Team
InspireSemi is led by accomplished experts with extensive experience in relevant technology areas and a strong performance history of bringing new initiatives to market and scaling businesses. Our expertise spans chip design, power conversion, blockchain, crypto currency mining, HPC (High-Performance Computing), and AI (Artificial Intelligence).
The team achieved exceptional performance results with its first gen chip, which was a powerful performer in the crypto mining space. InspireSemi is currently developing its next generation Thunderbird accelerated computing solution with innovative hardware, software, power and cooling systems designed to deliver revolutionary performance, energy efficiency, versatility, and a thriving open software ecosystem.
Meet the Leadership Team
Alex Gray
Founder, President & Chief Technology Officer
Alex is the founder of InspireSemi and inventor of its processor architecture. He is a versatile technical leader skilled in most areas of electronic design, and across other engineering disciplines. He previously founded CryptoCore Intellectual Holdings LLC, the predecessor to InspireSemi, and Gray Global Enterprises LLC, a lab equipment supplier. He has over a decade of design engineering experience with companies including SunPower Corporation and SolarBridge Technologies. He earned his BS in Electrical Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at age 20. He holds nine patents.
Ron Van Dell
Chief Executive Officer
Ron has 40 years of experience and an exceptional track record of success and proven leadership skills in early-stage, turn-around and established businesses. He is former CEO of Primarion, SolarBridge, and several other semiconductor and hardware startups. He has deep experience in organization design and operational leadership, business strategy, fundraising/M&A, and corporate governance. He has played key roles in industry-leading category development and technology substitutions across power, communications, computing and renewable energy segments. Ron has served on public and private company boards and earned his BS in Electrical Engineering with honors from Michigan Technological University.
Doug Norton
Chief Marketing Officer
Doug is a senior business development, sales, and marketing executive with over 35 years of experience in public and startup enterprise technology companies. He brings a customer-focused approach to product/market strategy, market development, creating OEM, channel, & technology partnerships, and building worldwide sales teams. He began his career at IBM in product development then moved to the sales & marketing organization. He went on to various senior leadership positions at Cadence Design Systems, CoWare, Newisys, Virtana, Nimbix, and Viviota. He is President of the Society of HPC Professionals and member of the RISC-V SIG-HPC and marketing committee. Doug earned a BS in Electrical Engineering cum laude from Missouri University of Science & Technology.
Thomas Fedorko
Chief Operating Officer
Thomas is an entrepreneurial executive bringing more than 35 years of hands-on technical and business leadership in semiconductor Operations. Most recently he was the VP of Operations for Eta Compute who developed an ultra-low power solution for energy constrained AI applications. Prior to that he led the Operations teams for several successful startup companies including Uhnder, Bluetechnix (acquired by Becom), Black Sand Technologies (acquired by Qualcomm), Luminary Micro (acquired by Texas Instruments) and Oak Technology (acquired by Zoran). He began his career as a product engineer at Motorola Semiconductor who delivered the first microprocessor for the Apple Macintosh. Thomas graduated with honors with a technical degree from DeVry University and is a graduate of the Motorola Management Institute.
Jack Cartwright
Interim Chief Financial Officer
Jack has over 20 years of experience in finance, M&A and operations, with a strong focus in high growth SaaS venture & PE backed startups. Most recently served as CFO of Datum Tech, a leading data and advertising technology company. Prior to Datum, Jack was CFO of Spruce Services a VC backed B2C SaaS company, Senior Director of Finance of Workrise (RigUp), and prior at 9Gauge Partners (acquired by E78). Prior to his tenure at 9Gauge Partners, Jack worked at prestigious organizations such as BT Global, Atkins Global, Cisco Systems, and served as an officer in the US Army. He holds an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Miami.
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