Our Management Team

J. Hayden Brownell, Ph.D.

Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer

In addition to his executive duties, Dr. Brownell is responsible for overseeing the design and development of novel microwave equipment and systems, including our reactors used in organic synthesis. Dr Brownell is co-inventor of the key microwave technology employed by UpScale and has lead the design and development of the microwave equipment and systems since co-founding the company in 2007.

Prior to his work in developing microwave equipment, Dr. Brownell conducted research in very high frequency (terahertz) electromagnetic radiation phenomena and applications for eleven years in the Walsh laser laboratory at Dartmouth College and he led the laboratory from 2001 to 2007.

Dr. Brownell earned a B.S. from Yale University in 1986 and Ph.D. in Physics from Columbia University in 1995.

Richard Wagner, Ph.D.

Vice President of Chemistry and Business Development

Dr. Wagner is a synthetic chemist and former GSK technology executive with more than 10 years of experience in developing and implementing new approaches to synthetic chemistry, such as combinatorial synthesis, high-throughput automation for medicinal chemistry development, and novel microwave solutions.

Dr. Wagner led a multi-disciplinary team at GSK that was engaged in introducing and implementing disruptive technology across all business lines, which included Discovery Research, Development, and into manufacturing.

Dr. Wagner introduced the use of lab-based microwave reactors for accelerating tryptic digests, was a team leader engaged in the development of automated platforms for salt and polymorph screening, chemical imaging, and a novel cGMP compliant process for high-throughput production of low-dose APIs.

Dr. Wagner holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University.