The Immersion Team

Mr. Victor Viegas, Interim CEO and Director

Mr. Viegas has served as a member of the Board of Directors since October 2002. Mr. Viegas was our Chief Executive Officer from October 2002 through April 2008, and President from February 2002 through April 2008. Mr. Viegas was also Chairman of the Board of Directors from October 2007 to February 2009. Mr. Viegas also served as Chief Financial Officer until February 2005, having joined the Company in August 1999 as Chief Financial Officer, Vice President, Finance. From June 1996 to August 1999, he served as Vice President, Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer of Macrovision Corporation, a developer and licensor of video and software copy protection technologies. From October 1986 to June 1996, he served as Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Balco Incorporated, a manufacturer of advanced automotive service equipment. He holds a B.S. in Accounting and an M.B.A. from Santa Clara University.

Mr. Henry Hirvela, Finance

Mr. Hirvela joined Immersion in August of 2009 as a consultant to assist finance. Henry Hirvela is a multi-industry business leader with over thirty years of experience in executive, financial, and corporate change management. While serving as CFO at Allied Waste Industries (NYSE: AW), Henry played a key role in transforming Allied from a small regional player to a Fortune 500 company in four years. Recently he led the successful turnaround of VistaCare (NASDAQ: VSTA) and its subsequent sale to Odyssey Healthcare. Henry has served as audit committee chairman and, subsequently, chairman of the board of directors at Three-Five Systems (NYSE: TFS) during which time he directed the TFS reorganization. He holds a bachelor's degree from the United States International University in San Diego, and earned an M.B.A. from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.

Ms. Janice Passarello, Vice President, Human Resources

Janice Passarello joined Immersion in July 2007 and is responsible for all human resources strategies, programs, and services. Previously, she held human resources management positions at Harmonic, Microsoft, Trimble Navigation, and Quantum. She has a bachelor’s degree in social science/human resources management from California Polytechnic State University and certifications in several human resources areas.

Ms. Anne Marie Peters, Vice President, Legal

Amie Peters joined Immersion in December 2008. Previously, she was corporate associate, then corporate partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP and diagnostic manufacturing associate, then diagnostic manufacturing supervisor at Chiron Corporation. She has a bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley; an MBA from the University of California Davis Graduate School of Management; and a JD degree from the University of California Davis School of Law. Peters was admitted to the California State Bar in 1999.

Dr. Christophe Ramstein, Chief Technology Officer

As Chief Technology Officer at Immersion, Christophe Ramstein leads the company’s global research and development with a focus on haptic innovation, as well as the future of user experience and user value. Passionate about user experience and its virtually unlimited potential, Ramstein, with over 15 years experience in haptics and multimodal technology, promotes Haptics as the cornerstone of the next generation of user interfaces. During his tenure at Immersion, Ramstein has held several positions, including director of software development, vice president of Engineering, and senior vice president of Research and Engineering. Before joining Immersion in 2000, Ramstein co-founded Haptic Technologies Inc, a leading-edge award-winning haptics company, and was also the chief architect. Prior to that, Ramstein was the senior scientist at Industry Canada and created innovative user interfaces for astronauts and the visually-impaired, investigating the use of non-visual modalities, learning schemes, and artificial neural networks. Ramstein is both an author and co-author of numerous haptic patents, as well as a number of papers on haptics and multimodal user interfaces. He holds a Master’s degree from the Institute Joseph Fourier as well as a PhD in Applied Mathematics for real-time physical modeling, simulation, gesture analysis, and composition for musical creation from the Polytechnic Institute in France.

Ms. Jennifer Stagnaro, Vice President, Global Marketing

Jennifer Stagnaro joined Immersions in March 2009 and is responsible for Global Marketing. A veteran technology marketing executive and serial entrepreneur, Stagnaro has more than 20 years experience in category creation and bringing new innovative products to market. Prior to Immersion, she was vice president of marketing at Audience, an innovator in advanced noise suppression in the mobile phone market, where she launched the company, brand and products, establishing it as the leader in a new category. She has also served as vice president of marketing at audio speaker innovator Tymphany and IP telephone provider ShoreTel. In addition, she was CMO at voice over DSL pioneer, CopperCom. Previously, she led corporate marketing at Madge Networks, helped create the data warehousing market with Red Brick Systems, and has held marketing and engineering positions at both Oracle and Procter and Gamble. Stagnaro holds an AB in Engineering from Harvard University.

Mr. Craig Vachon, Senior Vice President and General Manager,
Touch Line of Business

G. Craig Vachon is Senior Vice President and General Manager of Immersion’s Touch line of business, responsible for accelerating deployment and helping achieve ubiquity of Immersion’s haptic technologies across the mobile, automotive, consumer electronics, gaming, and industrial/commercial markets worldwide. Vachon joined Immersion in September 2008. Prior to Immersion, he held leadership positions at major mobile operators, as well as software, services, and technology licensing companies. Most recently, he was CEO and president of Varatouch Technology, an intellectual property components and software company focused on human input devices for hand-held consumer electronics. Before Varatouch, he was CEO and chairman of Sirenic, Inc., a mobile information access software company. Earlier in his career, Vachon was chief operating office of Nextel International Japan; business development director of AT&T Wireless Services, International; vice president of sales and marketing of Birla AT&T Communications in India, and director of new product development, marketing, and sales of AT&T Wireless Services (formerly McCaw Cellular). He holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication and a master’s degree in Business Communication, both from Emerson College.