Joseph Sgro

Timeline

1. 1970–1980

   Mathematics and medicine

   He earns an AB in mathematics from UCLA in 1970, an MA in mathematics in 1973, and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1975. He spends 1977–1978 at the Institute for Advanced Study, then receives an M.D. from the University of Miami in 1980.

2. 1983–1987

   Clinical work at Columbia

   At Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons, he serves as a post-doctoral fellow in clinical neurophysiology (1983–1985), as an Associate in Neurology (1985–1986), and as an assistant professor of neurology (1986–1987).

3. 1985–1989

   Founding Alacron

   While working as a postdoctoral fellow and assistant professor of neurology, he founds Alacron in 1985 to make technologies for neurological research. In 1989, he commercializes the technology and begins developing array processors, frame grabbers, and vision processors.

4. 1987–2004

   Leading clinical neurophysiology

   He relocates to Richmond in 1987 as an associate professor of neurology and head of neurophysiology at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. He becomes Chief of the Division of Clinical Neurophysiology in 1991, serves through 1994, and holds an adjunct associate professorship at Columbia-Presbyterian from 1994 to 2004.

5. 1990s

   Neural networks for brain signals

   In the mid-1990s, he studies backpropagation networks for clinical monitoring and automatic interpretation of EEG and evoked potentials. In 1998, he coauthors an automated evoked-potential analysis paper with Ronald Emerson and Paul Stanton.

6. 1999–2002

   Parallel computing for machine vision

   In 1999, he and Paul C. Stanton patent a scalable multiprocessor architecture for SIMD and MIMD operations. In 2002, as Alacron's CEO, he describes integrating fast CCD arrays and high-frame-rate CMOS sensors into real-time machine-vision systems.

7. 2006

   A machine-vision library plan

   In 2006, he says Alacron plans a scalable line of high-performance frame grabbers and smart cameras around MathStar's field-programmable object array.

8. 2008

   Alacron's Fast-Vault system

   By 2008, he is CEO of Alacron and outlines a proposed Fast-Vault system for NASA's shuttle imaging. It is designed for high-frame-rate images from multiple cameras and nonvolatile video and data recording.