Friday, October 31, 2008

Giler charged up to be WiTricity CEO

By Efrain Viscarolasaga

Stealthy wireless power developer WiTricity Corp. in Watertown has hired Brooktrout Technology Inc. co-founder and former Groove Mobile Inc. CEO Eric Giler as chief executive, adding a business presence to the company’s heralded MIT research team.

The appointment comes as WiTricity prepares the first public demonstrations of its technology, expected at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.

Giler comes to WiTricity after almost two years as chairman and CEO of mobile music platform developer Groove Mobile in Bedford, which was sold to Framingham-based NMS Communications Inc. for $14 million in late 2007.

WiTricity was formed last October, and received $2 million in funding from Stata Venture Partners of Dover and Argonaut Private Equity of Avon. Since then, the research team, led by MIT professor Marin Soljacic and including five other MIT researchers, has kept the details of its “power transfer” technology under wraps, saying only that it allows for the wireless (and safe) transfer of electric power. Last June, the company opened the curtain a little more, physically demonstrating the power transfer by lighting a 60 watt light bulb using a power source two meters away, and publishing the research in a scientific journal.

If successful, said Giler, the technology could be applied to any number of environments, from wirelessly charging cell phones and laptops to supporting wireless light bulbs.

Giler founded Dedham-based Brooktrout Technology in 1984 and led it through an initial public offering in 1999 and sale to Hyannis-based Excel Switching for $173 million in 2005. He said he was hesitant to go back to the startup world, but was shocked by the potential of the technology.

“This is the coolest thing I have ever worked on, and probably will ever work on,” he said. “I took a look at what was going on here and thought ‘this is something that could really change the world.’”

WiTricity’s technology has also been recognized in the science community. Last month, 34 year-old Soljacic received a MacArthur Fellowship — sometimes referred to as the “Genius Grant” — an annual award given to 20 to 40 people who “show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work.” With the prestige of the award comes a $500,000 grant.