Alex Blate

About Alex Blate

I\'m the guy at the table who, about five to ten minutes into a meeting, asks,\"What problem are we trying to solve here?\" You can\'t build a solution, at least not a good one, if you can\'t clearly articulate the problem - not the symptoms, but the cause(s). True innovation, IP development, successful R&D, and disruptive technologies often stem, I think, from the confluence understanding the gestalt of a problem and having the breadth of inter-disciplinary and systems understanding to see and start following paths towards a solution. The same principle is at play in scholarly research, successful proposals, and in building patent portfolios, where it is necessary to articulate how your work is fundamentally new or distinct from prior work or that of your competitors. In my present and past positions, I have been the person or one of a small group of people on the team that you call on for this skillset - and I absolutely love it. If you\'re looking for someone to help take existing technologies and products to the next level, to address open problems, or lead the research and development of new technologies, please reach out to me. I am excited by identifying, articulating, and solving hard questions and problems with scopes ranging from individual software or hardware components up to entire deployments. I am a \"Systems Guy\" with expertise over a broad range of industries, technologies, and academe. I employ a diverse set of technical tools to address problems with an outside-the-box, constructively-disruptive, Systems approach. I thrive in new subject matter areas and interdisciplinary work - the nexus of creativity, problem-solving, learning, and sparks of innovation. I am also a skilled writer in a range of modalities including proposals, technical marketing, technical publications, scholarly articles, patents, and, perhaps, most importantly, communicating complex technical concepts to lay audiences. I am also interested in pursuing industrial or academic research in the following and related areas:* Low-latency Augmented Reality (AR) displays* Low-latency, high-sample-rate Head Tracking and Instrumentation* High-sample-rate eye tracking* Applications for Lateral-effect photodiodes/Position Sensing Devices (PSD)* High-speed LED drivers (custom analog and digital circuitry)* High-Dynamic Range (HDR) displays* Illumination for DMD/micromirror/LCoS Spatial Light Modulators/Phase Modulators* Near-eye displays based on DMD/micromirror/LCoS Spatial Light Modulators/Phase Modulators

Experience

1. Chief Innovator

   AURA Technologies, LLC

   Apr 2019 — Present · Chapel Hill, NC, US

   Supervise research, software and systems architecture and design, developed IP portfolio (>15 new US and international patents), author or co-author proposals raising >>$10M in Government awards, including Phase II and Phase SBIRs. Lead co-inventor of game-changing cyber-physical (hardware/software) security solution for digital manufacturing, operational technology (OT), and critical infrastructure. Research and development subject matter areas comprise cyber-physical security, digital and additive manufacturing, health-related products, AI/ML, computational geometry, power systems, electronics, and several defense-related programs. Work directly with Government stakeholders to secure and execute DoD-funded R&D programs. Manage and extend IP portfolio (patents and trademarks) and related contractual matters. Manage and extend technology portfolio and drive research results to commercialization and monetization. Presentations at multiple conferences.

Education

• Watkins Mill High School

  High School, College Entrance :)

  1992 — 1996

• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Computer Science

  2013 — 2019

• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  MS, Computer Science

  1999 — 2000

• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  BS, Mathematical Sciences/Computer Science

  1996 — 1999

• Montgomery College

  Mathematics and Physics

  1995 — 1996

Skills

• Storage
• Analytics
• Key Performance Indicators
• Software Security
• Software Architecture
• Us Citizenship
• Statistical Modeling
• Software Design
• Systems Integration
• J2ee
• Systems
• Servlet Containers
• Web Services
• Compliance
• Mentoring
• Monitoring
• Rdbms
• Intellectual Property
• Software Quality
• Architecture
• Procedure Design
• Cross-Functional Coordination
• Conversational French
• Virtualization
• Post-Sales Consultancy
• Risk Mitigation
• Capacity
• Thinking Outside the Box
• Web Application Server
• Operating Systems
• Protocol Design
• Systems Engineering
• Standards Development
• Software Licensing
• Carrier-Grade
• Concurrency
• Technology Evangelism
• Constructive Disruption
• Unix
• Pre-Sales Consultancy