Leadership Team
Our management team is comprised of seasoned executives from Motorola, Cisco, Nokia, and GE who are challenging conventional thinking around intelligent infrastructure. They are supported by a world-class board of directors.
Ian Aaron brings 25 years of experience working at the intersection of telecom and technology. Mr. Aaron served as CEO and President of Gemstar TV Guide (NASDAQ: GMST), TVN Entertainment, SoftNet Systems (NASDAQ: SOFN) and was the Director and Executive Chairman of Pictometry. Aaron’s operating expertise includes building and managing global product development, engineering, and sales teams, leading to $1.5 billion in public and private financings and $3.5 billion in exits.
Mr. Aaron graduated from the University of Illinois with degrees in Electrical Engineering and Communications. Aaron was recognized as EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year- Florida in 2022 and is a regular contributor to Forbes Technology Council. He began his career in R&D and Product Development at GTE residing both domestically and in Japan and currently resides in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Peter Aloumanis is a seasoned executive in the Telecommunications and Mobile industries, with a long career in engineering, product development, sales and operations. Following a 28-year career at Motorola—where in his last role he served as Corporate Vice President of Product Development—he founded VSN Mobil and also served as CEO for 360fly, before joining Ubicquia. Peter holds multiple patents in transportation, consumer, and telecom areas.
Stephen brings more than 20 years of experience in building world class sales organizations, global sales teams, and channel partner programs. In previous roles he has been responsible for driving profitable growth in developed and emerging markets, and creating successful go to market strategies. Stephen’s knowledge of the Service Provider sector was honed while spending 15 years at Cisco Systems leading Global Service Provider Teams in both the United States as well as Asia Pacific. In his past two roles, he led both Private and Public Sector Sales as Senior Vice President of the Americas at Extreme Networks and HERE Technologies.
Heather comes to Ubicquia with a strong track record of building high-performance marketing teams. She brings extensive experience from her previous tenures, including leading marketing for Nokia's $3.5 billion Cloud and Network Services business, running Market Operations for Alcatel-Lucent’s $15.5 billion business, and Asia Pacific Communications for its $2.6 billion business. Heather is a seasoned leader who excels in managing global teams, running data-driven programs, and working across various marketing disciplines and technologies. With her experience working in the US, Canada, China, and Singapore, she offers a global perspective that informs her strategic decision-making.
An experienced CFO, Santiago ensures profitable business growth and customer acquisition through financial and operational efficiency, leading to enhanced competitive positioning and market share. He draws upon a range of skills to drive optimal business and market performance. Santiago’s work in premier fortune 500 companies demonstrates his powerful combination of strong business acumen and keen financial and operational expertise. His strategies have improved efficiency, reduced cost, and supported market-centric initiatives to drive top and bottom-line results at Telecommunication giants like Cisco and Motorola.
Mansour has extensive experience in corporate, commercial, and IP law, including raising equity, developing strategies for the sale and co-development of products, negotiating and drafting US and international agreements, and IP enforcement and licensing. His roles have included General Counsel for several Telecommunication companies, such as VSN Mobil and 360Fly. Mansour also spent over 25 years at Motorola where he served as Lead Business Counsel for the advanced products/technologies group, sales and supply, and international markets. At the University of Miami Law School, Ghomeshi teaches a course on Intellectual Property, Transactions and Negotiations.
Joerg brings over 25 years of experience in strategy, sales and business development of RF networks, devices and solutions. His roles have spanned sales, account management, and product management for Telecommunication leaders like Sercomm, Cisco, and Alcatel. Joerg was a pioneer in small cell technology and markets, first for Airvana, then as Vice President of Sales, business development and GTM EMEA for Ubicquisys, where he played a key role in the successful disposal of Ubicquisys to Cisco Systems for $310m in 2013. Joerg holds masters degrees in RF engineering (University of Stuttgart) and international business (EM Lyon).
Jow Ortiz joined Ubicquia to run its utilities business. He brings twenty-five years experience working for Florida Power and Light, a utility company known for implementing state of the art grid technology and achieving high reliability for its customers. He held many roles in Transmission, Substation and Distribution over his career. In his most recent role as FPL’s Manager of Special Projects for power delivery, Jow identified the critical need for increased visibility in the distribution network to drive down cost and improve reliability. The opportunity led Ubicquia’s R&D team to develop the product specifications for the Digital Transformer Monitor (DTM+) and to later test and refine the product to ensure it filled the industry void at FPL and also other utilities around the world.
Jow understands what it takes to deliver power reliability and efficiently. He was responsible for FPL’s design, specifications, construction, maintenance and operations of the various corporate wide projects and strategic initiatives related to digitization and development of the smart grid, enhanced clean energy deployment, adoption and integration of green energy, M&A development, as well as integration of IoT devices, analytics, AI applications and technical grid solutions development.
Jow also served as the manager of the transformer fleet team where he was responsible for the design, specifications, construction, maintenance, and operations of the company’s vast fleet of large power transformers, arresters, regulators, and mobile fleet. He was also the manager of delivery assurance, where he was responsible for the deployment, installation and data analytics associated with intelligent field devices. In addition, he held several positions of increasing responsibility as a subject matter expert for transmission & substation transformers, breakers, and voltage regulators.
Jow holds two Bachelor of Science degrees, one in electrical engineering and a second in applied physics, both from the University of Miami. He is a certified six sigma black belt. He has served as chair of various voltage classes on the Edison Electric Institute Spare Transformer Equipment Program and is an active member in the IEEE Power Engineering Transformer Committee achieving Senior Member Status and has also more recently served on several NERC drafting teams for GIC Standards. He holds several patents, including one for his work on the DTM+.
Lowell D. Kraff brings over 29 years of entrepreneurial private equity, growth, and venture investor experience. Mr. Kraff has been a principal investor in over 50 companies, is the Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of entrepreneurial merchant banking firm Trivergance since 2006 and is currently the Chairman and Co-Founder of Ubicquia. Mr. Kraff also served as the Vice-Chairman and Co-Founder of Diamond Resorts, International the 2nd largest provider of timeshare, from 2007 to 2016.
Mr. Kraff received his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Ralph de la Vega is the former Vice Chairman of AT&T Inc. and former CEO of Business Solutions and International, where he led AT&T’s Integrated Business Solutions group (both mobile and IP services), and AT&T’s Mexican wireless business and DIRECTV Latin America. Mr. de la Vega is the former President and CEO of AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions and the former Chief Operating Officer of Cingular Wireless. He serves on the boards of American Express Company, New York Life Insurance Company, Amdocs Corporation, and Junior Achievement Worldwide
He has received numerous awards recognizing his leadership, including induction into the US Wireless Hall of Fame, the Atlanta Business Hall of Fame, and the prestigious Global Innovation Award.
Mr. de la Vega has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and a master’s degree in business administration from Northern Illinois University. He received a Doctor Honoris Causa from FAU. He is the author of the best-selling book Obstacles Welcome: Turn Adversity to Advantage in Business and Life (Thomas Nelson, 2009).
Ian Aaron brings 25 years of experience working at the intersection of telecom and technology. Mr. Aaron served as CEO and President of Gemstar TV Guide (NASDAQ: GMST), TVN Entertainment, SoftNet Systems (NASDAQ: SOFN) and was the Director and Executive Chairman of Pictometry. Aaron’s operating expertise includes building and managing global product development, engineering, and sales teams, leading to $1.5 billion in public and private financings and $3.5 billion in exits.
Mr. Aaron graduated from the University of Illinois with degrees in Electrical Engineering and Communications. Aaron was recognized as EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year- Florida in 2022 and is a regular contributor to Forbes Technology Council. He began his career in R&D and Product Development at GTE residing both domestically and in Japan and currently resides in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Antoinette (Toni) Bush has played an influential role in US communications and media law for over 35 years. She has shaped regulation around critical wireless, satellite, cable, and media industries.
Ms. Bush was the former Executive Vice President and Global Head of Government Affairs for News Corp. Prior, Ms. Bush led the communications group at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP; legal and regulatory strategies at Northpoint Technology Ltd.; and served as the senior counsel to the Communications Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which oversees the Federal Communications Commission. Bush chairs the board of directors of The HistoryMakers and serves on several boards including My Brother’s Keeper, Advisory Board of the Obama Foundation, Children's National Hospital (DC), and The Economic Club of Washington. She also serves on the boards of Ares Management and Radius Global Infrastructure.
Marwan Fawaz brings decades of experience in communications technology, Internet of Things and 5G along with experience in technology strategy.
Mr. Fawaz is the former executive advisor for Google and its parent company, Alphabet, where he provided strategic advisory and M&A support in the areas of telecom, broadband, home automation, media, and 5G mobile sectors. He held CEO roles at Nest and Motorola Home and CTO roles at Charter Communications and Adelphia Communications. Under his leadership, Motorola Home was repositioned and acquired for $2.35 billion by Arris and Nest revenues tripled.
Mr. Fawaz currently serves on the boards of CSG International and NACD Colorado along with Ubicquia. He is also a board advisor to Neural Propulsion Systems and Yohana, a well-being services company.
Mr. Fawaz holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Master’s degree in Telecommunications, with a specialization in satellite communications.
Richard I. Goldstein brings over three decades of experience in the wireless communications and energy sector. He is the Chief Operating Officer of Radius Global Infrastructure and Managing Director of Associated Partners. Prior, he was the Vice President of The Associated Group, Inc. He also serves as the Chief Operating Officer of AP WIP Investments and Lead Director of Franklin Square Energy Partners. Mr. Goldstein sits on the board of FSK along with Ubicquia.
Mr. Goldstein received a B.S. in Business and Economics from Carnegie Mellon University and received training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Management Information Systems.
Roger Meltzer, Esq. brings 40+ years of corporate/financial legal experience to Ubicquia’s board. Mr. Meltzer was a principal leader of the law firm DLA Piper for over a decade, having served as Co-Chair of the Americas and Global Co-Chair. He is now Chairman Emeritus and serves on various private and public company boards. While at DLA Piper, Mr. Meltzer pioneered industry precedents for institutionalized equality, diversity and inclusivity and nurtured a global pro bono effort. Prior to his roles at DLA Piper, he was a senior partner and member of the executive committee of Cahill Gordon & Reindel, a prominent Wall Street firm.
Mr. Meltzer is a graduate of Harvard College and received his J.D. from NYU School of Law.
James N. Perry, Jr., brings decades of telecom, technology, and investment experience. He is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of Madison Dearborn Partners. Mr. Perry oversaw MDP's investing efforts in media, telecom and technology services for 36 years before stepping back to become a senior advisor in early 2020.
Mr. Perry sits on the boards of Asurion Corporation, Intermedia.net and Bazooka Companies, along with Ubicquia. In addition, he is the Chairman of the Board of Empower Illinois, a scholarship granting and school choice advocacy organization in Chicago, and serves on the board of numerous other philanthropic and privately held enterprises.
Mr. Perry is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and received an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.
Bob Rauch brings more than 22 years of engineering and business experience to Ubicquia’s board. He is a Managing Director and part of the founding team at ClearSky, a venture capital/growth equity group that has been operating since 2012, with nearly $1 billion in committed capital.
Prior to joining ClearSky in 2012, Mr. Rauch worked in the corporate development group at NextEra Energy. Mr. Rauch also served as a lead materials engineer for the National Aeronautic and Space Administration's (NASA) Space Shuttle Program.
Mr. Rauch holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida and a M.B.A. in Finance from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
Alexander Weiss is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of ClearSky and a member of its Investment Committee. ClearSky is a venture capital/growth equity group that has been operating since 2012, with nearly $1 billion in committed capital.
Prior to founding ClearSky, Mr. Weiss was Vice President and Chief Investment Officer at NextEra Energy, where he co-headed the company’s venture capital investment effort. In this role, Mr. Weiss shared responsibility for investment decisions and fund management for more than $10 billion of invested financial assets. Before NextEra, Mr. Weiss was a Vice President at Morgan Stanley, and a Managing Director in the Investment Banking divisions at Smith Barney and Paine Webber. In these roles, Mr. Weiss has over 20 years of experience working with private equity and venture capital funds. He brings deep industry knowledge, having completed transactions across the investment life cycle in a range of industries, including extensive experience in investing, equity raising, high yield, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged recapitalizations and restructurings. Mr. Weiss currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Altamira Technologies, ClimateTrade, Diamanti, EdgeQ, Fermata, Fortress Information Security, Mainspring, Systems Control, T-REX, and Ubicquia.
Mr. Weiss holds a B.A. in mathematics and economics from Boston University and an M.B.A. in finance from Columbia University.
For press inquiries please contact info@ubicquia.com
