Geek of the Week: Maryam Rofougaran, Co-CEO and Founder of Movandi
Recent news about 5G has made people pay far more attention to it. Movandi is a tech startup that aims to innovate the current technology surrounding 5G. Through their improvement of network infrastructure, the company hopes to help 5G achieve better coverage outside urban areas. Their latest innovation is a technology known as BeamXR. Incorporating it in network infrastructure can help a business improve the quality and reach of its 5G service. 5G is notoriously small in the area it covers naturally, with a much shorter reach than 4G, the previous generation of wireless communication standards. BeamXR from Movandi is supposed to help small providers cover more area with their existing technology by streamlining and beamforming to increase the range of their base stations. Movandi’s tech hopes to revolutionize how small providers deliver 5G service.
At the head of this revolution is a remarkable woman. Maryam Rofougaran is the co-founder of Movandi, alongside her husband, Reza. She brings to the table expertise in the field of telecommunications and wireless networking. Maryam is no doubt responsible for the push the company is making towards creating a more affordable way of distributing 5G coverage. As the company’s branding states, Movandi aims to open up new markets and opportunities for 5G providers. Maryam’s guidance is critical in achieving this goal.
Maryam’s journey as an up-and-coming star in the field of wireless technology started with her BSc. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1993. From there, she went on to complete an MSc. in 1995 and read for a Ph.D. at the same university. She began work in 1990, before finishing her first degree, for Integrated Circuits and Systems Lab, staying there for seven years. She moved on to become the Vice President in charge of Short-Range Wireless Communication at Innovent systems for a little less than two years. She then joined Broadcom and stayed there for fifteen years, working her way up from the Senior Director of RF Engineering to Senior VP of RF Engineering before leaving the company to found Movandi.
Maryam is a well-known contributor to the academic community as well. Her name appears on over fifty publications in the field, and she has over two hundred and eighty patents to her name for innovations in wireless technology. Her time at Broadcom saw her delve deeply into the core facets of the company’s product, building teams that would then utilize her technological innovations to improve Broadcom’s ability to provide for their clients. This basis helped her when she formed Movandi—being as intimately familiar with Broadcom devices as she was enabled her to develop technology that focused on their base stations and expand them to cover the general market.
Maryam’s dedication and innovation are an example to all aspiring startup leaders. She shows that it’s never too late to set out on your dream, but to do so requires things to be correctly aligned. Her passion lined up with her job. Eventually, the opportunity came for her to take that passion and make it into an entire company on its own. Movandi has been in existence since 2016, and reliable funding rounds combined with a stellar product means we’ll likely be seeing a lot more of Maryam in the future.
