iQ Founders
The Beginning
Funding Innovatoin - no strings attached!
That's right. You can get funding to develop your innovative idea fron Innovation Quest (iQ), no strings attached. iQ has been founded as a non-profit, philanthropic corporation by successful Cal Poly graduates and business leaders interested in giving back and enhancing innovation at the same time. These highly successful leaders donated their own money to fund current Cal Poly students engaged in Senior Project and/or Master's Thesis or Cal Poly faculty, leading student teams to develop and perfect innovative ideas leading to commercializable products to help all involved.
This is a labor of love for the principals and an opportunity for all Cal Poly graduates in many different fields to join forces to give back. A small Alumni Sponsored Award may give a many young entrepreneurial students the opportunity of a lifetime.
The Co-Founders
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Carson Chen Co-Founder and President Carson has been involved with the Innovation Quest from inception and is a co-founder and its President. Carson Chen, a retired member of Cisco Systems’ seasoned executive team, was the Vice President and General Manager of the Cable & Wireless Platform Division. An electrical engineer with over 30 years of experience in the development and marketing of broadband and high-speed telecommunication technologies, Carson has held senior positions with National Semiconductor Corporation, Ford Aerospace and West Coast United Broadcasting Co. Carson is responsible for issuing over 30 United States Patents and holds six, himself. In addition, he authored the book titled “Active Filter Design.” He currently serves on the boards of several technology companies. He is an Electronics Engineering Alumni of Cal Poly, Class of 1973. |
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Richard W. Boberg Co-Founder and Vice President Rich Boberg is a retired executive of Network Appliance ("NetApp"), a world leader in unified storage solutions for today's data-intensive enterprise. As employee number 6, Rich was at NetApp for 12 years in various executive positions in Marketing, Corporate Development, and Engineering. At various times he has directed product management, strategic marketing, mergers and acquisitions, several software engineering groups, and strategic alliances and business development. Prior to NetApp, Rich held management positions at Intel Corporation and several startup companies. He holds a BSEE from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo , and a MSEE from MIT. |
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Michael Cirovic and Vice President Co-Founder Mike Cirovic has been educating electrical engineers for 38 years, 36 at Cal Poly. In all of these many years, he has seen a large number of great innovative ideas proffered by the students. There was a “twinkle” in many of their eyes as they discussed what they wanted to accomplish and why. The IQ attempts to take that “twinkle” and keep it lit. That is what is exciting about this opportunity. Professor Cirovic joined the Cal Poly faculty in 1968, and has served as department chair on numerous occasions, including today. He received his BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering at New York University. His vast experience extends well beyond academia including being the Director of Research and Development for Victor Corporation, Director of Advanced Development for Sirius Systems Technologies, Director of Testing and Development for Tandem Corporation, vice-president, one of the co-founders and Director of Research and Development for CCG Labs, Inc., President and one of the co-founders of CLAS Inc., Consulting Engineer for cryogenic controls and solar energy research, Engineer for General Cable Corporation. And, he is currently President and founder of CK Associates, a consultancy that specializes in custom software development. |