PlantSense Team
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Matthew Glenn Founder and CEO, PlantSense Matt founded PlantSense to solve a very common problem - figuring out what plant will grow in a given location. Matt was first introduced to gardening by his Grandfather, who built a hydroponic vegetable garden in his back yard. If you go to Matt's place in San Francisco, you will find a lot of flourishing houseplants. He wishes his back yard was a bit more sunny so that he could have a vegetable garden. Matt is a veteran of multiple startup companies including Xircom, Xylan, Packet Engines, Allegro Networks, and Airespace. Matt enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter, and getting out for a surf now and again. Favorite plant: Hibiscus |
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David Wilkins Chief Technologist & Engineering Manager A co-founder of the company, David focuses on the technical foundation of the product, leading a technical development group of hardware, software, web, and quality assurance engineers. Additionally, he has strategically folded a top-notch horticultural team into the traditional engineering framework, enabling PlantSense to develop its unique product line. With over 20 years of engineering experience, David held management and system architect positions at Allegro Networks, where he was also a co-founder. Previous significant contributions were made at Packet Engines and NCR Microelectronics, amongst others. He enjoys the startup company experience, culture, and pace. Urban gardening and amateur photography allow him a little relaxation between product delivery milestones. Favorite Plant: Anything Carnivorous |
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Madeline Duva Chairman of the Board Ms. Duva, an embedded software entrepreneur with over 20 years experience (18 years in Silicon Valley), has been instrumental in developing and executing strategic initiatives throughout her career. After a few years at Fidelity Investments, she moved to Silicon Valley where she has held senior managerial posts at Communication Intelligence Corp, PenOp, Dejima, and Revere Data. Before starting her own consulting firm advising start-ups, Madeline was CEO of China MobileSoft, which developed a complete Linux platform for mobile phones. In 2005, PalmSource successfully acquired CMS, where she held the position of VP Silicon and ODM partners. PalmSource was then acquired by ACCESS. In addition to her role at PlantSense, Madeline sits on the advisory boards of a number of companies in the mobile industry, including 3jam (www.3jam.com), Eye-Fi (www.eye.fi), DeviceVM (www.devicevm.com) and Nexage (www.nexage.com). Madeline is a passionate gardener who admits to crushing slugs with her bare hands, as she hates using chemicals. Favorite plant: depends on the time of the year but if pressed, Gingko gets the billing |
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Matt Eckerle Senior Agricultural Engineer Matt's job is to apply the latest horticultural technology to make plants thrive in your space. To take the guesswork out of growing, Matt develops algorithms to recommend proper planting and care in your specific environment. Matt's background is in Agricultural Engineering and Computational Biology, and his last project was a similar track, signal processing fetal heart rates non-invasively for Prenatek, Inc. Favorite plant: Sensitive Plant, Mimosa pudica |
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Robby Flannery, Ph.D. Senior Horticulturalist Robby has been interested in plants and horticulture since his days as a child working in his grandfather's garden. Besides having a vast knowledge of the inner workings of plant anatomy, physiology, morphology and development, Robby is an avid gardener and enjoys the beauty of the horticultural world. Before coming to PlantSense, Robby earned his Ph.D. in Plant Biology with a focus on Environmental Horticulture from the University of California, Davis. Prior to that, he achieved his Bachelor's of Science in Applied Plant Biology from the same university. Robby's Ph.D. research included the application of novel instrumentation to measure the environment around his model plants (roses and chrysanthemums). Today, Robby is excited to be an integral part of the PlantSense team. As a horticulturalist with PlantSense, his hobbies and training intersect. He is truly playing in his own sandbox. Favorite Plant? Yes. |
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Chris Foo Senior Software Engineer As a senior software engineer, Chris is responsible for any PlantSense web-related assets including www.easybloom.com. Prior to joining PlantSense, Chris worked as a consulting software developer for various software companies in the Ottawa-area (Canada). With over 10 years of online development experience, Chris has been a software developer, web application developer, user interface designer and on occasion a web surfer. Chris enjoys all things outdoors including soccer, ultimate frisbee, hiking, skating, photography, and biking and is slowly catching the gardening bug. Favorite Plant: Red Maple |
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Edith Harbaugh Product Manager Edith wants to help everyone have an easy time growing beautiful flowers and delicous vegetables with less guesswork and more results. She has over 9 years experience delivering great products to users. At her previous position at Military.com, she helped millions of veterans understand how to use the GI Bill to attend college. She has a deep background in large scale portals, personalization, and content management from working at Vignette and Epicentric. She is a named coinventor on the patent "Method and system for sharing different web components between different websites in a portal framework", and has two other patents pending. She has a BS Engineering from Harvey Mudd College and an Economics degree from Pomona College. In her free time, Edith loves being outside. She has hiked the John Muir Trail, bicycled cross country from Washington State to Washington, DC, and run seven marathons and two trail ultramarathons. Favorite Plant: Redwood |
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Andrew Hill Chief Operating Officer As Chief Operating Officer, Andy is responsible for all PlantSense Manufacturing, Logisitics, and Customer Support activities and for management of the Accounting, Human Resources, and Facilities organizations. Through Senior Operational Management positions at several technology start-ups including: Diamond Lane (Nokia), Anthology Solutions, and BRN Phoenix, Andy has developed a strong background of experience in all facets of electronic product development and manufacturing outsourcing. As GM of Operations for Nokia Networks USA, Andy was responsible for a $150M global manufacturing outsourcing program. Andy relishes the excitement and dynanicism of start-up companies and gains personal fulfillment from the successful design and implementation of manufacturing and logistics outsourcing models and critical operational processes and procedures. Andy enjoys Coaching Little League Baseball, Golfing, Barbecueing, and occasional bouts of gardening (Though Andy is better at grilling vegetables than growing them). |
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Cheryl Hozid Bookkeeper Cheryl handles the Bookkeeping and assists with the Facilities Operations at PlantSense. She has been in Bookkeeping and Office Management for over 10 years, working in a wide range of industries from Promotional Products to Banking. Cheryl recently moved to the Bay Area from her home state of Rhode Island. She has also lived in the South and the Midwest but has been drawn to the San Francisco area since her first visit. She loves the mountains, the ocean, the diversity of people and never, ever tires of the view of the Golden Gate Bridge! Favorite Plant: Jasmine |
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Jeanne Lyons VP, Business Development Jeanne is passionate about developing and implementing strategic plans to enter new markets and generating new streams of revenue through sales and partnership deals. She brings extensive experience in business development, sales, marketing and product management at both start ups and fortune 100 companies such as Lycos, Colo.com, Equinix, eB2x, Xionics Document Technologies and Digital Equipment Corp. Her experience spans commercializing research projects to entering new markets in going concern businesses. She's had the honor of consulting for the NSF Small Business Innovation Research in evaluating pre-VC business plans for government funding and the University of Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Center. She has worked in diverse technology areas (software, Internet, embedded systems, IP infrastructure, telecommunications, network services and medical applications) and across different industries. Most recently she ran the Internet retail business for a company in the automotive aftermarket and launched their entrance into the domestic arena. Jeanne has her BS and MBA from Boston University. When not working, she can be found sailboat racing, golfing, hiking, volunteering or doing a voiceover gig every now and again. Favorite Plant: Eucalyptus |
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Dan Schreiber Web Developer Dan is our on again, off again intern who is currently studying computer science at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Dan helped out over the summer while one full-time developer was on vacation and before PlantSense had hired another. He was responsible for maintaining and writing code for www.easybloom.com, implementing several new features in his short time. Besides 'entertaining' us with his deep, if confounding mathematical explanations on subjects such as the infinitude of primes, Dan's penchant for home-made, wholesome cooking made him a big hit around the office. While in San Francisco, he especially enjoyed biking up and down the steepest hills he could find. Favorite Plant: Any of my neighbor's bountiful fruit trees, in particular, the Apricot trees of Los Altos Library. |
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Jerome Sicat Web and Graphic Designer Jerome started out as a summer intern with PlantSense but was quickly identified as a key contributor, and was promptly offered a full-time position as the primary in-house Graphic Designer for PlantSense. Jerome specializes in multi-media design including print, web, video, audio, animation, photography and some fine art when he get's the chance. Prior to coming to PlantSense, Jerome consulted on various design projects in San Francisco, but has mainly focused on his studies at the Academy of Art University of San Francisco since early 2005. Jerome looks forward to receiving his BFA in Computer Arts / New Media in 2009 by pulling double-duty as a full-time student and full-time designer for PlantSense. Favorite Plant: Balsam (mango tango hybrid) |
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Geoff Smith Director of Software Engineering Geoff is responsible for the software design and coding of the client application and firmware of the EasyBloom product. Geoff hails from the United Kingdom, and recently became an American citizen. He came to the U.S. in 1994 to work for Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, in a think-tank focused on developing consumer electronics products. Geoff has a computer science degree from the University of Westminster College, and an MA in design from the Royal College of Art, both in London, allowing him to work on both the art and the science of consumer products. As a new American, Geoff loves American Pinot Noir, barbecue and football, and is an active vegetable gardener and composter. Favorite Plant: Tomato |
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Noam Smooha Customer Support Specialist Noam leads PlantSense's Customer Support team, working hard to make sure nothing stands in the way between EasyBloom users and their dream gardens. He hails from eastern Pennsylvania and graduated from Brandeis University in 2006, with a BA in Middle Eastern Studies. He previously worked as a medical interpreter for a hospital in Pennsylvania, then contracted for Merck Pharmaceuticals Laboratories as a technical support specialist. In his free time Noam enjoys playing guitar, singing, hiking, cycling, cooking and growing vegetables. Favorite Plant: Stevia, Stevia rebaudiana |