Joseph Davis

Over a long and prosperous career, Joseph Davis of Morgan Hill, California has held many roles. He has been an inventor, a business leader, a technology innovator, and a humanitarian. With a string of patents to his name and a long history of transformational leadership, Joe embodies the best aspects of professionalism and engineering prowess. After establishing several companies and working with many others in the data storage and telecommunications fields, Joe retired from work but continues to serve as a consultant on patents and patent infringement lawsuits. He and his wife Barbara reside in Morgan Hill and are active in charitable efforts supporting homeless rights and safety. Joe Davis earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California. Following his undergraduate education, he entered the aeronautics program at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, earning both a Master of Science and a Ph.D. in the discipline. He also earned a Ph.D. minor in business economics. This blended education would prove beneficial later in his career when he would establish several technology ventures. Mr. Davis is an accomplished inventor with over 30 U.S. and foreign patents to his credit, including developments in magnetic and magneto-optical storage and optical subsystems. His first entrepreneurial effort came in 1990, when he co-founded Iota Memories. While with Iota, he was involved in the development of a 2.5 inch removable magnetic disc drive. The company and its technologies were sold to SyQuest, Inc. in 1991. His next move was to co-found the Quinta Corporation with fellow engineers. He served as the company’s Vice President of Product Development and co-invented a multi-disk data storage device that brought together two data technologies for the first time. The magneto-optical storage technology and the company was sold to Seagate in 1997. Joe established Capella Photonics, Inc. in 1999 and served as the company’s CEO from 2000-2004. Later, he was the company’s Chairman until his retirement in 2008. During his tenure at Capella, Joe co-invented a wavelength-selective switch that facilitated delivery of streaming video online by boosting Internet speeds. Capella’s business operations were subsequently acquired by Alcatel-Lucent in 2013. Although he is retired, Joe still provides consulting services to Capella on patent infringement issues.