Takeoff Technologies LLC: Who we are

ABOUT TAKEOFF

JOAN HORVATH, CEO

Joan Horvath founded Takeoff in October 1999. Before starting Takeoff, she had a 16 year career as a "rocket scientist" at JPL, the NASA center for the exploration of the solar system. She has a BS in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT, and an MS in Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering from UCLA. At JPL she calculated how fluids would flow in space and developed ideas for advanced computers. She played key roles on various spacecraft, particularly with the Magellan spacecraft to Venus and the TOPEX/Poseidon earth orbiting spacecraft that measured the El Nino phenomenon accurately for the first time. She has a special technical interest in finding ways to automate complicated systems in a way that is reliable and cost-effective.

However, it was clear to her that her real interest was in taking technologies and ideas developed for space and moving those into other industries. She created a program at JPL which fostered relationships between JPL and toy companies, merchandisers, and science fiction producers. This program grew to include dozens of companies, and generated significant print and television exposure for Mattel's first-of-its-kind exclusive relationship to make toy Mars Rovers. In time, it became clear that an independent entity could exploit these properties more effectively than JPL could in-house, and Takeoff Technologies launched with an ongoing key contract from the American Film Institute.

She is the author of many technical papers as well as an article in the April 2004 issue of Scientific American, "Blastoffs on a Budget." She is the author of the forthcoming "What Scientists Actually Do" and is a coauthor of the coffeetable book "Saturn: A New View" . She collaborated on a a C programming textbook, and teaches strategy, technology planning, mathematics and critical thinking at the Southern California campus of the University of Phoenix and also teaches in the Graduate Industrial Design program at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

Over time, Takeoff has been drawn from a focus purely on entertainment partnering into broader strategic management advisory services for technology businesses. Takeoff has had various roles in the emerging entrepreneurial space sector.

Takeoff has strategic relationships with a variety of small specialty engineering, design, and production companies and can quickly develop "virtual teams" to solve difficult and unusual problems.

Sampling of press:

Horvath a featured reviewer for Reviews.com