
(click
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Greg
Blonder is a Partner at Morgenthaler Ventures ,
and previously was Entrepreneur in Residence at AT&T
Ventures. Mr. Blonder joined AT&T in 1982, studying
superconductivity and the quantum phenomena of semiconductor materials.
Much of this research has resulted in practical applications and he
holds over 70
patents in the areas of optical disk recording, integrated fiber
optic devices, displays, toys, computer systems and improved user interfaces.
In
1987 he was promoted to head of the Photonics and Electronics Research
Department, and then in 1991 to director of the Materials and Technology
Integration Research Laboratory. In 1992 he assumed the additional responsibility
of Chief Technical Advisor for Corporate Strategy and Development, where
he was involved in selecting technical and business strategies for AT&T.
In 1995, recognizing the need to focus Bell Labs research activities
closer to consumer markets, he started the Customer Expectations Research
Lab. This lab (Article
in Fast Company) tries to understand human behavior through a variety
of statistical and cognitive techniques- and then relate those needs
to future products
and services. They also pioneered a quantitative approach to scenario
planning, which has been adopted by a number of companies. Greg's
personal research was divided between discovering compelling new services
and inventing new classes of consumer electronics devices (such
as the AT&T Wrist Telephone). In January 1998 he decided to
leave AT&T Labs, and follow some of these ideas through to the marketplace
by joining AT&T Ventures. In 2000 he joined Morgenthaler Ventures.
Greg
is a director or advisor at a number of private companies, including
foonz, IGA,
NanoOpto, Princeton
Lightwave , Paratek,
Lamina
Lighting, InPlane
Photonics, Five
Star and Droplets.
Mr.
Blonder attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.)
where his undergraduate thesis was on phase transitions in liquid crystals.
In 1982 he received his MS and Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University
after elucidating the physics behind the normal-superconducting transition
in point contact junctions.