Surya K. Jayaweera is an American entrepreneur, inventor, and mentor. He is the founder and CEO of two companies: Wolfetech Development Corporation and GXB Interactive Corporation. He is married to Corinne (maiden name Raef) and the father to three children.
Career
editJayaweera dreamed of becoming an inventor since his childhood. He graduated from Webb High School and attended Harvey Mudd College[1] to study biology, engineering, and humanities. During his studies, he helped found the school’s Robotics Design Team and helped with the creation of, Johnny VI, a computer-guided robot that was the school’s first entry into the Society of Automotive Engineers Walking Machine Decathlon. It was also the first entry to successfully complete the course in 1996.[2]
Wolfetech Development Corporation
editBefore he graduated with a B.S. in Engineering, he chose to pursue entrepreneurship in November 1996. Jayaweera devised the goal for an Internet centric company after he read various magazines in the park. He wanted a portable device which could access the World Wide Web for “immediate access to important yet succinct bit of information.” Two days later, he drove to Las Vagas and attended that year’s COMDEX, a computer expo and computer trade show. Jayaweera pitched his prototype for two-way pagers to the corporate representatives of Motorola, who later signed a deal for his software.
His idea was used for the Motorola Page Writer, a portable digital device for visual Internet browsing. Jayaweera founded Wolfetech with a group of close colleagues from Harvey Mudd College in 1997 from a collective savings of approximately $12,000.[3]
The company’s flagship software was PocketGenie, the first third party wireless commercial application for Motorola and Research in Motion (BlackBerry).[4] It was considered an invaluable tool for business executives and pager enthusiasts as a replacement for laptops.[5][6][7] Its success led to Wolfetech partnering with several companies for access to their online databases. By 1998, PocketGenie made Wolfetech into a multi-million dollar competitor within the wireless market of Southern California.[8]
GXB Interactive Corporation
editIn 2005, Jayaweera founded GXB Interactive to provide "an engaging learning tool" for students. He served as executive producer for the first set of curriculum-based educational software for the GameBoy Advance, Math Patrol: The Kleptoid Threat and Word Safari: The Friendship Totems. Jayaweera presented both games to elementary school students in classrooms with positive reactions.[9] Math Patrol: The Kleptoid Threat was awarded the Best Media Award by iParenting in 2008.[10]
Other IPs, such as Beat The SAT and One World Spanish, were developed and planned for release on the Nintendo DS but were canceled.[11][12]
Their latest product, Arosica MusicMaster, is available on Google Play.[13]
Other Activities
editJayaweera has also been a public speaker, guest lecturer, judge, and advisor at several universities, a few of which include Claremont Graduate University, Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management, and University of Southern California.[14][15] He taught summer courses for robotics and engineering at Webb High School in Claremont.
Jayaweera also worked within the Consumer Strategy & Business Development Group at RIM and Head of Strategic New Business Development & Service Innovations at Samsung - Media Solutions Center America.[16]
He has been the network president for Tech Coast Angels and remains a board member.[17][18]
References
edit- ^ "Harvey Mudd College/Claremont Distinguished Speaker Series". UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. 25 January 2006. Retrieved 01 December 2016
- ^ Monroe, Robert. "College robotics class to Montreal: Here's Johnny". Daily Bulletin. 24 March 1996.
- ^ Hermann, David. "Entrepreneur's epiphany engineers success". Inland Valley Times. 21 March 2001.
- ^ Kaplan, Karen. "A Genie Grants Wish for Tiny Web Surfer". Los Angeles Times. 8 September 1997. Retrieved 01 December 2016.
- ^ Felps, Bruce "The Dream: Leaving Laptops Behind". The Wireless Week. 19 August 1999.
- ^ Wortman, Victor D. "Mobile Implementation". Andrew Seybold's Outlook. Vol. 18, No. 1. pages 21-24. 30 August 1999.
- ^ Rappaport, Mike. "WolfeTech has wireless solution". Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. 25 April 2002.
- ^ Prather, Michelle. "think big Gen Tech". Entrepreneur's Business Start-Ups.
- ^ "GXB and TOMY Announce GBA & DS Learning Games". Nintendoworldreport.com. 7 November 2007. Retrieved 01 December 2016.
- ^ "iParenting Media Awards Announce Best Products of 2008". Reuters.com. 1 February 2008. Retrieved 01 December 2016.
- ^ "Beat The SAT". Ign.com. Retrieved 01 December 2016.
- ^ "One World Spanish". Ign.com. Retrieved 01 December 2016.
- ^ Google Play listing. Retrieved 01 December 2016.
- ^ "WolfeTech CEO Selected to Speak at Japan External Trade Organization Technology Exchange; Surya Jayaweera Speaking on Wireless Enterprise Solutions.." The Free Library. 2002 PR Newswire Association LLC. Retrieved 01 December 2016.
- ^ "Inland Empire Chapter". Southern California Software Industry Awards. Retrieved 01 December 2016.
- ^ "Surya Jayaweera - Samsung Stragetic Partnership Group". Entmerch.org. Retrieved 01 December 2016.
- ^ Cho, Rebecca U. "Tech Coast Angels aims to invest in area entrepreneurs". 21 July 2010. Retrieved 01 December 2016.
- ^ LinkedIn profile. Retrieved 01 December 2016.