Board of Directors
Faysal Sohail -- Board Member
Faysal Sohail joined CMEA Ventures in 2002 as a General Partner.
He is currently on the Board of Directors of Alien Technology, Applied
Wave Research, Inovys Corporation, Pyxis Technology, and Symwave;
Faysal is also on the Advisory Board of Telsima. Mr. Sohail brings
with him more than a decade of senior executive experience in
engineering, marketing and business development. He was CEO of Cadabra
Design Automation and managed its acquisition by Numerical Technologies
(NMTC) where he served as Sr. Vice President of Worldwide Field
Operations. Prior to Numerical Technologies, Faysal was Senior Vice
President of Corporate Strategy for Synopsys Inc. (SNPS). In 1990, he
founded Silicon Architects, which was acquired by Synopsys in 1995.
Earlier in his career, Faysal spent several years in ICdesign
engineering and marketing positions with Actel Corporation (ACTL)
and LSI Logic Corporation (LSI). Mr. Sohail holds a Bachelor of
Science degree in computer engineering from the University of Illinois
(Urbana-Champaign) where he also served on the College of Engineering
Advisory Board (CEAB).
James E. Solomon -- Board Member
James E. Solomon received the 1997 Phil Kaufman Award for his
innovative contributions to design tool technology, which has benefited
electronic systems and IC designers worldwide. Jim spent three years
designing aerospace systems for Motorola Systems Research Labs
(Riverside, CA). Over the next seven years he started and ran Linear
IC Design at Motorola Semiconductor (Tempe, Arizona). From 1970 until
1983, Solomon was director of IC design for analog and mixed-signal
chips at National Semiconductor (Santa Clara, CA). There he started
and developed a half dozen major product lines into mature businesses.
In 1983, he founded a software company focused on IC design, Solomon
Design Automation (SDA), which later became Cadence Design Systems.
Over 12 years he held various positions, including president and CEO,
founder and general manager of the analog and mixed-signal unit,
general manager of the IC unit, and CTO. Today Cadence is the largest
EDA Company in the world with revenues of over $800M. In 1994 he
co-founded and is chairman of Smart Machines in San Jose, CA. This
company offers high-performance direct drive robots for semiconductor
wafer manufacture. In 1995, he co-founded Xulu Entertainment (San Jose,
CA), where he is president and CEO. Xulu is developing a next generation
high-tech based entertainment venue that will be used in Xulu operated
retail sites. Solomon is a Fellow of the IEEE, holds 23 patents in IC
design, and has written over 50 papers. His work covering design theory
for the monolithic op amp is being taught at universities. Solomon holds
BSEE and MSEE degrees from the University of California, Berkeley CA.
Krishna Srinivasan -- Board Member
Krishna Srinivasan joined Austin Ventures in February 2000 and focuses
on companies in the Systems and Semiconductor eco system. He is interested
in opportunities that originate from the confluence of ambitious
entrepreneurs, disruptive technologies, rapidly growing markets, and often
plays an active role in helping create companies through in-house incubations,
seed investments, and spin outs. Krishna has worked with companies such as
Augmentix (incubation), Blacksand (incubation), ClearCube, ColdWatt (spin out),
Mavenir Systems (seed), MEMX (spin out), Nanocoolers (incubation), NetBotz
(acquired by APC), Netrake (acquired by Audiocodes), Pyxis, Spatial Wireless
(incubation; acquired by Alcatel) and Zilliant. Prior to joining Austin
Ventures, Krishna was with McKinsey & Company where he worked on growth
strategies for semiconductor companies. Earlier, he was with Motorola’s
Corporate Offices where he played an active role in strategic and operational
improvement projects with the Semiconductor Products Sector and emerging
new business ventures. Krishna began his career in Austin at International
Sematech. Krishna received his MBA from the Wharton School of the University
of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with highest academic honors as a Palmer
Scholar. He also has a Masters in Operations Research from the University of
Texas at Austin and an undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of
Technology, Madras, where he received the highest award that year for
all-round accomplishment. Krishna is a board member of TiE Austin.
Brian Connors -- Board Member
Brian Connors is a founding general partner at Formative Ventures.
Brian has more than 29 years of technology leadership in sales and
strategic marketing with some of Silicon Valley’s most successful
start-ups. His board experience includes IP Infusion (acquired by
Access Corporation in 2006), OpenCountry and Pyxis Technology. Prior
to co-founding FV, Brian was an angel investor and venture advisor at
Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) and Redpoint Ventures, where he
helped guide companies from early stage to market leadership positions.
Brian has an in-depth operational track record, serving in senior
executive positions at several leading technology companies. Brian was
vice president of worldwide sales at C-Cube Microsystems, the world’s
leading provider of semiconductors and systems for the delivery of
compressed digital video. During Brian’s tenure, sales at C-Cube grew
from $20 million to $330 million annually. Prior to C-Cube, Brian was
vice president of North American sales for Synopsys, Inc., the $1
billion leader in design automation software for complex integrated
circuits. One of the early employees at LSI Logic Corp., Brian advanced
to become vice president of strategic marketing and sales, managing
approximately one-third of the company’s business, including its
silicon and software strategies. He holds a bachelor of science degree
in engineering from Northern Arizona University, and attended the
Graduate School of Business at Arizona State University.
Mitch Heins -- Board Member
Mitch Heins, President and CEO, has worked
in the semiconductor and EDA industries for over 27 years. Prior
to joining Pyxis, Heins was senior director of silicon operations
and products for HPL Technologies, Inc., responsible for all
business activities of HPL’s test chip division, including product
development, marketing, and sales support. Before joining HPL, Heins
served as director of applications support and services for Petersen
Advanced Lithography. He has also held positions as vice president
of strategic third party alliances for Cadence Design Systems and
director of ASIC business development for Ambit Design Systems. At
the CAD Framework Initiative, Inc., a consortium focused on software
standards for plug-and-play EDA tools (now called the Si2, the Silicon
Integration Initiative), Heins held the position of director of marketing.
From 1983 to 1995, he worked in various positions at Texas Instruments,
ending his tenure as EDA strategy and business development manager.
P.T. Patel -- Board Member
P.T. Patel, founder, executive vice president and CTO, brings over
30 years of microprocessor physical design expertise to the company.
Before founding Pyxis, PT spent three years at Sun Microsystems where
he was Senior Distinguished Engineer, responsible for setting the
vision for microprocessor tools and methodologies for 65nm & below
technologies. Prior to Sun, PT was with IBM for 27 years where he
served as Distinguished Engineer and led the physical design effort
for the Power PC family of microprocessors. He developed structured
design methodologies targeted towards reducing total time to market
and provided technical leadership for physical design tools development
at IBM. PT is a recipient of Corporate and Outstanding Technical
Achievement awards from IBM for designs, tools and methodology
innovations for Power and PowerPC microprocessors. He received the
Chairman’s Award at Sun for CAD tools and methodology innovations.
He has been granted 16 U.S. patents and has several publications on
chip design, tools and methodology. PT has an MS degree in electrical
engineering from University of Connecticut.
Ed Charrier -- Strategic Advisor and Board Observer
Ed Charrier is Vice President and General Manager of the Process Control
Information Division at KLA-Tencor. He has more than 20 years of software
development and software management experience and 14 years in the
semiconductor industry in lithography and DFM software. In his current role
at KLA-Tencor he is responsible for all standalone software products including
DFM, yield, defect, metrology and bare wafer analysis. Prior to KLA-Tencor,
Mr. Charrier was the Chief Operating Officer of FINLE Technologies, a provider
of lithography and DFM software to the semiconductor industry. FINLE was
acquired by KLA-Tencor in February, 2000. Mr. Charrier earned a BSE in
mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA in
management and entrepreneurship from The University of Texas at Austin.
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