Mansour Safai
Encyclopedia
Mansour Safai, * Tehran, Iran, (December 3, 1962 – February 9, 2006) was a software engineer and computer scientist. Mansour Safai attended the French Lycée Razi in Tehran until age of 11, when he transferred to Lycée d’Estienne d’Orves, where he graduated with Scientific Baccalaureate with honors in Nice
, France 1980. He continued his education at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
in Switzerland where he completed his graduate study in computer science
engineering. He finished his thesis by completing a project for Logitech Switzerland in computer languages and debugging tools (Modula-2
). Mansour Safai was the founder of M7, and Silicon Valley visionary.
His career started in 1987 when he accepted a position as a Senior Software Engineer in Logitech
U.S. (Fremont,
California). Mansour brought to Logitech, under the supervision of Stefano Cei, one of the most prized awards in
software technology within 18 months: «The PC Magazine Technical Excellence Award for the Multiscope OS/2
Debugger».
He then went on to found Multiscope Inc. with the help and guidance of Logitech’s founders: Daniel Borel
, Giacomo Marini
and Pierluigi Zappacosta
. As the CEO of Multiscope, with a team including Allen Bannon and
Bernard Zysset, Multiscope continued to grow and win many industry awards. Eventually Symantec Corporation acquired Multiscope.
Mansour continued his innovation run, under the guidance of Symantec’s CEO Gordon Eubanks
, and lead his team as
the Vice President of the Language and Internet Tools Division of Symantec, to good success and pioneered market
leading products in C++ compiler, tools, and debuggers. Mansour also recognized the significance of the Java
language early on, and was the first to offer integrated Java development tools in the pioneering Café product line,
which evolved to the market leading product Visual Café
. Mansour was also the first to bring the Java Just In Time
compiler (JIT), and debugger technologies to the market. Ultimately, BEA acquired Symantec’s Language and Internet
Tools Division.
In 2000, Mansour decided to use his entrepreneurial talents and his commitment to software science, to follow his dream and to found a new company, M7. He started the company with the help of a close circle of talented and dedicated key contributors from his previous teams, including two close friends: Essam Zaky and Sami Ben-Rhomdane.
At M7, Mansour envisioned a tool that integrates the development across all of the web application
layers. This
vision was realized with the award winning NitroX product, which became a popular and innovative
integrated development environment. M7's success led to its acquisition by BEA Systems in September 2005.
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, France 1980. He continued his education at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
The École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne is one of the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology and is located in Lausanne, Switzerland.The school was founded by the Swiss Federal Government with the stated mission to:...
in Switzerland where he completed his graduate study in computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
engineering. He finished his thesis by completing a project for Logitech Switzerland in computer languages and debugging tools (Modula-2
Modula-2
Modula-2 is a computer programming language designed and developed between 1977 and 1980 by Niklaus Wirth at ETH Zurich as a revision of Pascal to serve as the sole programming language for the operating system and application software for the personal workstation Lilith...
). Mansour Safai was the founder of M7, and Silicon Valley visionary.
His career started in 1987 when he accepted a position as a Senior Software Engineer in Logitech
Logitech
Logitech International S.A. is a global provider of personal peripherals for computers and other digital platforms headquartered in Romanel-sur-Morges, Switzerland. The company develops and markets products like peripheral devices for PCs, including keyboards, mice, microphones, game controllers...
U.S. (Fremont,
California). Mansour brought to Logitech, under the supervision of Stefano Cei, one of the most prized awards in
software technology within 18 months: «The PC Magazine Technical Excellence Award for the Multiscope OS/2
Debugger».
He then went on to found Multiscope Inc. with the help and guidance of Logitech’s founders: Daniel Borel
Daniel Borel
Daniel Borel is a Swiss businessman and co-founder of Logitech.In 1973 Daniel Borel earned an engineering degree in Physics from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, and in 1977 received a Master of Science degree in Computer Science in 1977 from Stanford University.Borel...
, Giacomo Marini
Giacomo Marini
Giacomo Marini is founder and Managing Director at Noventi, an early-stage technology venture capital firm, based in Silicon Valley....
and Pierluigi Zappacosta
Pierluigi Zappacosta
Pierluigi Zappacosta is a Venture Partner with Noventi and Vice President of Business Development at Sierra Sciences....
. As the CEO of Multiscope, with a team including Allen Bannon and
Bernard Zysset, Multiscope continued to grow and win many industry awards. Eventually Symantec Corporation acquired Multiscope.
Mansour continued his innovation run, under the guidance of Symantec’s CEO Gordon Eubanks
Gordon Eubanks
Gordon Eubanks is a microcomputer industry pioneer who worked with Gary Kildall in the early days of Digital Research. Eubanks attended Oklahoma State University. Dr. Kildall was his graduate thesis advisor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California...
, and lead his team as
the Vice President of the Language and Internet Tools Division of Symantec, to good success and pioneered market
leading products in C++ compiler, tools, and debuggers. Mansour also recognized the significance of the Java
language early on, and was the first to offer integrated Java development tools in the pioneering Café product line,
which evolved to the market leading product Visual Café
Visual Cafe
Visual Café was an integrated development environment for the Java programming language. It included a GUI builder and was marketed as a series of editions: "Standard Edition," "Enterprise Suite," "Expert Edition," "Professional Edition," and "Development Edition." The "Enterprise Suite" was...
. Mansour was also the first to bring the Java Just In Time
compiler (JIT), and debugger technologies to the market. Ultimately, BEA acquired Symantec’s Language and Internet
Tools Division.
In 2000, Mansour decided to use his entrepreneurial talents and his commitment to software science, to follow his dream and to found a new company, M7. He started the company with the help of a close circle of talented and dedicated key contributors from his previous teams, including two close friends: Essam Zaky and Sami Ben-Rhomdane.
At M7, Mansour envisioned a tool that integrates the development across all of the web application
Web application
A web application is an application that is accessed over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. The term may also mean a computer software application that is coded in a browser-supported language and reliant on a common web browser to render the application executable.Web applications are...
layers. This
vision was realized with the award winning NitroX product, which became a popular and innovative
integrated development environment. M7's success led to its acquisition by BEA Systems in September 2005.
External links
- Theopenfource.com, Obituary
- Blogs.codegear.com, Source for this article
- Mansour-safai-fund.org