Founder
JOHN BAIR
Founder
Chief Executive Officer
Chief Technology Officer
John is the founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Technology Officer of Converge Technologies. Prior to founding Converge, John spent several years founding and developing The Ohio State University’s Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence (CDME) as its executive director. This industry facing applied engineering center was considered a first for universities in the State of Ohio. CDME achieved revenues in excess of $21 million in revenue over its first three years. John also volunteered as the Dean of Engineering’s industry advisory chairman. He donated his time as a business plan competition mentor and I-Corps@Ohio executive advisor. Prior to supporting Ohio State, John co-founded Pinnacle Data Systems, a full product life-cycle, in 1989 as a diversified integrated computer and electronics systems company. The company was responsible for designing, commercializing, manufacturing and supporting technology that integrated into Fortune 100 and 500 OEM product lines. Under his leadership, as president and CEO, he grew the company into a global manufacturer/provider of OEM-integrated product/design solutions and support services focused on the telecom, imaging, defense/aerospace, medical, semiconductor, industrial automation and IT markets. In 1996, John took Pinnacle public through an initial public offering on the Nasdaq-AMEX exchange (Nasdaq: PNS). He served as the President, CEO, CTO and Chief Innovation Officer and as the Chairman of the Board of Directors while overseeing years of company growth. In 2012, John led the company through an acquisition by Avnet, Inc. and served as the Sr. Vice President through 2014. John has a BS in Computer Engineering from Ohio State.