About Us Management Team

Chouki Aktouf - Ph.D. President and CTO

Prior to founding DeFacTo, Dr. Aktouf was an associate professor of Computer Science at the University of Grenoble 2 and leader of the dependability research group within the INPG (Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble), where more than 18 man-years of work were applied to what is now DeFacTo's unique approach to design for test (DFT). He holds a PhD in Electric Engineering from INPG (France) and did post-doctoral research in the electrical engineering department at University of Southern California in Los Angeles and Dalhousie University in Canada.

A member of the IEEE and TTTC, Dr. Aktouf has more than 15 years experience in design and test and in fault-tolerance. As well as leading several international research projects in the USA (DARPA), Canada (NSERC) and Europe, he has published more than 150 scientific publications in international conferences, periodicals, magazines and several book chapters.

Besides the challenge of making DeFacTo a success, Dr. Aktouf also is working on coming back to the international level in handball.

James F. Girand - President, U.S. Operations

Founder James Girand holds an electrical engineering degree from Duke University and an MBA from Harvard University. In 1996, he was named the Distinguished Engineering Alumnus of the year by Duke University for his role as cofounder of the $41 million Design Automation Technology Center.

Mr. Girand began his career in 1964 with the Hewlett Packard Company. In the 1980s, he held positions as vice president of sales and/or marketing in Calma, Cadence Design Systems, Weitek, and Verifone, companies that specialized in design automation, advanced logic processors and credit card verification terminals. In these companies, the signature of his work was thoughtful creation of sales strategies to penetrate market leaders.

In 1988, Mr. Girand began a consulting and investment practice, Technology Strategies & Investments, focused on high technology companies, specifically on design automation software. Technology Strategies and Investments focused on the development and execution of business, marketing and sales strategies.

Mr. Girand is an internationally competitive duathlete and former US National Champion. He has been selected by Inside Triathlon Magazine as an age-group All American each year from 1993 through 2004.