By not adopting a traditional corporate culture, LumaStream encourages team members to take creative, uncommon, unusual risks that often result in extraordinary ideas. Through a combination of backgrounds not typically seen in the lighting manufacturing industry such as electrical contracting, sculpture, high-tech, lighting design, architecture, and green building, our results are both surprising and uncommon. We believe this approach is the key to our innovation.
MANAGEMENT TEAM
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Steven J Crimi, Co-Founder & CEO
Steven Crimi brings 25 years of experience in the low voltage and electrical fields as a Certified Master Electrician, and has spent the last 20 years specializing specifically in lighting. He has successfully operated two electrical contracting companies and is a recognized pioneer in the emerging field of solid-state lighting.
Mr. Crimi demonstrates commitment to energy efficiency through his service to the industry. He chaired the Energy Opportunities Committee in 2001-2002 for the national Independent Electrical Contractors Association and served as a consultant for Global Energy Group Inc. in 2002-2003. Mr. Crimi is responsible for spearheading the formation of a new green opportunities committee for his local chapter in 2009. He has extensive training from the Department of Energy Solid-state lighting division and numerous successful LED lighting system installations. Mr. Crimi, over the past 10 years has amassed one of the most comprehensive knowledge bases in the solid-state lighting industry from a technical perspective through the confusing market dynamics. Mr. Crimi has an usual talent for establishing clarity of vision and spotting specific opportunities amongst chaotic market dynamics. He is intimately aware of the practicalities required to bring this massive market opportunity to reality.
Eric Higgs, Co-Founder, President / Chief Operating Officer
Eric Higgs brings an unusual combination of high-tech business experience, with success as a recognized sculptor and designer in the fine art world. Higgs has extensive experience in building early to mid-stage companies with an emphasis on technology, operations, and finance, and has played critical roles moving early stage companies to quickly scale and exploit large market opportunities.
Higgs received a Bachelor of Science degree at the College of William and Mary where he also received a minor degree in fine art. After working in Washington D.C. for KPMG Peat Marwick as an information technology consultant, he attended Stanford’s Graduate School of Business earning an MBA. He subsequently served as the Chief Information Officer of CitySearch (http://www.citysearch.com) successfully leading the design, development and implementation of the operating and information infrastructure within a hyper-growth environment. Subsequently, he was Chief Operating Officer of Cerego, LLC., a company executing a radically new paradigm of adaptive learning technology (www.smart.fm). For the past seven years, Mr. Higgs has pursued a fine art and functional sculpture career and has won numerous public, private, and corporate commissions.
Higgs is well positioned to balance Mr. Crimi’s extraordinary vision with operational execution. His experience with hyper-growth companies brings real world knowledge to what is possible through innovation and highly efficient execution, in an industry that has been virtually unchanged and controlled by large incumbent corporations for over 100 years. Together, Crimi and Higgs believe there has never been another opportunity in modern history to execute such a disruptive technology and business model at this scale, and as a result to rapidly amass brand value.
Chris Booth, Vice-President of Product Development
Mr. Booth received his B.A. in Fine Art from the University of South Florida, where he also worked to manage and maintain the Art Department’s fabrication shop and equipment. For the past three years, Chris has served as Studio Manager for Higgs Sculpture Studio, Inc., working collaboratively with Eric Higgs to create large-scale sculptures and to execute the complex infrastructure requirements of public art installations.
Chris offers a variety of skills, ranging from electrical knowledge and artistic training to hands-on design, contracting and inspection experience. His diverse expertise is matched by an insatiable curiosity and brilliance for improvements on how things should work. His combined talents is the force that drives him to design and make products that, put simply, work right. Chris has a proven record of translating his technical and mechanical vision into elegant, practical design solutions. As Vice President of Product Development, Chris is responsible for translating the latest technology and materials into innovative, beautiful, and robust fixture and system designs.
Michael Gaydos, AIA, Vice-President of Market Development
Michael Gaydos, AIA will be joining LumaStream full time starting in the 3rd quarter of 2010 as VP of Market Development. He will hold a critical role in promotion of LumaStream to the Architecture and Lighting Design communities, and other entities that specify lighting on commercial projects. Michael has been working in the field of architecture for 22 years and has worked on a wide variety of projects including government, commercial, retail and high-end residential.
Michael graduated from the College of William and Mary with honors earning a B.S. in Computer Science and a minor in Fine Arts. He received an academic scholarship to Virginia Tech,one of the nation’s top architectural schools where he earned a Master of Architecture degree. After graduating he played a key role in the creation and production of the architectural plans for the renovation of the Pentagon, the world’s largest low-rise office building. He created CAD programs and helped introduce new techniques to efficiently execute jobs of this scale to other architects. Subsequently he created customized CAD software specifically developed for designing rooftop telecomm cell towers. Michael left the corporate world of architecture 11 years ago to pursue his passion in residential architecture. As owner of his own firm, he has enjoyed helping clients realize their dreams in the custom homes and the major renovations and additions he designs. Some of his work has appeared in both Washingtonian Magazine and Luxury Homes Magazine.
Douglas Alderman, LC, Vice President Business Development
Doug joins LumaStream as an accomplished lighting designer, educator and consultant. He grew up in an electrical distribution family and worked for 13 years with the inventor of low voltage lighting, William Locklin. He has extensive experience as a trainer, having conducted lighting seminars for landscape architects, architects, interior designers, engineers, contractors and distributors. He has been a guest speaker for various professional groups including the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, the American Institute of Architects, the American Society of Landscape Architects, and the Electrical Council of Florida. He holds a degree in Marketing from the University of South Florida and in 2004 passed the National Council on Qualifications for the Lighting Professions (NCQLP) examination and earned his LC credential.
Doug’s primary role is to leverage his vast career experience to establish a replicable “LumaStream Integrator” model across the country, and develop a comprehensive process for selection, training, and role out.
Suzanna Rumon, Director of Business Development and Sales,Western U.S.
Suzanna brings 20 year history of design, environmental work and contracting expertise to Lumastream. She began her career as an environmental lobbyist, concentrating on solid and hazardous waste issues. She designed Connecticut’s first urban recycling program and worked with communities up and down the the North East corridor to permit, design and build some of the first permanent hazardous waste collection facilities in the United States. Recently, she has worked in business development and design sales roles for a variety of environmentally-centered design and construction businesses including Green Fusion, The Green Home Center and Evolution Furniture. Rumon worked as lighting designer for Copper Beech, a Bay Area electrical and communications contractor. Her passion for smart building and intuitive partnerships with designers and builders looking to do things better will bring LumaStream a healthy West Coast presence.
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ADVISORY BOARD
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Maria Crimi Speth, Legal Counsel
Ms. Speth, a partner in the law firm of Jaburg & Wilk, P.C., practices in the areas of intellectual property, Internet law, and commercial litigation, representing clients throughout the United States. She focuses her practice on assisting businesses in protecting their trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, information technology, and other intellectual property. Ms. Speth has represented clients in numerous published and precedent setting cases, including People v. Cisco, 514 N.Y.S.2d 796 (App. Div. 1987), Time Warner Cable of New York City, a Div. of Time Warner Entertainment Co., Brown v. 3M, 265 F.3d 1349 (Fed. Cir. 2001), cert. denied, 122 S.Ct. 1436 (2002); MCW, Inc. v. Badbusinessbureau.com, LLC, 2004 WL 833595 (N.D. Tex.). Ms. Speth is a certified member of The Million Dollar Advocates Forum. She has authored numerous articles on the topics of litigation and intellectual property, and voted best business attorney in Arizona by the readers of Arizona Women’s News in 2000. She is on the faculty of the internationally acclaimed IBI Forum, and has been a guest speaker on television and radio shows addressing intellectual property protection topics.
Ms. Speth received her B.A., cum laude in 1985 from Hofstra University and received her J.D. in 1988 from Hofstra University School of Law. She is admitted to practice in the State of Arizona Supreme Court, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, the Federal District Court for the District of Arizona, the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the United States District Court for the Eleventh Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States of America.
Andres Wydler, Cleantech and Business Advisor
Andres is a clean tech executive and entrepreneur. He currently serves as CEO of water purification and renewable energy company RealGreen Power, Inc. He also advises clean tech start-ups on fund raising and strategy.
In 2004, he co-founded smart grid firm BPL Global (www.bplglobal.net) that is widely recognized as a clean tech leader. He grew the company close to profitability through organic growth and M&A, managing all commercial aspects worldwide. Previously, he set up the US operations of a European consulting firm focused on the international expansion of high tech companies. He also co-founded the Constellation Angel Group that invests in early stage technology opportunities with cross-border strategies (www.constellation.ch). He was instrumental in the success of various start-ups and intrapreneurial ventures at Macromedia and sgi.
Andres earned an MBA from Stanford and a law degree from the University of Zurich. He developed and teaches a course on Clean Tech Entrepreneurship at Stanford to encourage professionals in Silicon Valley to pursue their own clean tech ventures.
Kevin Rumon, Technical and Business Advisor
Kevin owns and operates Copper Beech, a licensed electrical and communications construction firm in Larkspur, California. Copper Beech’s work focuses on network physical security, energy management, video-based collaboration, and wireless medical communication. Prior to Copper Beech he held technical and operations management positions at IBM, Textron, and two internet start ups. He has a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA From Stanford.
Don Wright, Manufacturing Advisor
LumaStream has added Don Wright as a very key member to the Advisory Board filling the role as LumaStream’s Manufacturing Advisor. He brings 37 years of experience with a focus on manufacturing efficiency, product Quality Control and Just-In-Time production. He is the CEO and President of Universal Stenciling and Marking Systems, Inc., a world leader in their class of products.
Don began his career serving in the Navy on a nuclear submarine with a focus on sonar electronics. After separation from the Navy in 1973, Don co-founded Nautek, Inc., which established two production facilities for the manufacture of scuba diving equipment and accessories.
In 1975 he purchased Universal Fountain Brush Company, an industrial products manufacturing business, which had been owned by the Wright family since 1904. The business was incorporated several years later and the name changed to Universal Stenciling & Marking Systems, Inc. As President & CEO, he transformed the business from an assembly operation to a self-sufficient manufacturing facility. He added an in-house engineering and product design department utilizing CAD/CAM systems and a fully equipped CNC production plant, which produces all of the parts used in its products. The company now holds numerous patents on proprietary industrial printing system designs with international product distribution.
Dave Wright, Finance and Business Advisor
David Wright is the Managing Partner of Shorecrest Capital, LLC, an investment firm that acquires controlling interests in businesses and assets that require creative strategies and active involvement to maximize returns. Prior to forming Shorecrest Capital, LLC, David was an investment analyst at Trellus Management, where he led 20 investments in consumer and business services companies. Prior to Trellus, Mr. Wright was a Managing Director at Stellican Limited, an entrepreneurial private investment firm that specializes in acquiring assets of distressed consumer-based businesses. Mr. Wright was also a Principal at Parthenon Group, where he worked directly with CEOs of small, high-growth businesses to develop strategies that created value. During David’s tenure, Parthenon generated 84.0% return on its equity investments and launched Parthenon Capital, a $2 billion private equity fund. In addition to small, high-growth businesses, larger Parthenon clients included eBay, American Express, Madison Square Garden, Arctic Cat and KKR.
David earned a Master in Business Administration degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Business Administration, and a Bachelor of Arts degree, in Economics and Political Science, from Princeton University. He is a Co-Founder and Chairman of PlaySmart, Inc., a non-profit company that operates sports camps for under-privileged kids.
David Lim, Supply Chain and Product Distribution Advisor
David Lim has 20 years of experience in Supply Chain Management, with an emphasis on building infrastructure and support for medium to large companies. David is currently the head of supply chain for LGEMU (a multi-billion dollar mobile handset company), a subsidiary of LG Electronics of Korea. During the last 7 years with LG, David has changed and innovated the SCM strategy to meet the exponential growth of the company, while streamlining the operation to be an industry benchmark.
Prior to LG, David also worked for a technology company (Quantum) leading “mission critical” support of field component distribution throughout the U.S. as well as various international strategic locations. Before Quantum David worked for a Japanese import/export company, specializing in freight forwarding, warehousing, and distribution.
David has an MBA from a leading international business school (American Graduate School of International Management – “Thunderbird”) and a BA from the College of William and Mary.David has also been recognized by LG with “LG Great People Award” in 2006 and an “Innovation Prize” in 2004. David’s SCM team was also recognized in 2008 for a “Best Practice Award” within all of LG Electronics companies. David is a member of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.