CIA-backed wireless networking start-up gets new CEO

Ex-US West exec Trujillo comes on board

By Linda Harrison in New York • Get more from this author

Posted in Data Networking, 16th November 2000 18:18 GMT

CIA-backed start-up La Graviton has spotted its future leader in the form of ex-US West exec Sol Trujillo.

He is joining the small California-based outfit as CEO, president and chairman. The company is developing a wireless data networking technology that will have sensors to tip off users about information.

Graviton was one of the first companies to net cash from the CIA's new venture capital group In-Q-Tel (named after top spy 007 gadget man "Q").

Trujillo replaces Graviton founder Michael Nova, who will stay on as chief technical officer. The 48-year-old abandoned his post of CEO and chairman of US West -one of the former Baby Bells - this summer after the company's June merger with Qwest Communications.

"Graviton is pioneering an entirely new realm, one that we believe will become extraordinarily significant and pervasive over the next decade," said Turujillo in a statement. "Wireless sensor networks are destined to become, in effect, the nervous system of our engineered world."

The company is aiming flog its wireless sensor networks to businesses and consumers alike, with uses including gas leak alerts and tracking patients' health through remote monitoring devices. ®