Llavan Fernando
Llavan Fernando (born 29 May 1952) is a Sri Lankan-American business executive and entrepreneur. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Zone24x7. He was the co-founder of @POS, which used to one of the fifty fastest growing companies in the Silicone Valley, and also the founder of Mobinetix, a Silicon Valley based technology company which is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Zebra Technologies;.
Through his companies he has introduced Digital Signature Capture, Smart Devices for Visually Impaired, Electronic Signage Systems, Autonomous Robots for Inventory management and many other technology advancements.
Early life
Llavan Fernando was born in Pannipitiya, Sri Lanka on the 30th of May 1952 to teacher parents, and is the eldest of three brothers. He attended school in De Mazenod College, Kandana until his GCE Ordinary Levels. Then his family moved to England where he completed his GCE Advanced Level in John Ruskin Grammar School, London.
He obtained his B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and M.Sc. in Instrumentation and Systems at the University of Reading in Berkshire, England where he developed a fascination for electronics.
Career
Fernando secured his first job as an R&D engineer at H. Tinsley & Company. Subsequent to his career in Tinsley, he joined a company called Gravenor in the mid-70s, where he worked on the fire protection systems of the F-16 and F-111 US fighter jets which were outsourced to the UK company at the time. He had also worked on pollution monitoring systems whilst serving at Tinsley.
Later on when he moved in to the States, he met Professor John Linville, who was at the time headed the Integrated Engineering Studies at Stanford University. Prof. Linville started Telesensory Systems together with another professor from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Dr. James Bliss , where a research was being conducted to produce a computer for the visually impaired. While working as a general manager at Telesensory Systems, Llavan Fernando obtained his first patent, and helped develop the eight dot Braille system as well as the first Braille computers, and then upon the invitation of a friend joined Inforite Corporation as the Vice President of Engineering, where he oversaw the development of signature capture products.<ref name="auto1"/>
He joined @POS as Vice President of Engineering in 1996, eventually becoming the CTO in 1998, and then CEO in 2000, until @POS was sold to Symbol technologies along with its subsidiary Mobinetix, the latter of which he had founded.<ref name="auto2"/>
After the acquisition by Symbol Technologies, Llavan founded his next venture Zone24x7 Inc in 2003, headquartered in San Jose, California. In 2004, Zone24x7 (Pvt) Ltd was established as a separate entity in Sri Lanka. His company provides information technology services to leading Tier 1 retailers and Hi-Tech companies.<ref name="auto"/>
Personal life
Llavan Fernando met his wife Saw-Chin Fernando at Reading. Saw-Chin Fernando currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Zone24x7. The couple currently reside in the United States. They have two children, a son and a daughter.
Through his companies he has introduced Digital Signature Capture, Smart Devices for Visually Impaired, Electronic Signage Systems, Autonomous Robots for Inventory management and many other technology advancements.
Early life
Llavan Fernando was born in Pannipitiya, Sri Lanka on the 30th of May 1952 to teacher parents, and is the eldest of three brothers. He attended school in De Mazenod College, Kandana until his GCE Ordinary Levels. Then his family moved to England where he completed his GCE Advanced Level in John Ruskin Grammar School, London.
He obtained his B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and M.Sc. in Instrumentation and Systems at the University of Reading in Berkshire, England where he developed a fascination for electronics.
Career
Fernando secured his first job as an R&D engineer at H. Tinsley & Company. Subsequent to his career in Tinsley, he joined a company called Gravenor in the mid-70s, where he worked on the fire protection systems of the F-16 and F-111 US fighter jets which were outsourced to the UK company at the time. He had also worked on pollution monitoring systems whilst serving at Tinsley.
Later on when he moved in to the States, he met Professor John Linville, who was at the time headed the Integrated Engineering Studies at Stanford University. Prof. Linville started Telesensory Systems together with another professor from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Dr. James Bliss , where a research was being conducted to produce a computer for the visually impaired. While working as a general manager at Telesensory Systems, Llavan Fernando obtained his first patent, and helped develop the eight dot Braille system as well as the first Braille computers, and then upon the invitation of a friend joined Inforite Corporation as the Vice President of Engineering, where he oversaw the development of signature capture products.<ref name="auto1"/>
He joined @POS as Vice President of Engineering in 1996, eventually becoming the CTO in 1998, and then CEO in 2000, until @POS was sold to Symbol technologies along with its subsidiary Mobinetix, the latter of which he had founded.<ref name="auto2"/>
After the acquisition by Symbol Technologies, Llavan founded his next venture Zone24x7 Inc in 2003, headquartered in San Jose, California. In 2004, Zone24x7 (Pvt) Ltd was established as a separate entity in Sri Lanka. His company provides information technology services to leading Tier 1 retailers and Hi-Tech companies.<ref name="auto"/>
Personal life
Llavan Fernando met his wife Saw-Chin Fernando at Reading. Saw-Chin Fernando currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Zone24x7. The couple currently reside in the United States. They have two children, a son and a daughter.
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