SU alumnus to speak on the risks of establishing a start-up company as part of ECS’ E-Month Celebration

SU alumnus to speak on the risks of establishing a start-up company as part of ECS’ E-Month CelebrationFebruary 06, 2004Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

Jim Ambras ’77, vice president for product development and services with OnStation Inc. in San Mateo, Calif., will return to his alma mater next week to speak on “Innovation and Risk: The Perils of Establishing a Start-Up Company.” Ambras’ presentation will be held Monday, Feb. 9 at 7:15 p.m. in Room 369 of Syracuse University’s Link Hall and is free and open to the public.

Ambras has a wealth of high-tech experience from a career that spans advanced research and development, systems software and enterprise application development. As vice president of product development, he is responsible for managing all aspects of OnStation’s technology development, operations and product marketing efforts.

Prior to joining OnStation, Ambras was vice president of engineering at AltaVista Company, where he led the development of the company’s 20 international Internet search sites. Before AltaVista, he served as vice president of engineering at Zip2 Corporation, a leading provider of enterprise software and services to the media industry; before that, he led the development of SGI’s software development products for C, C++, Fortran, Ada and Java developers, and contributed to managing the company’s digital media efforts. He began his career at Hewlett Packard Laboratories (HP Labs), where he performed research on software development tools and methodologies. He received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from SU in 1977.

Ambras’ presentation is part of ECS’s E-Month, a series of events and presentations throughout February aimed at showcasing the work of students and celebrating innovations. The theme for E-Month 2004 is “Innovations: Turning Ideas Into Reality.”