Dr. Naomi Kurahara Founder and CEO, Infostellar with Ryo Kawaguchi Application Lead Engineer, Infostellar & Dr. Lewis Pinault Board Member, Infostellar
Courses & Events
Space Communications Infrastructure and the Sharing Economy
Thursday, Dec 7, 2017
04:30 pm - 05:50 pm
Details
Open to the Public – no RSVP required
NEW LOCATION THIS FALL:
Venue
- William R. Hewlett Teaching Center, Room 201, 370 Serra Mall, Stanford University [Google Map]
Parking
- Via Ortega Garage, 498 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305 [Google Map]
- Roth Way Garage, 345 Campus Drive, Stanford, CA 94305 [Google Map]
- Please check parking signs carefully to ensure that permitted parking and metered spaces are free after 4:00 pm.
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E-mail Briana Burrows, Assistant Director, at <briana.burrows [at] stanford [dot] edu> with questions about the seminar series.
** Stanford students: Register for EASTASN-402A (cross listed as EE-402A), one-unit seminar, pass-no credit; open to all majors with no prerequisites.
Speakers
Dr. Naomi Kurahara
Founder and CEO, Infostellar
Dr. Naomi Kurahara is the Co-Founder and CEO of Infostellar, a newspace communications technology firm based in Tokyo, Japan, soon to release a satellite antenna sharing platform called StellarStation. Using this platform, users can share their unused antenna time and access antennas worldwide.
Prior to founding Infostellar, Kurahara worked as a System Engineer at Integral Systems Japan and received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Kyushu Institute of Technology. During that time, she conducted ion engine and space plasma environment research with JAXA.
She was also a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Tokyo, where she led development of satellite operations and ground systems for the Hodoyoshi Project.
Ryo Kawaguchi
Application Lead Engineer
Ryo Kawaguchi is a lead engineer at Infostellar, overseeing the development of the company’s satellite antenna sharing platform, StellarStation. Prior to working at Infostellar, he worked as a software engineer at Google Japan for 6 years, where he led several projects and international teams for Google Maps.
In addition to his duties at Infostellar, Ryo serves as Representative Partner of Straylight, a Tokyo-based collective of engineers, designers, and artists. He is also Representative Director of WorkAnywhere, where he is currently in the process of launching Continuum, a project dedicated to seamlessly connecting remote work and social spaces.
Before entering the private sector, Ryo received his degree in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Lewis Pinault
Board Member
Dr. Lewis Pinault is a Venture Partner based in Tokyo and Silicon Valley, building a strong portfolio of pioneering technology startup companies that span across Asia and the globe, with a special interest in science-driven opportunities that translate to systemic data-business advantages. Advising and supporting Airbus projects for over a decade, Lewis also worked on Royal Dutch Shell’s open innovation system for engaging startup companies, guiding and integrating their Shell Technology Venture Fund and GameChanger initiatives. He led incubator and innovation center design for the UK Government’s Digital Catapult, Electronic Data Systems, Shell, and others. Previously, Lewis was a Financial Institutions Partner at Coopers & Lybrand in Singapore and Hong Kong, beginning his early consulting career at The Boston Consulting Group in Tokyo.
Lewis earned his bachelor of science at MIT, completed his MSc at London School of Economics as a Fulbright Scholar, and was a NASA Space Grant Fellow at the University of Hawaii, where he completed his juris doctorate in international law and planetary geophysics.
