Our Leadership Team
Our leaders are innovators at heart with broad industry knowledge and experience. They foster a dynamic culture of teamwork, innovation and success that supports the continued commercialization, evolution and expansion of Ventiva’s ICE® Technology.
Carl Schlachte, Chairman, President & CEO
Carl is a serial entrepreneur and the CEO of Ventiva. He has over 30 years of technology leadership experience in public and private companies, with stints at Motorola, ARM, Immersion, pSemi, and various technology startups. At Ventiva, he works with some of the world’s largest consumer electronics companies to help redefine what thermal management means to their products. Carl joined Ventiva in 2012 after recognizing that modern electronic systems were utterly reliant on blowers and fans – devices whose basic operation had not changed in over 50 years. He saw in Ventiva the ability to upend decades of unchanged system design by replacing the last moving part in a system – the fan – with a solid-state, silent air mover.
Dr. Himanshu Pokharna, CTO
Himanshu is a world-class thermodynamics expert with over 25 years of industry involvement in various Fortune 500 companies, including Intel and Applied Materials. Himanshu is also a serial entrepreneur and was instrumental in the startup of multiple innovative thermal and energy technology businesses such as Deeia, Inficold and Sheetak Inc. He was drawn to Ventiva by the opportunity to empower innovation at every turn, and enjoys exchanging ideas with the team on heat transfer, thermodynamics, energy efficiency, and cooling technologies that capably guide Ventiva’s ICE® applications.
Tim Lester, CFO
Tim is a seasoned financial and operational executive with more than 30 years in technology manufacturing. Tim was previously CEO at Bridgelux Inc., A global provider of LED lighting solutions, and held financial and operational leadership positions with several semiconductor and LED industry players, including ASIC design house, eSilicon, LED manufacturer Lumileds Lighting, and Philips Electronics. Tim joined Ventiva in 2022, lured by the opportunity to scale game-changing technology with a seasoned team and draw from a broad and deep knowledge base while also getting a chance to laugh and have fun.
Bruce Elder, VP Legal & General Counsel
Bruce brings over three decades of executive, legal, technical and business expertise, successfully helping early-stage startups and public domestic and international technology companies navigate all aspects of the most demanding legal and strategic challenges. He believes Ventiva is innovative in disruptive ways within a technology area where many electronic manufacturers thought meaningful change was impossible. Bruce enjoys being on the front lines of helping customers reimagine the future by collaborating with Ventiva team members, who he says are brilliant, fun and utterly focused on problem solving.
Mike Lewis, VP Business Development
Mike is adept at developing and implementing winning go-to-market business strategies. With an extensive corporate background that spans over 25 years, Mike has held a multitude of diverse leadership roles. From building and leading successful sales and marketing teams at Flex to negotiating many lucrative long-term domestic and international agreements at Seagate Technology, Mike has mastered the art of communication, negotiation and collaboration. At Ventiva, Mike builds strong relationships with customers, partners, suppliers and investors while creating and executing marketing communication strategies that build brand awareness and accelerate profit and customer value. Mike also enjoys mentoring and coaching to support the growth and development of teams and individuals, empowering them to tap into their full human potential and deliver exceptional results.
Jeff Nespor, VP of Engineering
Jeff brings over 30 years of engineering team management and technical product development experience to the Ventiva team, developing and deploying embedded systems software for enterprise-class networking and storage products. He believes Ventiva’s innovative technology will change thermal design in the electronics industry in much the same way that solid-state technology changed the storage landscape. The team’s breadth and depth of experience enables him to move quickly and bring this exciting transformative technology to market.
Gary Oliverio, VP of Research & Development
Gary is a 40-year veteran of the electronics industry with technology experiences in semiconductors, mobile wireless, and networking, and has served in roles ranging from business development to engineering management in companies such as Motorola, Red Hat, and several start-ups. He also co-founded and served as CTO of Cradlepoint which Ericsson later acquired. His broad knowledge in the basic sciences and all levels of electronic systems drew him to study and develop corona wind technology. He thoroughly enjoys participating in the Ventiva team’s collaborative problem-solving approach to overcoming technical challenges.
Barry O’Connell, Vice President of Reliability and Quality
Barry brings 25 years of experience in leadership roles at Fairchild, TDK, Inde Semiconductor, and Rockley Photonics. Known for his strategic thinking and deep technical expertise, he specializes in semiconductor process technology, advanced packaging, and reliability characterization. Barry’s areas of specialty include Reliability Development, Product Quality Execution, and Operational Excellence. A respected leader, he excels at solving complex challenges, driving continuous improvement, and ensuring the highest quality standards across research, development, and manufacturability.