer medical device brings the treatment from the clinic to
the home. Consumers can do treatments in the comfort of their home every
day, enjoying the same outcome without going into the clinic every week
or few weeks for a treatment of one heavy dosage!
How has TRIA been able to maintain its innovative, entrepreneurial drive?
It's really in the depth of the company culture. The TRIA team started with innovation and entrepreneurship. Although the company has grown, this company culture is well maintained.
What is it like working with light?
It is fun to work with laser and LED and learn the medical treatment effect it generates.
Pat Reichert
Manager, System Engineering Manager
Pat has over 20 years of experience in laser/optical systems
research and development, mechanical design and process development. He
oversees a team of engineers and technicians to design and develop
state-of-the-art medical light based systems. He provides technical
leadership with solid fundamental physical understanding, and creates
and tests new product concepts.
Where do you find inspiration for
new product concepts?
Most of my inspiration actually comes from talking with people about our
existing products. Once they find out what we make, there is always the
question of…can you guys do this or that other thing with light.
How do you determine the correct type of light for TRIA designs?
The correct color of light for a specific design is chosen based on established research by the scientific community and our own clinical test data.
How is TRIA innovating its product designs to make them state-of-the art?
We continually test and measure our performance against metrics such as treatment efficacy, manufacturability, cost to manufacture, consumer usability and reliability.
Do you test products on yourself?
Of course! I'm an engineer and an experimentalist at heart. Most of us that work here have tested our products on ourselves. Final efficacy data for all of our products; however, is always based on clinical study results.
John Beale
Principal Development Engineer
John received his Masters in Applied Physics from Stanford. Since
then, he's added three patents to his name showcasing his expertise in
system architecture. John's ability to inspire creativity and provide
leadership in optimizing and documenting software embedded systems and
manufacturing test tooling host software is invaluable.
Describe the prototype process.
Starting from a list of requirements, each new feature not previously
demonstrated in other prototypes or products are tested with
purpose-built experimental setups. Once proven, these are included in
the new prototype design which includes circuit design as well as
mechanical and optical design.
How have TRIA Laser and Blue Light learnings been applied to future developments?
Our approach to skin contact sensing and battery qualification, among other things, has evolved and improved based on experience with these previous products.
How have successful innovations in
other fields inspired/influenced TRIA designs?
One example of cross-fertilization is our use of lithium ferro-phosphate
battery technology, which has properties that are especially
well-matched to the requirements of the hair laser. This type of battery
was originally produced for use in electric bicycles.
Describe the relationship between technology and beauty.
Technical advances in solid-state optical devices, including infrared lasers and high-power LEDs, have enabled new types of skin treatments which were never before possible.
