Co-Founder of Zhone Technologies Killed in Plane Crash

Jeanette Symons, a well-known Silicon Valley entrepreneur and experienced pilot, died on Friday, 01-February-2008, when the Cessna Citation C525 that she was piloting crashed in storm in Maine. Also killed in the plane crash was Symons' ten-year old son. She leaves behind a seven-year old daughter, her parents and two brothers. News reports cite a mixture of sleet, freezing rain, and snow at the time of the accident.


Ms. Symons was currently leading Industrious Kid, a start-up whose mission is to develop world class social networking destinations and solutions just for kids and tweens.


In the networking community, Symons is known for her work as co-founder of Zhone Technologies, where she served as Chief Technology Officer and Vice President, Engineering. Prior to Zhone, Symons was Chief Technical Officer and Executive Vice President of Ascend Communications, Inc., which Symons co-founded, from January 1989 until June 1999 when the company was purchased by Lucent Technologies for $24 billion. In addition, Symons was a software engineer at Hayes Microcomputer, a modem manufacturer, where she developed and managed its ISDN program.http://www.industriouskid.com