Ioannis Milios

Ioannis "John" Milios, tech pioneer, serial entrepreneur and overall revolutionary, died suddenly in his sleep on June 10. He was 68.

Born in Thessaloniki to a family of Greeks from Asia Minor, Milios spent his childhood in Athens where, at the age of 19, he became a key leader of the student group instrumental in the eventual overthrow of the Greek Junta. Forced into hiding after the events of the November 17th, 1973 Athens Polytechnic uprising, he was eventually captured, imprisoned and tortured. During his captivity, he shared a cell with actor and activist Yorgos Kotanidis, who used their unoccupied time together to perform the entire catalog of Shakespeare's plays (all roles). Milios never again saw another work of the Bard.

The name of the student group he led included both the terms anti-fascist (before it was fashionable) and anti-capitalist. He didn't stay anti-capitalist for long. Upon his release from jail in 1974, following the restoration of Greek Democracy, he went on to graduate with a BS in Physics and MS in Automation from the University of Athens. Though awarded a Fulbright for further studies in the United States, he rejected their terms and instead accepted a full-ride scholarship to Columbia University Engineering. Milios, an avid musician, studied under the legendary master of acoustics, Cyril M. Harris, but was mostly concerned with developments in the nascent computer industry. At Columbia, he designed the first computer classroom for IBM, taught Columbia's first course on microcontrollers as an Associate Professor, and was awarded a Ph.M.

Milios next went on to found USAR Systems, which designed and developed components for human interface devices as well as other south-bridge related technologies such as battery subsystems. His first project was a computer that utilized a specialty visual keyboard of his own design. This allowed dry cleaners to quickly log various items by type, color and fabric.

Computers in the 1990s shipped with a multitude of ports for the connection of peripheral devices. Milios was intrigued by the possibility of simplification and standardization. He proposed a universal plug and play solution inspired by the Aloha System, a groundbreaking wireless packet data network developed by the University of Hawaii in 1971. These ideas promulgated through the industry, eventually manifesting itself in today's USB. A master of protocols, he was the lead designer of SMBus, the control bus of the Smart Battery System (SBS) - a technology that made notebook computers possible - the technical director of the SBS industry group, and the only member of the Architectural Review Board for the design of Bluetooth who wasn't associated with a major corporation. Milios merged USAR with Semtech (SMTC) in 2001.

In 2010 Milios, who has been awarded 10 patents (and counting), founded Sendyne Corp. Many of his original collaborators at USAR joined the new company to work with him again. Sendyne, which creates key technologies for electric vehicles and charging stations, developed the first physics-based battery model that is both extremely accurate and capable of operating in real time. Sendyne was acquired by Sensata Technologies (ST) in 2021.

A lifelong Japan Karate Association (JKA) karateka with a 5th dan black belt, Milios embraced the philosophy of the dojo kun: seek perfection of character; be faithful; endeavor; respect others; and refrain from violence. A man who always did what was right, even if it was hard, he is survived by his daughter, Myrto Miliou, her partner, Vince Turpin, grandchildren, Markos and Stephanos, sister, Nana Vetta, brother Nikos Korovilas, and his partner of more than 30 years, Ellen Gooch.