31 Facts About Helder Antunes

Helder Antunes's car racing career in the 1980s and '90s made him one of the most preeminent open road racers at the time.

Helder Antunes frequently serves as a lobbyist for Portuguese interests in Silicon Valley, through institutions like the AICEP Portugal Global and Rede Prestige Acores, as well as frequently serving as an advisor to the Government of Portugal and the Azores.

Helder Manuel da Terra Fragueiro Marques Antunes was born on 6 July 1963 in Angra do Heroismo, Terceira Island, Azores, to Armando Manuel Marques Antunes, an avionics and aerospace scientist from Torres Novas, and Carolina Bettencourt de Vasconcelos da Terra Fragueiro, a member of the Bettencourt family from Horta, Azores.

Helder Antunes spent much of his early life at the Lajes Air Force Base, on Terceira, when much of his family served in the Portuguese Air Force, per family tradition.

Helder Antunes's family moved to Ponta Delgada, on Sao Miguel Island, in 1967, when Antunes's father moved to the private sector.

Helder Antunes lived in Rhode Island until 1983, when his family moved to San Jose, California, because Helder Antunes' father was offered a position at aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin, where he would later work on the Hubble Space Telescope project.

Helder Antunes started college at Georgetown University in 1982 but, with his family's move to California, continued and finished matriculation at San Jose State University.

Helder Antunes started professional auto racing in 1983, shortly after his move to California.

Helder Antunes's systems pioneered the integration of a car's computerized engine controls with real-time data acquisition and modeling, including the development of an engine "black box" aimed at converting engine data to be transmitted to a racecar's support team.

Helder Antunes started his career in the Silicon Valley high-tech industry at Grid Systems Corporation as a support engineer, where he first met John Morgridge, CEO and Chairman of Cisco.

In 2017, Helder Antunes became a member of the board of directors of CyVolve.

In 2018, Helder Antunes became the Chief Executive Officer of CyVolve.

Helder Antunes joined Cisco Systems in 1998 as Senior Manager of Engineering, focusing on embedding security protocols into Cisco IOS.

In 2003, Helder Antunes was promoted to Director of Engineering, Global Solutions, and Network Services.

From January 2012 to December 2013, Helder Antunes served as Managing Director of the Cisco IoT Group and directed the Smart Connected Vehicles Initiative, a part of the Connected Industries Group, which seeks to network vehicles and standardize on the underlying networking platform.

Since 2013, Helder Antunes has served as Senior Director of Corporate Strategic Innovation, with the intent to resolve market disruptions, identify and foster innovative initiatives, and conduct Cisco's market strategy and leadership in IT.

Helder Antunes was a keynote speaker at the NASA-sponsored conference held at Ames Research Center, in July 2015, concerning the development of air regulations for drones.

Helder Antunes stressed the role of drones in the future of the Internet of Things, which Helder Antunes is actively involved in through Cisco.

In November 2015, Helder Antunes was named as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the newly formed OpenFog Consortium, a consortium founded by tech giants Microsoft, Cisco, Dell, Intel, ARM Holdings, and Princeton University, for the standardization and promotion of fog computing.

Helder Antunes was unanimously reelected as OpenFog Chairman in September 2017.

Helder Antunes was a member of the Fog World Congress 2017 Steering Committee and a keynote speaker at the inaugural Fog World Congress in Santa Clara, California.

In 2018, Helder Antunes was listed in the inaugural EDGE 50, naming the world's top 50 influencers in edge computing.

Helder Antunes has been cited as an important person behind the installation of Cisco Systems in Portugal.

Helder Antunes was a key member in establishing the Cisco laboratory in Portugal and Cisco Portugal as a whole.

In 2018, Helder Antunes became Senior Advisor to Armilar Venture Partners, a Portuguese venture capital firm.

Alongside his partner at Pereira Ventures, Armando Pereira, Helder Antunes often assist in the collaboration of businesses in Silicon Valley with start-ups within the tech industry and otherwise in the Azores.

Helder Antunes is a counselor to the Rede Prestige Acores, a network of notable Azoreans hosted by the Azorean government with the intent of development and knowledge dissemination for the benefit of the Azores.

In 2012, Helder Antunes was included in a list, compiled by the Regional Government of the Azores, of the Most Notable People from the Azores.

Helder Antunes has three children: Francesca Alexandria, Christian Thomas, and Giancarlo.

Helder Antunes was a guest of the Government of Norway at the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize.

Helder Antunes is included in a list, compiled by the Regional Government of the Azores, of the Most Notable People from the Azores, listing internationally recognized and noteworthy Azoreans.