We’ve assembled a highly-qualified, experienced, and motivated group that are excited to move products from concept to completion.
Lusio Filiba
Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Director
Lusio Filiba has been in business since 2005. He has owned restaurants in South Africa and in Spain. After a successful 15-year tenure, kick-starting 6 new companies on 3 continents, generating over $60mil in revenue, and conducting business in 7 languages; Lusio is eager to kick-start this new entity.
Lusio wants to propel Botanix Aeroponix Inc. to exceedingly high-levels of growth, profitability, license opportunities, creating a consumer product as well as a restaurant supply-chain model. Botanix Aeroponix differentiator is the fact that its IP is patented in and by way of a merchandisable product line. Lusio has Patented several internationally recognized and protected technologies. He has also successfully completed “first-of-kind” projects for the World Bank, The United States Senate in Washington D.C. (The Capitol), US Capitol Police, FIFA, BIG Data, and won master service level agreements for projects for US Critical Infrastructure and Energy as well as, most Fortune 500 Companies.
Andrew Levetown
Chief Operating Officer, Director
Andrew Levetown is a seasoned senior executive and an experienced litigator and corporate attorney. He is a former Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, a former associate attorney with Reed Smith and a partner at Ivey Levetown, LLP.
He served as managing director and regional counsel for Kroll Associates, a global security and risk management firm, as a senior managing director and counsel for DSFX, a similar firm. He was a co- Founder and CEO of CoreFacts, LLC, which he sold to First Advantage, a publicly traded risk management firm spun off from First American Corp. After the sale of CoreFacts to First Advantage, Andrew served as the President of a division of First Advantage. He later served as a managing director of FTI Consulting’s Global Risk Management Group and as the President of SunBlock Systems, Inc., a risk management firm focused on security, corporate compliance and forensic services.
Sam Burkholder
General Council, Director
Sam Burkholder will join the board of directors. He has wide-ranging experience in diverse aspects of patent law, including patent preparation and prosecution, opinions, and litigation. His practice is concentrated in the areas of patent prosecution, client counseling, and development of validity and infringement opinions. Sam has extensive experience in the preparation and prosecution of patent applications, particularly in the chemical and chemical process arts.
Sam’s specific technical expertise includes numerous areas of chemical related subjects, for example, nanotechnology, preparation of nanosized materials, automobile emission control systems, catalysts, polymers, propellants and coatings.
Roger Balettie
Chief Digital Officer, Technology Consultant
Roger Balettie has a unique professional background ranging from working in NASA’s Space Shuttle Mission Control as a Flight Dynamics Officer to Technical Project Management as a certified Project Management Professional (PMP™) to creative web design and software development.
Roger was able to take his leadership skills acquired from leading the flight dynamics team during 26 Space Shuttle missions (10 as Lead FDO) and apply them to leading diverse, distributed, and varying size teams. Being able to take projects from concept to completion has been one of the hallmarks of Roger’s career. Providing this guidance for various projects within the Botanix Aeroponix team will be a primary focus.
Dustin Cox
Governmental Liaison Officer
For years Dustin Cox has kept complicated house committees untangled and on track to get the people’s business done. Now in the private sector, Dustin has proven his ability to utilize his knowledge base to find innovative companies and uncover opportunities.
Dustin has raised 60 million in government funding for his clients. He has guided companies through crises and eliminated business-killing legislation. On one incredible occasion, he created a governmental department to stabilize an entire industry.
Andrew Cates
Governmental Liaison Officer
Andrew Cates is Co-Founder and Senior Partner at Salient Strategies, a premier government and public affairs consulting firm in Austin, Texas. His clients include associations, corporations, and nonprofits in industries with broad interests at the Texas Capitol.
Andrew provides legal counsel as Owner of Cates Legal Group PLLC to candidates, political action committees, and nonprofits in local, state, and federal election and campaign law. He is the author of Texas Ethics Laws Annotated, the first and only complete legal annotation of campaign finance and lobby laws in Texas, now in the 6th edition. Cates is also a contributing author for the Texas Legislative Law Handbook, 3rd edition. He is currently the Chair of the Next Generation Lobbyist Group with the Professional Advocacy Association of Texas (www.paat.org)
Chris Sanchez
Governmental Liaison Officer
Chris J. Sanchez is a legislative professional with over 13 years of experience in Texas politics and has completed six legislative sessions. Sanchez currently serves as a Senior Partner of Salient Strategies, a full-service government affairs firm based in Austin,
Texas.
During his career, he has accumulated experience in some of the most senior levels of government in Texas, including with the former Chairman of the prestigious Sunset Advisory Commission and a two-time House Appropriations subcommittee Chairman. Sanchez has passed legislation that has impacted some of the most important industries in Texas, including transportation, cybersecurity, and health care. The relationships he has cultivated through his legislative successes have made him well known amongst policymakers and Capitol insiders.
Shawn Yu
Chief Product Designer
Shawn Yu is a visual designer from northern Virginia. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in painting from the New York Academy of Art and is a former university instructor.
Shawn has more than 5 years of experience in patent graphics and has facilitated the approval process of over 300 filed patents. He has created graphic images that clearly demonstrate the appearance and utility of inventions. He has also designed the appearance of filed patents.
Are you interested in learning more about what we're doing?
We are excited about the future of home and light commercial aeroponics.
There are many opportunities for growth in the industry and for qualified investors to participate in the development, refinement, and production of emerging technologies to meet this previously unaddressed market space.