Ken Biba

Business leader, Consultant, Educator/Teacher, Entrepreneur, Inventor, Scientist, Startup, Technologist

Ken Biba has over 40 years of experience in the computer network industry. He has a unique background combining general management, product and marketing skills and a particular knowledge in the areas of wireless network systems and information security. Ken was an early engineer of the Internet in 1975 and has co-founded and managed four notable network companies including one IPO. Ken is currently a managing partner and co-founder of Novarum a strategic technology and market advisory firm with the leading knowledge of scaling WiFi and wireless technologies from small networks to large enterprises and municipalities. Novarum has independently analyzed and measured over 500 deployed wireless municipal networks and has the world's best experience base in how wireless networks succeed or fail. Current projects include new wireless public safety systems for Minneapolis, a new 4G class municipal WiFi network for Cleveland and creating a new cellular measurement and mobile Internet benchmarking system for the California Public Utility Commission. Ken was the co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Vivato defining the new standard in scaling Wi-Fi infrastructure to the enterprise and metropolitan areas using advanced cognitive radio techniques. Ken served as EVP/COO and Director of Xircom (1993-99), taking the company from $10M annual sales to $150M, transforming the company to a mobile communications leader, executing a successful IPO and sponsoring Xircom pioneering efforts in wireless LAN technology and laying the foundations for the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless LAN standards. Ken is one of the early inventors of WiFi and instrumental in the construction of the IEEE 802.11 standard. Xircom was acquired by Intel. Ken co-founded and was a Director, Chief Operating Officer and later President of Agilis (1989-92) the first company to develop and market handheld mobile Windows computers. Ken co-founded and was Director and SVP for Marketing and Product Development at Sytek (1979-1986) one of the pioneering LAN technology companies (arguably inventing cable modems and supplying IBM's first local area network) and through 1985 the largest local network company. Ken began his career with the Mitre Corporation (1975-77) in computer security and networking R&D where he was responsible for early work in computer security and integrity policy, the first kernelized secure UNIX implementation and was a member of the original DARPA TCP Working Group under Vint Cerf. Subsequently at Ford Aerospace (1978-79), he led efforts that resulted in the one of the first implementations of TCP/IP on a local area network and the first fiber optic token ring local area network. Ken has a Bachelor of Science in Physics (Magna Cum Laude, Tau Beta Pi) and a Master of Science in Computer Science from Case Western Reserve University. He was a Finalist in the 1968 Westinghouse (now Intel) Science Talent Search. Ken revels in the purely geek hobbies of high power amateur rocketry, combat robots and recreating ancient siege engines with his son Tom, growing his over 10000 volume book collection and treasuring his 42 year marriage to his spouse Rene. He holds altitude records in amateur rocketry and mentors multiple high school and university science teams in rocketry. He is Chairman of the Board of AeroPac, Inc. a nonprofit corporation dedicated to the education of aerospace engineers. More than 1500 young engineers have participated in AeroPac training and over 11 satellites created by these young engineers have achieved Earth orbit. He led the amateur team that won the Carmack Prize for the first amateur rocket to provably exceed 100k' above ground with full recovery (www.aeropac.org/100k).

The power of the Internet to both connect people and also to extend our discovery of the world and universe.

Two ideas about technology empowerment and DIY. As one the early folks with some co-parenting credit for WiFi - the power of unlicensed networks to enable people to connect with more ease, power and lack of boundaries than ever before. And as a leading amateur rocketeer - the ability we have as individuals to explore the earth and space that was previously purely the domain of governments.

Computer networking, computer science, rocket science, startups

I was turned down for TEDU talk. Sigh. My first year was last year - 2012 - and I was inspired to talk about two things that few people (it seemed to me) had spoken about. The importance of WiFi in creating the Internet and the reality of DIY rocketry and space. I made my TEDU proposal on DIY space and sadly will have to spread the word in personal conversation.