Leadership Team

Scott A. Graeff was appointed as Luna’s President & Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors in October 2017. Mr. Graeff joined Luna Innovations in August 2003. Throughout his tenure at Luna he has held various positions including Chief Strategy Officer, President of Luna Technologies, GM of Terametrix, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, EVP of corporate development and a member of our Board of Directors.

Prior to joining Luna, Mr. Graeff was a Partner at Gryphon Capital, a Virginia based venture capital fund. He has also been a co-founder of a software technology company that was sold to a Fortune 500 Company and held senior-level positions at various investment banking firms. In these various roles, Mr. Graeff has completed several public offerings and has been involved with mergers and acquisitions with a notional value of more than $8 billion. He is experienced in a broad range of capital market transactions, strategic planning and financial management. Mr. Graeff holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Virginia.

Brian Soller joined the executive team as Vice President in April 2014, was promoted to Senior Vice President in 2019 and Chief Operating Officer in 2021. In October 2022 he was named Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Corporate Development. In his current role, Dr. Soller oversees engineering, product & portfolio management, research & development, M&A and investor relations. He also manages the top-tier accounts, fostering these long-term relationships and maximizing opportunities for profitable growth.

Prior to joining Luna, he served as Vice President of Marketing for Micron Optics & VP of global sales and business development for Lightpath Technologies (NASDAQ: LPTH). Previously he spent ten years in fiber optics with Luna, beginning as a scientist and ultimately moving up through the organization to General Manager of the Products Division. Dr. Soller co-developed the instrumentation for fiber optic devices manufactured by Luna today. He has over 15 issued patents in optics with an expertise in the interferometric measurement field. He received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse and a doctoral degree from the Institute of Optics, University of Rochester.

Gene J. Nestro joined the executive team as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Finance in December 2019. He previously served as the Vice President, Corporate Finance at Cree, Inc., a public company developing and marketing power and radio frequency semiconductors and lighting class LEDs, from September 2017 to June 2019. 

Prior to Cree, Mr. Nestro served in corporate and operational finance positions of increasing responsibility at TE Connectivity Ltd., a public industrial technology company, from February 2000 to September 2017. Mr. Nestro holds a B.S. degree in accounting from Penn State University and a M.B.A. degree in finance from Saint Joseph’s University, Erivan K. Haub School of Business.

Salvan Farooqui joined the Luna team in 2016 and was promoted to Senior Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing in 2021. Mr. Farooqui came to Luna with over 30 plus years of experience in senior leadership working in the technology industry at Teledyne LeCroy Corporation and Hewlett Packard/Agilent Technologies, Inc. Throughout his career, Mr. Farooqui has a demonstrated motivational management style with a record of building & retaining highly motivated sales teams, distributor channels and manufacturing representatives. 

He is a skilled operational executive with deep understanding of a diverse range of business management applications in T&M industry, including market analysis, team building and history in delivering record results. Mr. Farooqui’s steady, servant-oriented leadership combined with an unmatched combination of tenacity and character serves Luna well. Mr. Farooqui holds a BSEE degree from Ohio State University.

Jackie Kline joined Luna in October 2021 as Senior Vice President of Operations. A key member to the executive leadership team, Mr. Kline is responsible for Luna’s global supply chain, ensuring product quality and overseeing planning, procurement, manufacturing, logistics and product fulfillment functions.

He has an extensive background as a global leader managing factory operations, including expansions of new plants as well as consolidations, in the United States, Mexico and various Asia Pacific countries. Prior to joining Luna from TE Connectivity, he enjoyed a varied career over 38 years, including 11 years overseas where he served as Vice President of Asia Pacific Operations. Early in his career he held positions in various sales and marketing positions. He holds a B.A. degree in Rhetoric and Communications from the University of Pittsburgh.
 

Eva Hartmann joined Luna in October 2022 as Senior Vice President of Human Resources with more than 25 years of experience as a strategic, results-driven and innovative Human Resources leader, and has worked in a variety of industries, from engineering to Fortune 500 consulting. She is a transformational change agent who has developed and led strategic human capital programs and talent initiatives in multiple challenging environments globally.

Before joining the Luna team, she was the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) and EVP for Schnabel Engineering, an award-winning engineering consulting firm headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia. She was also the founder and President of Trellis LLC, a human capital consulting and staffing firm.  Prior to Trellis, Ms. Hartmann was the Global Human Resources Director for Tredegar Film Products, a global manufacturer of plastic film products, and was responsible for the HR Strategy and Operations of a $600 million international division. 

Ms. Hartmann holds an MBA from the College of William and Mary and a BA in Anthropology from the University of Virginia. In 2021, she was one of 30 women in Virginia recognized for leadership and mentorship as a recipient of the inaugural Virginia Business publication’s Women in Leadership Award.
 

David Blaker joined Luna in September 2015 as Director of Engineering and was promoted to Vice President of Engineering in 2019. In his current role, he plays a crucial role in developing and implementing the company’s product roadmap. In this capacity he led the development of the OBR 6200-JSF portable battery-operated ruggedized reflectometer used by Lockheed Martin to maintain F-35 Lightning II aircraft.

Mr. Blaker has extensive experience of embedded systems development and engineering management. His development experience includes full custom, ASIC and FPGA design, signal processing and system design. He has held engineering management positions at Nokia Mobile Phones in the UK, AT&T Microelectronics, Volumetrics Medical Imaging, NetOctave and siXis, Inc. Mr. Blaker received an award from AT&T for developing the Error-Correction Co-Processor for AT&T Microelectronics, a product used in digital cellular base stations around the world. He co-developed the world's first real-time 3-dimensional image processor for medical ultrasound imaging. Mr. Blaker holds 20 U.S. patents in the fields of digital communications, network security and medical imaging. His academic background includes a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the MIT and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Lehigh University. 
 

Melanie Singleton joined Luna in December 2021 as the Vice President of Marketing. A seasoned executive with over 15+ years of communications and marketing experience in diverse sectors, Ms. Singleton has a natural aptitude for strategic planning as well as market engagement. She has a history of contributing to company growth and expansion throughout her career. Her professional focal points include strategic partnerships, sustainability marketing, team development, go-to-market strategy, account management, and innovative initiatives. 

Before joining the team at Luna Innovations, Ms. Singleton held senior marketing leadership roles at Superior Essex. Under her leadership she reduced deficiencies, developed key marketing initiatives that maximized revenue impact with minimal resource expenditure. In addition, she has worked for organizations such as Heineken, Grupo Modelo, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, United Healthcare, and several tech startups both domestically and internationally. 

She holds Bachelor of Marketing degree from American University, Washington. 
 

Andy Brown joined Luna in October 2020 as Corporate Controller and was promoted to Vice President & Corporate Controller in September 2022 . Prior to Luna, he served as Director, Finance & Accounting Transformation at Advance Auto Parts, Inc., a leading aftermarket auto parts retailer.  Mr. Brown previously served in a number of other accounting management roles at Advance over a span of 22 years with increasing levels of responsibility in the areas of SEC and Financial Reporting, Controllership, Financial Systems and Finance/Accounting Transformation. Prior to Advance, Mr. Brown worked at KPMG LLP for 3 years as an auditor serving clients in a number of industries. Mr. Brown received a B.S. degree in Accounting with honors from Virginia Tech. 

Allison L. Woody joined the leadership team as Director of Administration in April 2019 and was promoted to Senior Director of Administration in December 2022 .  In her role, she supports investor relations and is responsible for the company’s stock plan administration and corporate communications. In addition, she serves as a liaison to the Board of Directors.  She began her career at Luna in 2012 and served in both the marketing and human resources departments. 

Prior to joining Luna, Ms. Woody served in various marketing roles where she was responsible for developing and implementing marketing concepts and solutions to meet corporate standards.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing Management from Virginia Tech.