Draft:Jason Eichenholz

Dr. Jason M. Eichenholz is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, startup founder, and inventor.

Background
Eichenholz graduated from Greenfield High School in 1989. He then attended and graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, magna cum laude, in 1992 and received a Masters of Science from the University of Central Florida in 1995 and earned his Doctorate in Optical Science and Engineering from the University of Central Florida College of Optics and Photonics in 1998.

Eichenholz is a serial entrepreneur, executive, and recognized pioneer in laser and optics enabled innovation, product development and commercialization. Over two decades, he started and founded multiple companies that raised over a billion dollars of investor funding and went public on Nasdaq.

Eichenholz led the development of revolutionary products and companies that enabled a variety of applications from autonomous vehicles, battlefield explosives detection, early cancer detection, new drug delivery systems and environmental studies.

Eichenholz holds more than 85 U.S. patents, is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and Optica, the society advancing optics and photonics worldwide. He is a member of Florida Inventors Hall of Fame and the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida.

Eichenholz has given dozens of plenary and invited talks at major automotive and photonics conferences and universities as well as the commencement address at the University of Central Florida. In his free time, he likes to give back to his community and is especially passionate as an advocate for autism awareness, housing and employment and has served for 25 years as an Emergency Medical Technician and Certified Firefighter and serves as a Reserve Lieutenant at with Orange County (FL) Fire Rescue.

Career
Dr. Eichenholz is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Luminar Technologies, a sensing technology company based in Orlando, Florida that aims to become the core platform to enable safe, fully autonomous vehicles. As CTO, he is responsible for research and development of new products, product roadmap, and bringing Luminar’s technology to market.

Eichenholz is also a Co-Founder of AireHealth, a respiratory health company.

Eichenholz was the Chief Executive Officer of Open Photonics, Inc from January 2013 through December 2016. Open Photonics Inc. was a photonics company focused on accelerating early-stage product development, innovation, and research for global clients in need of photonic based solutions.He assisted clients with all aspects of commercialization, from technology scouting and market intelligence to hardware development,

Eichenholz has a son with autism, Jonathan. Eichenholz has discussed his transition from reputation building to legacy building. That led him to create a new, open source, innovative not for profit model whose mission is to relentlessly pursue housing and employment solutions that provide a life of dignity, meaning, and purpose for adults with autism and give parents peace, knowing their child is safe and happy. .

Jonathan's Landing aims to build the world’s most comprehensive, self-sustaining, intentional community for adults with autism where residents and other adults across the spectrum of autism diagnosis in the surrounding community can have access to meaningful work while achieving their maximum level of independence.

Awards & Recognition

 * Member, Florida Inventors Hall of Fame
 * Member Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida (ASEMFL)
 * Orlando Magic Diversity Game Changer Award
 * Orlando Business Journal Power Player - Disruptor
 * Junior Achievement Entrepreneurial Vanguard Award
 * SPIE Fellow
 * Optical Society of America, Fellow
 * University of Central Florida, Professional Achievement Award
 * 1st Prize - Halma Innovation Award