florida.HIGH.TECH florida.HIGH.TECH 2016 | Page 66

Faces of Technology Advancing Optical Filters The entrepreneurial lifestyle comes naturally to Hooman Banaei, who grew up in a successful entrepreneurial family. “I saw all the challenges and I saw all the fruits of labor,” he said. So, when Banaei experienced a breakthrough in optics after his doctoral studies at the University of Central Florida, there was no question he would commercialize the technology on his own. Banaei followed in his father’s footsteps when he launched Everix Optical Filters in 2013. Everix grew from humble beginnings, starting out in Banaei’s stor Y