In 2001, Robert Schena co-founded Rajant Corporation, the pioneer of Kinetic Mesh® Networks. Mr. Schena has successfully grown this once small startup in Wayne, Pennsylvania to have a strong international presence in a broad array of markets including military, industrial, transportation, utilities, and telecommunications. Today Rajant is doing business in over 75 countries with large global partners and has offices across the U.S., including offices in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Kentucky, and Alabama.

In 1999, Robert Schena co-founded Airclic, Inc., a wireless application and scanning company and raised $15 million from a group led by Goldman Sachs and Blue Capital Management. Motorola and Symbol Technologies forged a partnership to acquire Airclic and closed a $287 million financial round as well as the contribution of intellectual property in excess of $162 million. Also, in 1999, Mr. Schena participated in the founding of World Wide Packets, a Gigabit Ethernet company.

In 1996, Mr. Schena successfully obtained for his company an FCC license to provide an Open Video System, becoming the first one to do so. In 2004, he was successful in changing U.S. telecommunications regulations, resulting in obtaining the first FCC license for broadband services delivered in the U.S. from a Canadian satellite.

In 1992, Schena founded FutureVision of America (FVA), forging a partnership with Bell Atlantic to commercially launch the first video dial tone and digital TV over television. FVA was successfully sold to Bell Atlantic.Prior to founding FVA, Schena served as the CFO, Treasurer, Vice President of Finance and Vice President of Marketing for Harron Communications.

Mr. Schena was appointed to the State of Pennsylvania’s Ben Franklin Technology Board by Governor Ridge in 2001, reappointed by Governor Rendell in 2004 and 2008, and reappointed by Governor Wolf in 2016. He serves on the Board of the Methodist Home for Children. In late 2010, Mr. Schena was named to Governor Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Transition Team. Mr. Schena sits on the Kentucky EPSCoR Board as well as the Morehead State University Foundation Board.

Mr. Schena earned a B.A. degree in Business Administration from Temple University and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He has lectured extensively on broadband communications to professional and corporate organizations.

In 1984, Paul Hellhake founded ROI Computer Services, Inc., a technology integration firm which has worked for a prestigious list of clients. Next, he co-founded and was Managing Director of FutureVision of America Corp., which developed and deployed the nation’s first commercial ATM, switched-digital, fiber-to-the-curb network and was sold to Bell Atlantic, Corp. in 1996. Mr. Hellhake also served as Chief Technology Officer of TelQuest Satellite Systems, LLC, a satellite uplink communications company, which was sold to MCI in 1999.

Mr. Hellhake holds a U.S.A patent for his invention of an Interactive Broadband Multimedia System. He has been quoted as an expert in numerous publications including Interactive Week, Discover, Science and he has been interviewed on TV programs such as Nightline, CNN, Walter Cronkite’s Universe and a PBS technology special.

Mr. Hellhake holds a B.S. degree and an M.B.A. degree in Technology Management.

David Schena is responsible for corporate accounting and financial oversight. As member of the executive management team, Mr. Schena is responsible for the company’s finances, supervising audits, shareholder relations, human resources, implementing financial controls and advising the Board of Directors. As an officer, Mr. Schena is Treasurer and Assistant Secretary.

Previously, Mr. Schena was the VP of Finance for Digital Broadband Applications Corp and responsible for reviving its intellectual property which facilitated the formation of Rajant Corporation. Mr. Schena has extensive experience in network integration and previously specialized in CIO functions for small businesses. This expertise was utilized during Rajant’s startup phase.

Mr. Schena received a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University and a B.A. degree in Business Administration from Temple University.

Formerly Rajant’s Senior Vice President of Finance and Operations, Diana Logue is now the Chief Operating Officer for Rajant. Ms. Logue maintains and directs daily operations of the business, including accounting, human resources, legal, strategic planning, reporting, financial analysis, project management, month-end close processes, budgeting, and inventory control.

For fifteen years prior to being Senior VP, Ms. Logue held a number of positions in the financial and accounting arena with increasing levels of responsibility including end-of-year auditing over-sight, leasing arrangements and contracts, tax reconciliation and reporting, and training of support staff. Ms. Logue also serves as Corporate Secretary and works closely with the company’s board of directors. Prior to her arrival at Rajant, she was the Controller at the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce.

Ms. Logue obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from West Chester University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Maryland.

Mr. Michael J. Van Rassen graduated from the University of Toledo and was commissioned in the Ordnance Corps in 1985. He earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from George Mason University in 1996. He is a combat veteran of Operation Just Cause and Desert Storm. Mr. Van Rassen has 20 years of Acquisition experience in uniform and as an Army Civilian.

Mr. Van Rassen started the C-RAM effort in the summer of 2004 and led that effort until his retirement from Federal Service in 2016. During this tenure, he led acquisition efforts in Command & Control, Missiles, Guns, Radars, and Communications. He is the past recipient of the Army Product Manager of the year, The Superior Civilian Service Award, and 2017 inductee to the Air, Space, Missile Defense Distinguished Civilians Wall of Honor.

Mr. Van Rassen received a bachelor degree from The University of Toledo and a M.B.A. degree in Business Administration George Mason University – School of Business.

Geoff Smith has over 25 years of experience designing, managing, marketing, and selling innovative communication solutions. He started his career at AT&T Bell Labs developing high-speed modem technologies before landing management roles at Agere Systems and Lucent Technologies, where he led the Modem, DSL, and Wireless R&D teams to achieve 350 million dollars in revenue in six years.

Mr. Smith continued to excel in his career by holding several senior executive positions at Proxim Wireless. During his tenure, he significantly increased global sales by identifying value-added resellers, integrators, and distributors, as well as uncovering end-use opportunities.

In 2015, Mr. Smith founded Wave Mobile Solutions, a pioneer in outdoor wireless communications specializing in vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) DSRC (Dedicated Short-Range Communications) radios for autonomous vehicles and served as the Managing Director.

Mr. Smith joined Rajant as Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing in 2017 with a focus on growing Rajant’s V2X sales in IIoT markets and driving the company’s global expansion. He oversees multiple teams to ensure partners and end-user companies understand how the breadth of Rajant solutions can help achieve strategic advantages in their respective markets.

Mr. Smith received a B.S. degree in Business Analysis from Miami University.

Marty Lamb is primarily responsible for software and firmware development for all of Rajant’s products. He is also the designer and implementer of Rajant’s cryptographic architecture and leader of Rajant’s FIPS 140-2 and other cryptographic validation efforts.

Outside of Rajant, Mr. Lamb is the creator and maintainer of several open source software projects as owner of Martian Software, Inc. He was a presenter at the 2004 Spam Conference and his projects have been covered in Jonathan Zdiarski’s book “Ending Spam” and the developer journal JavaMagazin. His NailGun Java application server is included in the JRuby implementation of the Ruby programming language.

Highlights of Mr. Lamb’s work prior to Rajant include providing the full lifecycle of custom software solutions as a Software Architect at ROI Computer Services, Inc., providing network consulting services and developing network topology analysis software as a Member of Technical Staff at Bell Communications Research (Bellcore), and developing hardware and software for services on the nation’s first residential fiber-to-the-curb optic network as a Project Engineer at FutureVision of America.

Mr. Lamb holds a B.S. degree in Computer Engineering from Lehigh University and an M.B.A. degree in New Ventures and Entrepreneurship from Penn State University.

Dave Acker leads technology research with a focus on wireless, routing, single board computers / embedded systems, and IoT. He is also the lead designer and implementer of the InstaMesh protocol used in all of Rajant’s products. Dave is the co-author of 7 patents or patent applications with Rajant.
Dave‘s work prior to Rajant included leading the development of an embedded InfiniBand Subnet Manager as a Technical Lead Engineer at SilverStorm. The Subnet Manager handled all routing in an InfiniBand network used in high performance computing and ran on 288 port switches for networks of 1000s of ports. Dave also handled all Windows driver development and certification for a fibre channel / RAID storage adapter while at Unisys.

Dave holds a B.S. degree in Computer Science from West Chester University and an M.S. in Computer Engineering from Villanova University.

As Vice President of Sales for the Americas, Mr. Chandra is responsible to continue the growth of Rajant business in various vertical segments including mining, ports and public safety. Mr. Chandra possesses more than 16 years of experience in providing fleet management solutions for the mining industry worldwide. He has also successfully worked with ports in various countries to help improve real-time connectivity leading to improvements in operational and maintenance practices.

Mr. Chandra joined Rajant after serving as Services Director, Americas for Geovia. Prior, he was with Modular Mining Systems, holding a variety of titles, including GM, North America. In 2014, Mr. Chandra’s initial responsibility was a specific objective to grow Rajant’s business in Central and South America.

Mr. Chandra received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a M.B.A. degree from the University of Arizona. He is fluent in English, Spanish and Hindi/Gujarati.

Moving from her three-year accomplishments as Rajant’s Associate Vice President of Marketing, Alice DiSanto became Vice President of Global Marketing in September 2021. Her public and media relations efforts, as well as her work with Rajant’s sales team, staff, strategic partners, and channel, focused on business development with a prioritization on voice-of-customer insights. That experience continues to inform Ms. DiSanto as she leads Rajant’s marketing team dedicated to expanding worldwide market presence, demand generation, brand awareness, growth strategy, and channel engagement.

Before Rajant, Ms. DiSanto was with Sharp Electronics and positioned their first-ever outdoor robot to earn five industry awards within the initial 18 months, a distinction unmatched by other early entries to the ground-based robotics security market. Ms. DiSanto conceived and curated Robolliance, the security industry’s original awareness forum, founded by Sharp, to drive understanding and adoption of autonomous technology.

Ms. DiSanto currently serves the Security Industry Association (SIA) as a founding Women in Security Forum (WISF) steering committee member. Within SIA’s WISF, she is the Charitable Giving chairperson with the purpose to galvanize security industry professionals to do good works of charitable impact throughout the United States. In March 2022, Ms. DiSanto was awarded SIA’s Chairperson of the Year and earned her place in the inaugural SIA WISF Power 100.

Ms. DiSanto graduated magna cum laude from Susquehanna University with a dual major in marketing and human resource management and was an Alpha Lambda Delta University Scholar.

As Vice President of Systems for Rajant Corporation, Don Gilbreath focuses his 30+ years of product development, engineering project management, and specialized technical sales on extreme industrial IoT opportunities for Rajant’s industrial wireless communications technology. Mr. Gilbreath’s specialty in video, sensor, and computer-based products makes him a sought-after resource for such research organizations as DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and the Pennsylvania Drone Association. Much of Mr. Gilbreath’s work is documented on the Rajant Systems YouTube channel. There you will find international recognition for Mr. Gilbreath’s collaboration with UK’s Team Tao and their quest for the $7M Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE to autonomously map the seafloor. Collectively in 2019, Team Tao was awarded the first-ever $200K “Moonshot Award” for their innovative approach using autonomous swarm system technology.

Before Rajant, Mr. Gilbreath provided specialized R&D expertise to General Electric, Johnson Controls, TCI, Standard & Poor’s, and Commodore International. He developed and launched, or licensed over 30 computer-based products, including musical instruments, multimedia players, internet access devices, set-top boxes, and IP video and sensor systems. Mr. Gilbreath has broad experience in directing international engineering teams, vendor negotiations, licensing, patents, offshore manufacturing, and the launching of innovative products to world markets. He holds and has worked on many patented products worldwide. His board memberships include serving as ComCam International – Chairman/CTO (1998-2015) and VisCorp – Director/CTO (1994-1997).

For over a decade, Steven Griggs has served Rajant Corporation in various technical roles. As Vice President of Sales Engineering, Steven Griggs incorporates 20+ years of professional design, project management, onsite fieldwork, product management, channel/customer/staff technical training, and telecommunications industry experience to Rajant’s global engineering staff which he oversees. 

Mr. Griggs joined Rajant in 2007 as the first applications Sales Engineer for the company. Notably, Mr. Griggs worked on Rajant’s inaugural US mine deployments as well as the groundbreaking testing and launch of coach-to-
coach communications for the NFL. In 2017, he was promoted to Director of Sales Engineering, where he developed the Rajant technical training program, which is a requirement for the worldwide sales channel and employees. 

With a specialization in Technology Management, Mr. Griggs earned a Business Management degree from Saint Leo University following an Electrical Engineering Technology two-year degree from Thomas Nelson Community College. He received nine years of practical military field training as an Electronics Technician for the United States Navy. In the US Navy, he was stationed onboard the USS Manitowoc, followed by US Naval Special Warfare Group Two, Mobile Commutations Team. After leaving active service, Mr. Griggs began a six-year career with Harris RF Communications as a Technical Trainer and Field Engineer. Then, he went on to BAE Systems in Chesapeake, Virginia, as a Systems Engineering Technologist. Mr. Griggs was deployed to Iraq on two separate occasions in direct support of the war
effort. Currently, Mr. Griggs is in candidacy for a Master’s in Religious and Theological Studies from Seton Hall.

Chad Mercer has led Rajant’s Information Assurance Team since 2016. Mr. Mercer possesses over 25 years of technical leadership experience in embedded network security design and development for both commercial as well as military secure communication markets. Mr. Mercer’s professional expertise has and continues to be, focused on embedded security cryptographic module design. This knowledge includes Secure Boot software design, FPGA design, and ASIC design. He is responsible for Rajant’s North America Southwest team, which is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Before his time with Rajant, Mr. Mercer worked for Harris (formally Exelis/ITT), Corrent Corporation, and Intel. He received a BSEE degree in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University.

Charles ONeill is responsible for the development and management of Rajant’s intellectual property portfolio, including patents, trademarks and licensing. Mr. ONeill also oversees the crafting and negotiation of worldwide distributor and reseller agreements, as well as other transactional matters. He is responsible for the institution of and management of Export Administration Regulations compliance programs, and upholding compliance for FCC, EAR, ITAR, CE, RoHS and other matters.

Prior to Rajant, Mr. ONeill was principal at Law Offices of Charles ONeill, where he ran a statewide litigation practice concentrating in professional liability, criminal defense and business litigation with emphasis on risk reduction, contract coordination/management and general counsel function for educational institution and corporate clients.

Mr. ONeill received a B.S. degree from Cornell University and a Doctor of Law (JD) doctorate degree from Widener University School of Law. He also received a Master of Laws (LLM) degree in Legal Advocacy from Temple University’s James E. Beasley School of Law.

As the Vice President of Global Energy at Rajant, Mr. Rivero is responsible for working and engaging with clients who seek to implement a secure, reliable IIoT and mobility strategy for their Oil & Gas operations. He works closely with the clients to develop a strategic technology transition plan that ensures a reliable and secure migration of technologies. Fluent in both English and Spanish, Mr. Rivero has over 30 years of experience in various roles, ranging from staff engineer and project manager to operations management and technology management within the Chevron companies. He also has extensive IT/OT integration project experience having worked with SAP, JDE, ESRI and a variety of automation and SCADA/DCS solutions for upstream, midstream refining, and petrochemical.

Mr. Rivero received a B.S. degree in Computational Mathematics from the University of California and a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from California State University.

Erich Smidt has over 25 years of experience working in technical sales and product management with remote sensing, high-precision navigation, and mobile safety systems in the aerospace, meteorological, automotive, and mining industries, for companies such as Teledyne, Trimble, and Hexagon/Leica Geosystems. Prior to joining Rajant, he was active in the area of LiDAR sensing for autonomous driving/ADAS, ITS, Industrial automation/robotics, and security where he founded and was VP/Managing Director of the EMEIA operations for Velodyne Lidar and Innovusion.

Mr. Smidt has been an advocate of Rajant technology since 2008 when he first needed a solution for high-reliability communications for GNSS augmentation systems. He joined Rajant in 2023 and looks forward to further expanding the company’s contribution to the EMEA market.

Mr. Smidt received a BA in Russian/International Studies from Arizona State University and an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Bernard Taliaferro is the Vice President of Global Channels at Rajant Corporation. Mr. Taliaferro joined Rajant in October 2016 as Channel Director before moving on to his current position. He is responsible for developing and maintaining Rajant’s global network of value-added distributors, the Rajant Kinetic Mesh Partner Program, and the sales operations & support team.

Mr. Taliaferro has over 35 years of IT experience with over two decades in wireless. During his 20+ years in wireless, he has held Consultant, Sales, Sales Engineer, Product Management, and Channel
Management roles with a focus on Wi-Fi, Mesh, microwave, and fixed broadband wireless solutions.  

Before joining Rajant , Mr. Taliaferro established a record of accomplishment as the Director of Channels at Ericsson and BelAir Networks, Regional Technical Manager for Motorola’s Broadband Wireless division, Product Manager for Broadband Wireless at TESSCO Technologies, and Sr. WAN Engineer for The City of Baltimore and USDA. These roles armed him with the professional acumen, technical knowledge, attention to detail, and customer service and support skills that allow him to communicate effectively with persons at all levels within an organization to drive towards results.