Cezar Kolodziej
Outstanding Achievement Award
PhD '97 | Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
About
Cezar Kolodziej is an experienced technologist, innovator, and entrepreneur and a graduate of UIC, where he received his PhD in electrical engineering and computer science. Most recently, he founded Drivebox Automation, a startup to develop a machine-learning based, commercially-deployable, intelligent cruise-control platform for Class 8 trucks. Cezar also co-founded Iris Mobile/Persio (now Clutch), a startup that revolutionized direct mobile marketing and has been used by top U.S. retailers including Express, Victoria’s Secret, H&M, and Joann Fabrics to execute mobile messaging campaigns.
Prior to his startup career, Cezar was chief architect at Motorola for the company’s Networks Division and worked on the first U.S. Multimedia Messaging Service Center, which processes more than three billion picture messages a day (or 31 percent of the entire picture-messaging traffic)—the largest and most scalable MMSC solution successfully deployed in the U.S. to date. Cezar has published countless articles and whitepapers on mobile marketing, mobile technology, and security and privacy issues in top retail and marketing industry magazines. He is also a frequent guest speaker and panelist for the largest digital marketing conferences. Cezar currently serves on the UIC College of Engineering Advisory Board. He lives in Chicago and enjoys traveling and visiting new countries and cultures whenever he gets a chance.