ProtoLife's People
Norman Packard is cofounder and CEO of ProtoLife. He has over two decades of experience
in chaos theory, learning algorithms, predictive modeling of complex systems, statistical
analysis of evolution, artificial life and complex adaptive systems.
Packard has had proven success applying this experience in the business sector. Before
founding ProtoLife in 2004, he spent 13 years at Prediction Company, which he co-founded
in 1991. There, he assembled a team of world-class scientists and engineers to use learning
algorithms and statistical modeling for predicting financial markets. Prediction Company
had a long-standing exclusive relationship with Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), then the
world's 3rd largest financial institution, for the implementation
of a trading system based on proprietary predictive models and algorithms; UBS acquired
Prediction Company in 2005. Dr. Packard managed this strategic relationship from a seed
investment through to joint development. He served as CEO from 1997 to 2003, before
leaving his management position to become chairman of the board of directors for the company.
Prior to his move from academia to business in 1991, Packard was associate professor
of Physics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics
from the University of California at Santa Cruz (1983). He has also had a long-standing
involvement with the Santa Fe Institute, having served on its external faculty and
science steering committee.
Peter Zingg is ProtoLife's CTO. Zingg earned his bachelor's degree in Molecular Biophysics and
Biochemistry from Yale University before pursuing subsequent careers in architecture and
software engineering. Since 1988 he has worked for privately and publicly held software
companies designing and developing applications for consumers and professionals in the legal
and computer-aided design fields.
Prior to joining ProtoLife, Zingg was responsible for overseeing systems operations and in-house
software development at a technology-infused public school district in the San Francisco Bay Area,
where he built, deployed, integrated and maintained a complex variety of systems
around student, staff and community data and communications.