Elias "Eli" Zelkha (May 4, 1950 – January 8, 2017) was an Iranian-American entrepreneur, venture capitalist and professor. He was the inventor of

ambient intelligence Ambient intelligence (AmI) refers to environments with electronic devices that are aware of and can recognize the presence of human beings and adapt accordingly. This concept encompasses various technologies in consumer electronics, telecommunic ...

. He died on January 8, 2017, in Woodside,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, at the age of 66.

Biography

Early life, education and career

Born in 1950 in Tehran, Iran to a Jewish family - Zelkha immigrated to the U.S in 1967. He graduated from Colgate University with a degree in International Relations and from The Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He was a founder or co-founder of five companies. Kandahar Designs; Palo Alto Ventures; Livewall; Euro-Profile/i-Profile; Vemm Brazil. He was at Tandem Computers where he led strategy and new ventures, including a partnership with Steven Spielberg's Starbright Foundation.

Ambient intelligence

In 1998, Eli led the team of Simon Birrell, Clark Dodsworth, Doug Randall and Brian Epstein that invented and developed the ambient intelligence concept and who, with Simon Birrell, coined the term. It was presented by Roel Pieper of Philips at The Digital Living Room Conference on June 22, 1998. Since its invention in 1998, Ambient Intelligence has become part of the core strategies of many of the world's leading technology companies, including Microsoft, Google, Amazon and IBM.

Seminars and teaching

At th
Middlebury Institute of International Studies
he taught entrepreneurship, venture capital and strategy. The Art of Failure and Corporate and International Venture Capital. He was also a lecturer o
Scenario Planning And Uncertainty
at the Stanford University School of Engineering.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zelkha, Eli 1950 births 2017 deaths American businesspeople Academics from Tehran Stanford University alumni Colgate University alumni American people of Iranian descent