John Rockwell
Venture Partner
John complements the Tramway team with his experience and connectivity in physics and engineering. These are disciplines that are key to many of the “convergent” technologies that Tramway Venture Partners sees in New Mexico. As an officer in the US Air Force, John worked in R&D on large laser systems, landing gear and cryogenic coolers. After leaving the Air Force, he was an executive with Chromex, a leading manufacturer of Raman spectrometers. After two decades at the helm, John recently sold Marpac, a medical device manufacturer and Sierra Peaks, an engineering firm. An enthusiastic, innovative thinker, John is a community leader, previously serving on the Board of the Manufacturing Extention Partnership and the Economic Forum of Albuquerque. He current serves on the New Mexico Workforce Development Board.
Why New Mexico
"I came to New Mexico in 1978 for the Air Force. Partly, for the mountains, but I was mainly drawn by the opportunity to work on huge laser weapon systems and building leading edge optical technologies alongside really smart people. New Mexico has always been one of the best places to work on R&D projects and to push the boundaries of science and technology. While the type of R&D is what brought me here, I decided to stay because building businesses is also a big passion of mine and I’ve been able to merge the two of the things I love here in New Mexico. The sunshine isn’t bad either."