Management Team
William Colleran, President and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Colleran brings more than 20 years of semiconductor-industry experience to Impinj, most recently as Director of Business Development for Broadcom Corporation. Prior to joining Broadcom, he was CEO of Innovent Systems, Inc, which he led from the company's inception through its sale to Broadcom. Dr. Colleran previously worked for Merrill Lynch's Technology Investing Banking Group, focusing on financial transactions and acquisitions in the technology sector. He also has extensive engineering-design experience, both as a consultant for several Fortune 500 companies and as a Senior Staff Engineer for TRW, Inc., where he developed high-performance data converters in silicon bipolar, GaAs HBT and GaAs MESFET processes. Dr. Colleran received his Ph.D. from UCLA in 1993, his M.S. from USC in 1985, his B.S. from Notre Dame in 1983, all in Electrical Engineering, and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1996.
Chris Diorio, Chairman and Chief Technology Officer
Dr. Chris Diorio is Impinj's Chairman and CTO. He also serves as an Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, as a co-Chair of the EPCglobal Hardware Action Group, and as project editor for UHF Gen2. He previously served as co-Chair of the MIT Auto-ID Hardware Action Group and as a Project co-Editor for ISO 18000-6. Dr. Diorio received his Ph.D. from Caltech in 1997, and has over 20 years of experience in semiconductor and radio engineering. He has published more than 70 journal and conference articles, has 71 issued patents, and has received numerous awards including the 2011 Special Achievement Award from RFID Journal Live!, the IEC 1906 Award for 2011, the 2007 WSA Technology Innovator of the Year award, CMP Technology's 2007 RFID Visionary of the Year award, the 2007 AIM Global Ted Williams Award, the Wall Street Journal's 2006 Technology Innovator of the Year Runner-Up, the UW's 2001 Distinguished Teaching Award, and the 1996 IEEE EDS Paul Rappaport Award. He has also received Packard, Sloan, Presidential, and ONR Young Investigator fellowships. He has worked as a Senior Staff Engineer at TRW, Inc., as a Senior Staff Scientist at American Systems Corporation, and as a Technical Consultant at The Analytic Sciences Corporation.
Evan Fein, Chief Financial Officer
Chief Financial Officer Evan Fein has 18 years of financial management experience with both privately held and public companies. He specializes in developing and executing business plans and corporate development programs that allow early stage companies to move into phases of high revenue growth and profitability. He joined Impinj just after its founding in October 2000. Mr. Fein was selected by the Puget Sound Business Journal in 2011 for their 40 under 40 award, which identifies dynamic leaders under the age of 40. Prior to Impinj, Mr. Fein worked at T-Mobile (formerly VoiceStream Wireless) managing the company's financial planning and corporate development activities—helping the company grow from $100 million to $2 billion in sales. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics and an M.B.A. from the University of Washington's Executive MBA Program.
Tom Hull, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing
Mr. Tom Hull brings to Impinj more than 20 years of management experience in the technology industry. Most recently Mr. Hull was Chief Operating Officer at 3TIER, the global leader in renewable energy weather and climate information, heading up their global sales, marketing and business operations. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales at F5 Networks, where he directed all aspects of the company’s global sales organization. During his tenure, Mr. Hull led sixteen quarters of sequential growth quadrupling the company’s revenue. Mr. Hull joined F5 from PictureIQ, an Adobe Systems spinout, where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer. Before that, Mr. Hull held several senior management positions at Visio (now part of Microsoft), including Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales. He began his career working in the semiconductor industry for Texas Instruments. Mr. Hull holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington.
John Quist, Senior Vice President Operations
Mr. Quist has worked in the semiconductor industry for over 20 years. Prior to joining Impinj, he spent 18 years at Cypress Semiconductor most recently as Director of Manufacturing responsible for Cypress' Pb-Free program. He has held a variety of operations positions in both the USA and Asia. Mr. Quist earned his B.S. in Industrial Technology from San Jose State University and was identified as a "2005 Pro to Know" by Supply & Demand Chain magazine.
Scott Medford, Senior Vice President Sales
Mr. Scott Medford leverages 10 years in technical and systems support with 25 years in sales and management, all in emerging high tech markets. Prior to Impinj, Mr. Medford served at Intermec Technologies as VP, Global Alliances and Business Development and OEM Division, a division developed and managed by Mr. Medford himself, which later included direction of the RFID programs. He served on the Board of Directors of AIM Global, was founding BOD member for AIM North America, managed the EPC Global and ISO standards activities of Intermec, and was industry spokesman for all trade publications, industry analysts, and global speaking engagements. Mr. Medford is a member of the AIDC 100.
Kerry Krause, Vice President Marketing
Mr. Kerry Krause has more than 20 years of marketing and business management experience. Prior to joining Impinj, he spent 11 years with Intel, most recently as the Director of Sales and Marketing for Intel’s RFID Operation. He came to Impinj with the acquisition of Intel’s reader chip business. Prior to his RFID position at Intel, he was the Product Marketing Manager for Intel’s Pentium and Celeron desktop processor product lines. Mr. Krause holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the US Naval Academy and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas.
Bill Ashley, Vice President Engineering
Mr. Bill Ashley has 30-years experience bringing new technologies and products to market, most recently as VP of Product Management at DIVA, Inc., where he helped DIVA become the leading supplier of Video-on-Demand products to the cable TV industry. Mr. Ashley also created the cable-modem design group at General Instrument, Inc., and was a Department Manager and R&D Director at TRW, Inc. He helped create the industry's first ATM carrier-class network switch, and has managed countless integrated-circuit developments. Mr. Ashley earned his B.S.E.E. from Purdue University, M.S.E.E. from USC, and is a graduate of UCLA’s Executive Management Program.
Ron Paulsen, Vice President Engineering and Technology Center
Dr. Ron Paulsen brings more than 14 years of engineering and management experience to Impinj, most recently as Senior Director, Product Management at HPL technologies which he joined as part of the acquisition of TestChip Technologies. While at HPL and TestChip he had many responsibilities including engineering management, operation management, technology development, and quality assurance for both semiconductor intellectual property and software products. He also spent several years at Motorola in various engineering and management positions developing non-volatile memory products and technologies. Dr. Paulsen earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Iowa.
Larry Arnstein, Vice President Business Development
Dr. Larry Arnstein brings experience in all phases of the technology adoption lifecycle to lead business development for Impinj. Prior to Impinj, he was the Chief Technology Officer and Founder of Teranode Corp., a software company based on ubiquitous computing concepts he developed as Assistant Research Professor at the University of Washington’s Computer Science & Engineering Department. He has also provided product development, sales, and consulting support to Hewlett Packard and Cadence Design Systems. Dr. Arnstein received a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University on a National Science Foundation Fellowship. He currently holds leadership roles in the VICS Item Level RFID Initiative, an inter-industry group of leading retailers, suppliers, and solution providers dedicated to quantifying the benefits of RFID and exploring its value for the retail industry.