Green engineering

John Webley got his start in Telecom Valley in 1987, building technology in his spare time in a garage workshop.

That technology became part of Petaluma's Advanced Fibre Communications, an optical networking company he co-founded in 1992. Advanced Fibre reached a market value of $6 billion, went public and was sold to Tellabs Inc. in 2004.

Webley later started another telecommunications equipment maker, Petaluma's Turin Networks.

Now Webley is turning his attention to a new technology frontier: green engineering.

The Santa Rosa man is chief executive officer of PAX Streamline, a spinoff of PAX Scientific, a San Rafael company that designs energy-efficient products using natural principles.

"We're at the beginning of clean tech," said Webley, 50. "It's the next big thing."

The venture-backed spinoff in Novato is working on super-efficient wind generators, water turbines, pumps, heat exchangers, aircraft components and other kinds of industrial equipment.

"The motivation here isn't getting rich quick," Webley said. "This is all about sustainability. We're trying to fix the world."

PAX Streamline was created in January with a capital infusion from Khosla Ventures, a Menlo Park-based technology investment fund.

The parties didn't disclose the amount of the deal, but CNet News reported that Khosla invested $6 million with the promise of another $6 million if the company meets certain business milestones.

PAX Scientific retained an interest in the spinoff.

PAX Streamline will use PAX Scientific's patented technology to build innovative products, Webley said.

"They've handed me the technology," he said. "It's my job to figure out what do with it." He joined the company in March.

The spinoff is working on prototypes and hopes to have products ready for the market in two years, he said.

PAX Scientific was founded in 1997 by Jay Harman, an Australian naturalist and inventor who started a series of technology, industrial and medical companies.

PAX Scientific is based on Harman's "streamlining principle," which uses the physics found in nature to overcome friction, reduce drag and create streamlined flows of liquid or air for industrial equipment.

PAX Scientific licenses its technology to other companies and develops products through its own subsidiaries.

Currently, the technology is being used in air flow, liquid mixing and wastewater management.

PAX Streamline has about a dozen engineers but could double in size by the end of the year, Webley said. The spinoff's first products could be used in next-generation heating and air conditioning systems, he said.

Webley was attracted to the company because there's so much opportunity in the clean technology space, he said.

"The market is substantially bigger than telecom," he said. "Clean tech is the darling of Wall Street."

Webley isn't done with Telecom Valley, however. He remains chairman of Turin Networks' board and sits on the boards of two other Sonoma County tech startups, Clovis Solutions and Red Condor Inc.

You can reach Staff Writer Steve Hart at 521-5205 or steve.hart@pressdemocrat.com.