Gamma Technology Leadership
Alfred W. Sommer, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, Gamma Technology.
Alfred W. Sommer is CEO of Gamma Technology. As CEO, he provides strategic vision and direction for the corporation. He also he coordinates the activities of the company's divisions and acts as a consultant for the company’s technical personnel on matters relating to materials engineering.
Al formed Gamma Technology, LLC in 2008 along with Mark Sommer, William Harrigan and Lee Stanish.
He is also CEO and chairman of the board of Del West Engineering, Inc., a design and manufacturing corporation that uses Gamma Tech materials to manufacture some of its product lines. Del West has facilities in both Valencia, Calif. and Roche, Switzerland.
Al assumed his current Del West job titles in 1980; he joined the company in 1973, when it was a two-man consulting firm for the aerospace industry. Prior to that, he worked as an engineer for North American Aviation and other aerospace companies.
Al has a bachelor’s in metallurgical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s in mineral engineering from Columbia University and a PhD in material science from Columbia University. A former teacher and researcher at UCLA, he is a member of the executive board of UCLA’s Chancellor’s Associates.
Al is married with two grown children. He enjoys running in 5K races, skiing, reading and completing the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle.
Mark Sommer, President, Gamma Technology, LLC.
Mark Sommer is president of Gamma Technology, LLC. As president, he manages all aspects of the company’s business.
Mark formed Gamma Technology, LLC in 2008 along with Al Sommer, William Harrigan and Lee Stanish.
He is also president of Del West USA and vice president of its parent company, Del West Engineering, Inc., a design and manufacturing corporation that uses Gamma Tech materials to manufacture some of its product lines. Del West has facilities in both Valencia, Calif. and Roche, Switzerland.
Mark has held these positions at Del West since early 2010. Previously,
from 2003 to early 2010, he was the managing director for Del West USA.
Before that, from 1999 to 2003, he held the title of director of operations,
in charge of factory production and quality control.
He has a bachelor’s in political science from UC Berkeley and a master’s
in mechanical engineering, thermodynamics from California State University,
Northridge (CSUN).
While at CSUN, Mark worked actively on combustion modeling and analysis for the Partnership for a New Generation Vehicle (PNGV) which was a Department of Energy funded project and coordinated by the United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR). The combustion modeling by Mark for internal combustion engines was used to help design early iterations of electrical/gasoline hybrid cars.
Married with two children, Sommer enjoys traveling, fine dining, yoga, basketball, and snow skiing.
William C. Harrigan, Jr., Vice President, Gamma Technology, LLC
William C. Harrigan, Jr. is vice president of Gamma Technology, LLC. As vice president, he is in charge of research and development, as well as overseeing the details of the manufacturing process.
Bill formed Gamma Technology, LLC in 2008 along with Al Sommer, Mark Sommer and Lee Stanish. He is also president of MMC Engineering, Inc., a consulting firm based in Northridge, Calif., and he teaches graduate-level engineering classes at the University of California, Irvine and California State University, Northridge.
Bill has more than 25 years experience in the area of powder metallurgy processing of metal matrix composites. Much of that work was done at DWA Composite Specialities of Chatsworth, Calif. In the mid-1980s, his successful attempt to develop commercial processes for making structures from graphite/metal composites led to DWA participating in the manufacture of zero expansion antenna booms for the Hubble Space Telescope.
The majority of his work, however, has been with silicon carbide particle reinforced aluminum composites. His efforts have transformed the processing of composites from a laboratory operation to a production operation where power metallurgy composites are produced at commercially useful rates. As such, these composites have been used by the Armed Forces in reconnaissance aircraft, missiles and tanks, and in NASA’s Space Station.
Bill left DWA in 1993 to form MMC Engineering, but continued for the next fourteen years to work full and part-time at DWA and at the Alyn Corporation of Irvine, Calif., where he was the chief technology officer from 1996 to 2001. In 2008, after a long association with Del West Engineering as a consultant, Bill formed the partnership with Mark and Al Sommer that led to the creation of Gamma Technology.
Bill has a bachelor’s of science in metallurgical engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and a master’s and Ph.D in materials science from Stanford University.
In 1999, he was honored as a fellow of ASM International, the society dedicated to serving the materials science and engineering professions.
When he is not researching metal matrix composites, Bill enjoys camping, photography, swimming and watching college football and basketball. His most used application is “Sudoku Cheat.”