Dr. Carl Kukkonen - Former Director, CSMT, Manager NASA/JPL Super-computing, CEO ViaSpace, Spectra Sensors, Tunable Photonics.

ViaSpace was founded in 1998 as a Caltech/NASA spin-off. The company began with the objective of transforming space and defense technologies that were originally developed at JPL into commercial products.   The company is associated with the JPL and the California Institute of Technology. “Dr. Levy served both on Tunable Photonics and ViaSpace board of directors. At ViaSpace, Levy served as a director, member of the audit committee, chairman of the compensation committee and as an advisor to homeland security technology products.”

Dr. Carl Kukkonen is the former Director of the Center for Space Microelectronics Technology (CSMT) and Manager of Super-computing at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “I initially reached out to Aaron when he was the CEO of a publicly traded photonics company in California. VIASPACE was an incubator, and we were commercializing products from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. One of the products was a laser-based sensor which also had applications to optical communications. Aaron was able to point us in the right direction and give us some sound advice. As we got to know each other, I invited Aaron to join the board of directors of VIASPACE and its photonics subsidiary. He served us well and helped us develop strategies for commercialization and sources of funding for our early-stage technology companies. We have continued to be friends for over 15 years.”