Executive Team

Compression Science has assembled a world-class team composed of several of the most well-respected and experienced professionals in the video encoding industry. With over 250 years of combined experience in digital video imaging, the team includes experts in still and moving image compression, computer programming, systems engineering and analysis. Key members include:

Celso Azevedo has over 30 years of international experience in communications and pay television. Just prior to joining Compression Science, Azevedo served as CEO of Astrolink International, a global broadband-over-satellite venture where he structured the company, while raising approximately $1.3 billion. Previously, Azevedo was a Senior Vice President at DirecTV International at Hughes Electronics, where he played a key role in the growth of DirecTV Japan and DirecTV Latin America. Azevedo also served as chairman of the management committee of SES/Astra, where he helped lead the company from start-up to its position as leader in the burgeoning European direct-to-home satellite television business. Prior to these assignments, Azevedo held senior positions at the International Telecommunications Union (in Switzerland) and EMBRATEL (in Brazil). Azevedo holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Polytechnic School Catholic University in Rio de Janeiro, and an MSc in Telecommunications from the Space Research Institute Sao Jose dos Campos in Sao Paulo.

Eric Hamilton, Chief Science Officer

Eric Hamilton has spent 23 years in the digital video, audio and still image industries. At C-Cube Microsystems Inc., Hamilton played a key role in developing the architectures of the early JPEG and MPEG semiconductor products. Later, he was the lead engineer for the firmware development team working on C-Cube's family of MPEG video and MPEG/Dolby AC3 audio decoders for digital set-top boxes and other broadcast applications. Consistent with his industry status, Hamilton served for three years as the chairman of the International JPEG Committee, which is responsible for establishing the worldwide standards for compression of still pictures. He has held senior positions with several Silicon Valley imaging companies, including Compression Labs, Inc., StarSignal, Inc. and Compressent Corporation. Hamilton holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Science from San Jose State University.

Dr. Andrew Tescher, Principal Scientist

Dr. Andrew Tescher has over 25 years of experience in image and video processing. He joined Compression Science from Lockheed Martin, where he served as a technology advisor on compression and multimedia applications. Dr. Tescher has received numerous professional awards recognizing his contributions to the image and video compression fields, including Germany's Edward Rhein Prize and the SPIE's Gold Medal. Currently, he is the head of the U.S. delegation to SC29 (plenary group over the International MPEG and JPEG committees). His other recent professional affiliations include NIST and Microsoft. He has been the Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the University of Southern California's Integrated Media Science Center (IMSC), where he is also Editor-in-Chief of the IMSC Press (a joint venture with Prentice Hall on multimedia technologies). Dr. Tescher is the co-inventor of several teleconferencing systems and has written extensively on compression. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California.

Garrett Cecchini, Co-Founder

Garrett Cecchini co-founded Compression Science in 2000 and served as the President and Chief Executive Officer until 2001. Cecchini has been instrumental in helping assemble Compression Science's world-class scientific team and managing the company's operations. Prior to joining Compression Science, Cecchini spent 22 years as a corporate attorney, advising many of Silicon Valley's largest technology companies on corporate merger and restructuring activities. Cecchini holds a B.A./B.S. in Business and Political Science from Duquesne University, an M.P.I.A. in Developmental Economics from the University of Pittsburgh, an M.B.A. from Golden Gate University and a J.D. from Lincoln University.

In addition to the individuals mentioned here, Compression Science employs approximately 30 technical personnel with significant experience in digital imaging. The majority of this staff has advanced degrees in their respective fields of study. While most of the senior scientific team is located in Campbell, California, we also have full-time scientists in Romania and Russia.

Board of Directors

Celso Azevedo (see above)

Tom Boag - Member, Board of Directors

Tom Boag has more than 38 years of diverse senior management experience directing engineering, manufacturing and support organizations. He is currently the Director of Santa Rosa Junior College's Technology Academy in "Telecom Valley" (Petaluma, CA). Prior to this, he held the position of J.D. Pinson Endowed Process Engineering Chair and Adjunct Professor in the College of Engineering at San Jose State University. Before that, Boag served as Director of Applied Materials' Technology Development Center in Santa Clara, CA, and had responsibility for programming, design and construction oversight for new wafer fabrication facilities in Taiwan, Korea and Santa Clara. Earlier, Boag held a number of senior management positions in design engineering, facility construction, offshore support, and operations at Siliconix. Boag received both his B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

David F. Hadley - Member, Board of Directors

David Hadley has more than 15 years of experience in the investment banking business and is the President of D. F. Hadley & Co., Inc. (DFH&Co), a merchant banking firm that both invests in the equity of growth companies and provides investment banking and strategic advisory services to such companies. DFH&Co is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers. Prior to establishing DFH&Co, Hadley spent 13 years in the investment banking business of Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown (including its predecessors BT Alex. Brown and BT Securities Corporation) and was a managing director in the firm's media & communications investment banking practice, with particular responsibility for communications services companies, when he resigned in 1999. Hadley received his MSc. in Economic History from the London School of Economics and completed his B.A. in both Economics and History at Dartmouth College.

Dr. Alan Rowe - Member, Board of Directors

Dr. Rowe is currently Chairman and CEO of Ideation, a division of HRA, Inc. Dr. Rowe has been a consultant on the corporate staff of General Electric, where he was responsible for computerized installations, and a division director for Industrial Dynamics on the corporate staff of Hughes Aircraft Co., where he was responsible for new product development and corporate computer systems applications. He also served on the corporate staff of System Development Corp., as the Manager of Research. In addition to serving as Associate Dean and Chair of the Management Department at the University of Southern California, Dr. Rowe has taught at UCLA, Syracuse, New York and Columbia Universities. He has been a consultant to major companies and governments in the U.S. and abroad, such as the RAND Corporation, Communications Technology Corporation, General Electric, Petronas Corporation (Malaysia), Government of Singapore and the Office of Naval Research. Dr. Rowe received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Engineering from Columbia University, and an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in eight disciplines from UCLA. He is currently on the Advisory Board of Azure Ltd.