Please don't blame the engineers/scientists. The exec is responsible for setting schedules and communicating. I had 20 engineers reporting to me. They were excellent engineers but couldn't raise $$$, produce a budget, navigate in or outside company (ie play politics etc) that was part of my job to get the crap out if their way, get the dough they needed and manage the schedules so projects came in on time. So no over promising. If we needed more resources to hit the schedules again my job to make sure we could get them so we could come in on time and deliver to spec. This was in a profitable operating company so I can see how a small team like POET might underestimate timing and obstacles.