Aurelius Prochazka, PhD

UPDATE: Click here to visit aure.com for most recent information on Aure.

Aurelius Prochazka, PhD is an author, scientist, and musician. He is the co-author of the best-selling book RailsSpace: Building a Social Networking Website with Ruby on Rails and taught Software Engineering For Web Applications at the California Institute of Technology and the University of California at Los Angeles. 

Aure began his career at the California Institute of Technology  analyzing the aerodynamic stability of the F-117A Stealth Fighter and worked on computational fluid dynamics for his PhD thesis. While working on his PhD thesis, he began experimenting with web applications and founded a successful internet applications company called Creative Internet Design in 1995 where he built the first website to sell concert tickets online for Lollapalooza '96. In his second startup company in 1998 ArsDigita Corporation he built the web's first online social networks. At ArsDigita, he was Vice President of Operations and ran the Los Angeles office, generating revenue at the rate of several million dollars per year.

In 2007, Aure co-founded Cool Earth Solar where he developed software to run industrial solar power plants. In 2011, his proposal entitled “Portable Low-cost Meteorological Station for Solar Resource Measurement and Forecasting” was selected for funding by the California Energy Commission and was awarded a grant of $95,000.

Aure also loves music and has developed music education software for over 10 years. In 2011, he released a demo of his product Guitar Games at the Annual Maker Faire and at Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo, California where people played his game using an electric guitar.  Download Aure's Resume


On Friday, October 28, 2011, Aure presented at the Graduate Aerospace Lab at Caltech in Pasadena, California. He was invited to be a speaker and panelist at the GALCIT Entrepreneurs' Forum.  Aure presented a humorous and informative presentation about his experiences as an entrepreneur. In this Video Clip below, Aure gives poignant advice and suggestions to upcoming graduates of GALCIT interested in starting businesses.

“Aurelius Prochazka is a confluence of amazing talents--incredible technical skill, empathy, design sense and communications ability. He always augments the quality of any project that he's associated with, always arrives at solutions to hard problems sooner than anyone else. Aure seems to work best by building on his considerable and varied experiences to extend the horizons of his comfort zone ever outward. He's always curious, always learning, always open to new ideas and new means of communication. Speaking as a project manager, it's a rare privilege to work with a developer of such high caliber who also has the capacity to appreciate and embrace the needs of all constituents--be they clients, end users, programmers, designers, writers. Speaking as a creative director, I can add that Aure extends the thinking on any project to higher levels. Speaking as a collaborator, Aure brings a sense of calmness, earnestness and gentle humor to even the most complicated and deadline-driven projects. Working with Aure is a sheer pleasure. I recommend him without reservation.” April 7, 2008
Gail Anderson, Director, Electronic Media Publications, Caltech

“One of the smartest people I've ever met. I could always rely on him for frank feedback, accurate technical assessments and reliable execution on our projects. Hired great people too. He rolled up his sleeves and did the tough work himself when needed.” February 12, 2007
Paul Giordano, VP Professional Services Sales, ArsDigita
Worked directly with Aurelius at ArsDigita


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