Q: How do you like to start your morning before a workday?

A: With a great espresso and a book.

Q: What’s the name of the last book you read?

A: I'm currently re-reading Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. “The Drawing of the Three” to be more precise.

Q: Tell us about your background. How did you start thinking about 3D mmWave imaging?

A: My Ph.D. research was in signal-processing for wireless communications, in particular non-linear signal processing methods, mixed-signal processing for Ultra-Wideband communication systems. After defending my thesis in 2014 I got offered a job by our co-founder Matt to work at his lab at the University of Washington. I joined my former TU Graz office mate Daniel (he was working with Matt for two or more years already) to work on RF and digital hardware to develop the next generation of full-body mmWave imaging scanners for airport security. We developed transformative new methods to allow real-time imaging with high image quality (low SNR). When Claire joined the lab in 2015, she and I teamed together to work on novel satellite-based mmWave imaging. We demonstrated new modalities for mmWave imaging using novel commercial meta-surface antenna devices in addition to novel high-performance image reconstruction algorithms.

Q: How did the name ThruWave come about?

A: I can’t really remember. Matt probably brought it up.

Q: What is the most exciting thing to you about what ThruWave is doing?

A: We are changing how material handling will be done in the future. We allow our customers to have literal insight into their packaging and/or inventory to e.g., optimize quality control, inventory management, packing efficiency, and fraud prevention. From a technical perspective, we are developing cutting edge technology, pushing the limits of what is possible for high-throughput, low-latency mmWave imaging. I’m proud that we have, in my opinion, the world’s best team to add value to our customers' operations.

Q: Where do you see the company in five years?

A: Continuing to transform the material handling industry by adding new applications and more value to our customers' operations.

Q: Why did you start/join this company?

A: My career path always was along the border of academic research and industry and contributing to both. It felt only natural after spending many years in academia to bring this new technology to a broader application, to market, and into the hands of customers. Building a prototype in the lab is one thing but knowing that your technology potentially will be deployed at many different facilities, scanning thousands of items per day, is something entirely different.

Q: What do you like to do outside of the office?

A: I'm a proud dad and love spending time with our (almost) one year old daughter. I’m also re-furbishing, fixing, and modding old video game consoles. Devices like Atari 2600 or Nintendo Entertainment Systems. I’m enjoying their genius in simplicity. Obviously, playing them is fun too.