CIQ Stacks Advisory Board With Veteran Open-Source and Industry Leadership

CIQ unveiled an advisory board comprising veteran leaders with deep expertise in IT infrastructure, high performance computing (HPC), open-source software and business strategy. The advisory board will help guide CIQ as it builds the next generation of software infrastructure for enterprises running data-intensive workloads atop the Rocky Linux enterprise Linux distribution.

“The assembly of this exceptional board of advisors establishes CIQ in a solid position for growth and innovation,” said Greg Kurtzer, founder and CEO of CIQ. “CIQ is solving the problems of organizations, individuals, and communities struggling with complex software infrastructure challenges. These experts not only understand the challenges the industry is facing, but also know what it takes to bring innovative and worthy visions to fruition. Having this impressive team of professionals advising our organization at this time of explosive growth gives our team great confidence in what we can accomplish together.”

Rosio Alvarez, CIO, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network

Drawn to CIQ because of its innovative and boundary-pushing approach to HPC, Alvarez joins the advisory board after having worked with CIQ founder and CEO, Gregory Kurtzer at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab. Alvarez has over 25 years of experience managing technology organizations in research and higher education. Alvarez was CIO at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for 14 years, including serving as CIO advisor to then-secretary of energy Stephen Chu under President Obama. Recently, Alvarez has moved to the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub to help build a national network of bioscience research centers charged with curing or managing all disease by the end of the century. Alvarez was also a member of the faculty at the business schools of the University of Washington and the University of Massachusetts.

Bob Banasik, CTO, Resurgent Capital Services

Banasik’s career in IT infrastructure and IT security spans over 30 years, beginning as a highly certified trainer and engineer for Novell and Microsoft followed by consulting roles with Proctor & Gamble, GE Aircraft Engines, GE Capital and other financial services firms. He has variously held CTO & CSO roles, and helped one organization grow from a small business to a multinational organization. He now also enjoys providing advisory services for a number of technology-anchored startups.

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David Buss

Buss is a retired vice admiral from the U.S. Navy, having served on active duty for more than 36 years. Prior to joining OpenDrives, Buss was president of Cubic Global Defense, Inc. (NYSE: CUB), where he led all aspects of Cubic’s nearly $1 billion military training business. Previously, he oversaw an aerospace defense company spanning 38 countries employing more than 4,000 teammates.

In addition to his current executive responsibilities, Buss serves on the board of GelSight and recently completed board service with TechFlow and WestPak. He is also a senior advisor with ANZU Partners, a capital investment firm focused on breakthrough technologies in material science, engineering and medical/bio sciences. Additionally, he is a trustee on the US Naval Academy Foundation Board and is chairman of the board for the National Aviation Museum Foundation in Pensacola, Florida.

Brent Gorda, senior director for HPC Business, Arm Holdings

Gorda’s career includes roles as a technologist and business leader, driving positive change for HPC. He currently is helping Arm architecture become a viable option for HPC. Past roles include early parallel computing systems work with the US Department of Energy in the transition from vector to parallel computing. Gorda was founder and CEO at Whamcloud, responsible for bringing Lustre back into the community. After selling the company to Intel, he led Intel’s global HPC storage activities.

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Travis Grizzel, principal advisor to the CTO, Amazon Web Services

Grizzel has spent his 20-year technical career furthering the advancement of new technologies such as virtualization, cloud, AI and voice technologies. As an entrepreneur and small business advocate, he has a focus on helping companies put into place solid operational models. Beyond his role as principal advisor, he also runs the office of the CTO at Amazon.com. He brings to CIQ both technical and operational experience that will support its rapid growth.

Dirk Hohndel, head of the Open Source Program Office, Verizon

Hohndel has spent more than 30 years in developer and leadership roles building business models around open-source projects. After open-source leadership roles at Intel and VMware, he has recently joined Verizon in order to build and lead their Open Source Program Office. He continues to be an active open-source developer and is an advisor to several open-source related startups.

Bjorn Hovland, partner and COO, private investment firm

Hovland is an accomplished operator and product manager with deep knowledge of how to build products and lead product teams that understand what customers need and want across both consumer and enterprise segments. He is presently a partner and COO of a private investment firm based in Los Angeles.

Greg Kroah-Hartman, fellow, Linux Foundation

Kroah-Hartman joined the CIQ advisory board because he believes CIQ and Rocky Linux meet the need for an enterprise-focused Linux distribution that can provide properly updated and secure kernel releases for their users. Kroah-Hartman is a fellow at the Linux Foundation where he is the maintainer of the stable kernel releases and a number of different kernel subsystems.

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