Dr. Hideaki Kobayashi, Chairman, CEO and Founder of Knowledge Edge, earned his Ph.D in Tokyo from Waseda University's School of Science and Engineering. From 1980 to 2002 he taught on the faculty of the College of Engineering at the University of South Carolina, and gained international acclaim for work in the field of knowledge-based system design. He has 27 years of experience in international business and engineering education. Dr. Kobayashi maintains close contact with many leaders in the worldwide electronics industry.

When Dr. Kobayashi founded Knowledge Edge Corporation in 1998, he noticed that the best engineers were increasingly coming from China. Dr. Kobayashi began traveling there frequently and quickly developed key contacts in Chinese academia, and with local business and government officials. In 2002 Dr. Kobayashi founded a branch of Knowledge Edge in Shanghai. He now divides his time between Japan and China.

Brian Bershader, Co-Founder, Director and Board Member, graduated from Stanford University and has extensive business experience and contacts in Silicon Valley. A former president and CEO of International Chip and Knowledge Based Silicon Corporations, Mr. Bershader has held senior, Japan-related management positions in the hi-tech industry and government. He works closely with Dr. Kobayashi on many of the company's day-to-day management and strategic planning issues. Mr. Bershader's areas of expertise include: shareholder relations, operational policies and procedures, financing alternatives, cash management strategies, public relations, personnel issues, licensing, and strategic partnerships.

Dr. James P. Davis, a long-time colleague and collaborator of Dr. Kobayashi, oversees the development of Knowledge Edge's training portfolio, as well as our advanced assessment tools for screening program applicants. Dr. Davis earned his Ph.D. in 1989 from the University of South Carolina's Computer Engineering Department and has served on the faculty as an associate professor since 2002. He teaches Embedded Systems, VLSI Integrated Circuit, and Electronic Systems Design. Dr. Davis has held senior scientist and group/project management positions at NCR and Mitsubishi Electric. He is highly conversant with Japanese and Chinese business and engineering practices. An IEEE Senior Member, Dr. Davis is the author of over 50 papers and book chapters-on such topics as database design, OOA/D, software agents, workflow systems, knowledge-based systems, and wireless networking.