Board of Directors

Meru's board is composed of industry luminaries with decades of experience in nurturing technology startups from idea to global leader. In addition to private and public corporate governance, Meru's board members are veterans of engineering, management and technical sales, giving them the in-depth knowledge and relationships needed to guide the company towards achieving its vision.

Ihab Abu-Hakima

President and CEO, Meru Networks

Ihab Abu-Hakima has over 25 years of global experience in the fields of wireless and network communications, computer systems and professional services. He has held executive and senior management positions in marketing, sales, product and program management and corporate development, at Silicon Graphics, Hewlett Packard, Bechtel, and Proxim Corporation, as well as at several innovative, Internet startup ventures.

Ihab holds an M.B.A. degree from McGill University and a B.Eng. Electrical Engineering degree, with honors, from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Dr. Vaduvur Bharghavan

Chief Technology Officer and Founder, Meru Networks

Dr. Vaduvur Bharghavan is a credited innovator in the field of wireless networking and mobile computing. His achievements include significant contributions towards the development of wireless medium access protocols and quality of service architectures for wireless data networks. Bharghavan's research has produced results that have gained commercial attention and have been implemented by Fortune 500 companies in the networking industry today.

Harold Copperman

Independent Venture Capital and Private Equity Investor

Harold Copperman is an independent venture capital and private equity investor and was most recently the President and Chief Executive Officer at HDC Ventures, Inc., a management and investment group focusing on enterprise systems, software and services. Prior to that Mr. Copperman was a consultant and private investor, as well as Senior Vice President and Group Executive at Digital Equipment Corp. Mr. Copperman has also held various executive positions at JWP, Inc., Commodore Business Machines, Inc. and Apple Computer, Inc. Additionally, he spent 20 years at IBM Corporation, where he held a variety of sales, marketing and executive positions. Mr. Copperman also serves on the Board of Directors of ID Systems, Inc., a provider of RFID wireless solutions for tracking high-value assets.

He received a Bachelor's of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rutgers University and served as a Captain in the U.S. Army.

Tom Erickson

Co-Founder and General Partner, Bluestream Ventures

Tom Erickson is a co-founder of BlueStream Ventures and has worked with venture-backed technology startups for the past fifteen years. Prior to founding bluestream, Tom was on of Wall Street's leading voices in network technology research where, over ten years, he built a dominant institutional research franchise at Dain Rauscher Wessels and its predecessor, Wessels, Arnold & Henderson.

Tom has an M.B.A. from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University an a B.A. from St. Olaf College.

Charles Kissner

Chairman, Aviat Networks, Inc.

Charles Kissner is Chairman of Aviat Networks, Inc., a global provider of wireless transmission solutions, where he also served as Chief Executive Officer from July 1995 to May 2000 and from October 2001 to May 2006. Prior to joining Aviat Networks, Mr. Kissner was Vice President and General Manager of M/A-Com, Inc. a manufacturer of radio and microwave communications products, President and CEO of Aristacom International, Inc., a communications software company, Executive Vice President of Fujitsu Network Switching, Inc., as well, he held numerous executive positions at AT&T. Mr. Kissner also serves on the Board of Directors of Shoretel, Inc., a voice-over-IP business systems company and SonicWALL, Inc., a provider of network security solutions. He is also on the Board of the Northern California Public 79 Broadcasting and the Dean's Advisory Board of the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University.

Mr. Kissner holds a Bachelor's of Science degree in Industrial Management and Engineering from California State Polytechnic University and a Masters in Business Administration degree from Santa Clara University.

Nicholas Mitsakos

Chairman, Nayna International, Inc. and Hawaii Biotech, Inc.

Nicholas Mitsakos is an investor and entrepreneur focusing on communications and bioscience. He is Chairman of the board of directors to Nayna International, Inc. and Hawaii Biotech, Inc. He is a member of the board of directors to Meru Networks; Matisse Networks; NetContinuum Corporation; BridgeWave Communications and MiraPoint Communications. He is a co-founder or founding investor in Meru Networks, Matisse Networks, Nayna International and NetContinuum. Mr. Mitsakos is an active advisor to SiNett Corp, Colo Wireless, Inc., Firewave, Inc. and PS Pharmaceuticals.

Mr. Mitsakos has co-founded several other companies, including InterVu (IPO December 1997, sold to Akamai March 2000), Capri Systems (sold to Time-Warner in June 1996), and General Computer Corporation (sold to Warner Communications in January 1984). He was the lead investor in Maverick Networks (sold to Broadcom in May, 1999); Berkeley Networks (sold to FORE Systems in October 1998); Wireless Home (sold to Proxim, in April, 2001); ConvergeNet (sold to Dell in July 1999), and Magma Design Automation (IPO November 2001).

Mr. Mitsakos has provided capital for, or acquired, over 25 companies in the US, Europe and Asia, including China. He served as a director or advisor to each company, and was the founding CEO of three companies.

Mr. Mitsakos has also worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and Drexel Burnham, and was a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group.

He taught at UCLA's Anderson School of Business from 1993 to 1998, creating two courses focused on technology and entrepreneurship. He holds BS degrees in Computer Science and Microbiology from the University of Southern California and an MBA from Harvard University. He is also on the board to UCLA's Center for Cerebral Palsy within the UCLA Medical School.

Barry A. Newman

Venture Partner, NeoCarta Ventures

Barry A. Newman joined NeoCarta Ventures in July of 2006 as a Venture Partner. Mr. Newman has extensive experience in business strategy, financing and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Newman has served as a Vice Chairman of the Technology Group at Bear Stearns, the Head of Global Technology Corporate and Investment Banking for Banc of America Securities and its predecessor Nationsbanc Montgomery Securities and as the head of Global Technology Corporate finance at Salomon Brothers and Salomon Smith Barney. Mr. Newman was a founder and served as CFO of Anthem Partners, a boutique merchant bank. Mr. Newman was also a principal at Odyssey Partners, a private equity and hedge fund organization and has served as CEO and CFO of several financial services and manufacturing organizations.

Mr. Newman holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering and Life Sciences from MIT, MBA and JD degrees from Stanford University and a Master of Laws (Taxation) from NYU.

Mr. Newman oversees NeoCarta's investments in Handango and SOMA Networks and serves on the boards of Atrua Inc., Cradle Technologies and Meru Networks. Mr. Newman serves as an advisor to Study Dog Inc. and Bharosa Inc. and sits on the Board of Outhink Inc. Mr. Newman is also the founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Erie Engineered Products, Inc.

Mr. Newman is a member of the MIT Visiting Committee on Student Life, the MIT Corporation development committee and the Advisory Committee to the Dean of the School of Engineering at MIT. Mr. Newman is also a member of the Board of Visitors and Dean's Strategic Council of the Stanford Law School and is a member of the Finance Committee of the Taube-Koret Campus for Jewish Life in Palo Alto.

William Quigley

Managing Director, Clearstone Venture Partners

William Quigley focuses on Clearstone's communications investments. His areas of investment interest include broadband wireless enabling technologies, operational support systems and communications service innovators. William joined Clearstone Venture Partners from Mid-Atlantic Venture Funds, where he focused on early stage communications companies targeting the software, equipment and service sectors. At MAVF, he was responsible for investments in Integrated Chipware, a real time embedded OS developer, Wisor Telecom, an OSS vendor to the CLEC and ISP industry and NexTone Communications, a manufacturer of broadband integrated access devices to small and medium enterprises. Prior to MAVF, William spent six years in a variety of operational roles at The Walt Disney Company. His work at Disney included designing field operation and sales support systems for several of the company's largest divisions. William also co-managed Disney's merchant banking group where he negotiated and structured equity positions in the company's strategic licensees.

Prior to Disney, William was a Senior Consultant with Arthur Andersen's Financial Services Group where he developed financial and business strategies for a wide range of companies in the media and communications and financial services industries.

William received his MBA, with distinction, from Harvard Business School, and holds a B.S., with honors, from the University of Southern California. He is a Kauffman Fellow.

William represents Clearstone Venture Partners' interests in its investments in AOptix, Frontera, PeopleSupport, Phasebridge, and Xcelerate.