Directors

Dr. Eugene M. Izhikevich (Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO) is a computational neuroscientist known for his contributions into the theory of spiking networks. He pioneered a novel approach to spiking neurons that combined biologically plausibility and implementation efficiency, which allowed him in 2005 to simulate the largest thalamo-cortical model having the size of the human brain, i.e., the same number of neurons and synapses. Eugene founded Brain Corporation to build a biologically detailed spiking model of the mammalian visual system that could be implemented in a specialized silicon chip.

Dr. Eugene M. Izhikevich graduated from Moscow State University in 1992 (MS in Applied Mathematics) and Michigan State University (PhD in Pure Mathematics) in 1996.  He was a Senior Fellow in Theoretical Neurobiology at The Neurosciences Institute in San Diego until 2009. Dr. Izhikevich authored tens of peer-reviewed journal publications and two textbooks in computational neuroscience. He is the founder of Scholarpedia and the editor-in-chief of Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience and Encyclopedia of Dynamical Systems. (Academic webpage is at http://www.izhikevich.org)

Dr. Allen Gruber (Co-Founder, Consultant) is a neuroscientist, physician and founder of several successful technology companies. Currently, he is Clinical Professor of Neurosciences at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). In 1993, Dr. Gruber co-founded INTERVU, Inc, a streaming video provider, which went public and was sold to Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) for 2.8 Billion dollars. He founded Kintera, Inc., in 1999, and later served as EVP in charge of Engineering for Kintera, Inc., an online fundraising and marketing platform for nonprofit organizations. Kintera reached a market capitalization of 500 Million dollars and was sold to Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLKB).

Dr. Allen Gruber attended the University of Pennsylvania (1977, BA in Biochemistry and 1979, MD). He attended Washington University for clinical and research training and was on the faculty of the University of Texas. He was a Senior Fellow in the Institute of Neural Computation at UCSD in 2007. Professional memberships include the American Academy of Neurology, the Society for Neuroscience, and IEEE.

Mr. Nagraj Kashyap is a Senior Vice President at Qualcomm and heads up worldwide activities for Qualcomm Ventures. He currently actively manages and serves as a board member or observer for Qualcomm Ventures investments in Zeebo, Obopay, WaveMarket, GoTV Networks, Sotera Wireless, and Novarra. Mr. Kashyap also led Qualcomm Ventures investments in Airvana (AIRV) and Bitfone (acquired by HP in 2007).

Mr. Harvey White is Chairman of (SHW)2 Enterprises, a privately held firm that consults primarily in the wireless communication field and invests and works with technology based start-ups to assist in the commercialization of the products and services they are developing.

He founded Leap Wireless and was its Chairman and CEO. Leap’s Cricket wireless service was the first to offer unlimited calling for a fixed monthly fee and thus changed the landscape for all US basis wireless service pricing. Cricket is now the 6th largest carrier in the US. He retired from Leap in 2004 and formed (SHW)2 .

Prior to Leap he was a co-founder, director and President of Qualcomm, Inc. He served as it’s COO for much of his tenure there where he oversaw the day to day operations and was deeply involved in managing its growth to become the dominant technology company in the terrestrial wireless industry. He also interfaced with the financial community and was a major contributor to the strategic direction of the company. His prior experience included financial and operational roles, including heading a $100 million a year conglomerate business, primarily in the aerospace marketplace.

Harvey White is on the Board of Trustees of Salk Institute of Biological Studies, Old Globe Theater, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego Padres, on the Board of Directors of ViaSat Inc. and Zeebo. He holds a BA in economics from Marshall University.

Mr. James Quandt (Consultant) is a nationally recognized business leader with over three decades of senior management experience with major corporations including President of Standard and Poors Corporation, Chairman of Bridge Financial Information and President of Security Pacific Brokerage, Inc. As a Founder and Principal of Thomas James Capital Incorporation, Mr. Quandt has additionally served on a number of public and private Boards including Intermix Media/MySpace, Blue Label Interactive, and Digital Orchid Incorporated. Currently, Mr. Quandt serves as Chairman of the Board of the FRS Company, and is a member of the Board of Directors of Demand Media Corporation.

Mr. Quandt is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Saint Mary’s College of California and is the President of the Pacific Club of Newport Beach. He graduated from Saint Mary’s College of California in 1971 (BS – Economics and Business Administration), and University of Southern California in 1989 (Graduate School of Business, Management Policy Institute).