Setting a new security agenda

For twenty years, I have been at the intersection of technology and business. I’ve focused on the business need, pain point or strategy, then utilized technology to help realize the opportunity. As a management consultant, I’ve done this with global companies in the United States and Europe, and at software companies, I’ve helped global customers in different industries use software to improve their competitive position.

Now, I’m humbled by the opportunity to apply sensors, software and data to help make the world a safer place. I’m focused on bringing a collaborative approach to our customers, our team and an ecosystem of innovators to achieve our mission. Software may be eating the world, but sensors will make it safer.

My passion in work is to apply image processing and automatic detection algorithms in a meaningful way to make a positive impact in the world. This is how I came to work in the aviation security industry for the past 17 years, and why I’m continuing the mission at Evolv, where the scope broadens to physical security in general. Finding ways to capture the human decision-making process in numbers is a fascinating challenge, and proving that an algorithm works on a full database, not just the easy cases, is also a compelling challenge. In the past I’ve been part of the team that did exactly this for multiple X-ray baggage scanners, helping systems achieve tough US and foreign certification standards.

Now I’m excited to be adapting the same strategy to Evolv’s new multi-sensor personnel scanner using novel image formation and classification algorithms to produce a new meaningful product that helps make the world a safer place.

In the past I’ve been involved in the development of physical security equipment that enabled and drove the screening of checked baggage throughout the aviation industry. This included everything from installing to writing software applications for to leading the development of sophisticated X-Ray based products.

Today I’m working with customers and regulators to understand and define concepts of operations and requirements for personnel screening products that must shape as well as adhere and scale to the ever evolving security environment.

I am a seasoned software engineering professional who has spent the majority of his career within startup companies playing roles from technical lead to co-founder. Throughout my career, I've helped to build massively scalable and reactive systems for multi-player video gaming, business & consumer facing services and defense-oriented R&D. My driving passion is to be involved in efforts that are both technically challenging and important to the public.

Evolv is the perfect environment for me to utilize my super powers to architect software on the bleeding edge of "human augmented AI" technology, and be part of an organization that shares my passion to ‘do good’, develop products to ensure public safety and security in a hostile world.

Ever since I can remember, I got excited about building new things. When I was 12, it was go-carts. My focus changed to cars through my more formative years (that one hasn’t gone away yet). After getting a physics degree from Colgate University, I got into the business side of high tech. I still love building new things, but truly enjoy working with a great team that’s applying advanced technology to solve hard problems.

Some things have to be believed to be seen! I’ve spent the last 20+ years in startup environments, where everyone has a chance to contribute to a common vision, puts both hands on an oar and pulls in the same direction. There’s nothing more exciting or satisfying than seeing a “eureka moment” transformed into a living, working thing that actually fulfills the original vision.

I learned all the important stuff from LEGOs. Before joining Evolv, I was fortunate enough to receive my PhD under the guidance of David R. Smith at Duke University, considered one of the founders of metamaterials research. I’ve come to appreciate metamaterials as a general set of rules for designing electromagnetic building blocks from scratch.

At Evolv, I’ve been able to build off this foundation in electromagnetics, working to develop novel numeric and analytic tools to complement the many diverse aspects of our physical security systems. It is through these tools that I am able to really impact the next generation of physical security devices, since, in the end, the difference between the complex and the routine is just having the right building blocks.

I’m an explorer. Throughout my career as an analyst, I’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunity to explore various functions of the business. I’ve worked to align the company’s finances with its operations, developed market analyses through interactions with companies worldwide, and coordinated with government customers to ensure we met the contract deliverables on time and on budget. One career path of mine involved days at the shooting range, but we won’t get into that here!

Today at Evolv, I’m CECH – chief executive cat herder. We have so much going on and someone has to keep everyone on track– that’s me! One day I’m managing operations with our accounting and facilities teams while reporting on a government contract, another day I’m compiling our software code with our technical team while cooking and mixing up simulants. I never know what to expect, and that’s how I like it.

September 11 th changed our sense of freedom. As a leader in the airline industry, I stood by as the security checkpoint morphed from gateway to barrier; I became convinced that the single biggest threat to our way of life was the paradox between freedom and security. Committed to change this, I joined the Transportation Security Administration with a passion to help restore the balance between FREEDOM and SECURITY and had the opportunity to help advance TSA’s current philosophy of Risked Based Security. As threats continue to shift, I am grateful to now be part of Evolv, where I can contribute to the deployment of technology that advances freedom in an insecure world.

I am on a journey to attain a degree at the college of life and working toward a degree to be humble in my learnings. Along the way, I work as passionately to bring quality to my life, as I do to engineering, product development and business. Continuously looking, analyzing and diligently iterating through reflection, presence and future to improve upon quality. Quality is at the forefront of my thoughts and views. My dreams are crystal clear and whatever I am seeing in my dreams is quality built - - my eyeglasses are no longer needed. I see the vision of quality beyond the sight of scope. I believe in my dream of quality and the need to bring quality to all we do.

Quality built, Toppie tough!

For the past 25 years, I have been an operations focused finance executive who has helped grow and lead five venture-financed companies to successful exits. This includes 2 software companies that went public and a manufacturer of portable instrumentation, which grew from $1Million to $80 Million in revenues in 6 years. I have built teams and systems to support rapid growth and have an extensive background in pricing and negotiation of both commercial and government contracts. I also have deep experience in mergers and acquisitions.

Today, I work with several emerging companies that are in the security technology and biotech markets. I am focused on deploying business support solutions that have a light footprint, low cost and are easy to use. I also am working closely with our business development team on pricing and contracts. I am interested in applying SaaS like models in both the internal systems we use and the solutions we provide which I believe can be mutually beneficial both the company and its customers.

I have worked in aerospace, medical devices and biotechnology focusing on the development and manufacture of complex instrumentation spanning technologies of optics, ultrasound, electromechanical and automation. My attention has shifted from the engineering of a device to development of the manufacturing processes and has expanded to all aspects of the operation in order to bring a product to completion.

Through the changes in markets, technology and roles, the theme that has tied all of my work together was a desire to help people. Whether designing an orbital camera to detect water in a desert or a transesophageal ultrasound probe for cardiac imaging to sample prep DNA gene sequencing, making a difference in people’s lives has driven me. Technology I helped bring to reality was used to improve a loved one’s health. At Evolv Technology, I have the opportunity to continue with this theme, expanding into the world of helping keep people and the places they live, work and play, safe.

I have always enjoyed developing control systems for machine automation. I have been developing control systems for 30 years and have had the opportunity to work on some very impressive equipment. From robotic assembly systems to high speed CT baggage scanners.

Today, I find myself developing a control system which involves advanced technologies and the fusion of multiple streams of data. It is a new and challenging type of control system. Bring it on!

Prior to joining Evolv as the Senior Sales Operations Analyst, I was in the renewable energy and IT industries. Having most recently been at Solectria Renewables and at Oracle, it was at Solectria where I developed a deep passion for the manufacturing and start-up space.

Bringing together many moving pieces of a sales organization so our processes are streamlined and our sales team is armed with the most up to date information and tools is what energizes me each day (not to mention, the rockin’ snacks @Evolv!). I’m looking forward to sky rocketing the Evolv sales team to the next level!

When I’m not at the office, I enjoy jet setting, cooking, and spending time with my two rescue pups, Isabelle and Tank.

My passion is to design mechanical systems from early stage concept to the final product in customer hands. I’ve helped design and engineered a wide array of complex systems from nuclear submarines to 3D printers to CT x-ray scanners. I focus on making complex products work all day, every day in a wide range of environments.

Taking ideas that start as a sketch on dry erase board and engineering a path to a cost effective final product has been a wonderful career for the past 22 years. Today at Evolv, I am part of a talented team designing another great product making the world a safer place.

After nearly 10 years as a U.S. Air Force officer and Department of Defense civilian manager, I moved to industry where I have focused on product and business development in the federal and international government space. I’ve been involved in developing and selling physical security products that make our transportation and law enforcement communities safer as well as equipping our warfighters with new sensors that facilitate their missions in very difficult environments.

Today I’m on the front line with our customers to better understand their needs and constraints, to make sure that our company is easy to work with and responsive, and to ensure that we are developing products that address their specific missions which are vital to national security.

I learned at an early age that I love to take things apart, figure out how they work and put them back together. With a degree in Computer Science from RPI, I’ve had the pleasure of doing this for 16+ years at companies in the consumer, mobile and defense industries.

I have architected patented mobile event reporting systems and crowdsourced decision support platforms for USSTRATCOM while at The MITRE Corporation, combining machine-to-machine data feeds with human judgment. As the Software Architect at Gadget Software, I developed a feature-rich mobile app ecosystem for real-time content distribution.

At Evolv I'm working to bring AI and Human Intelligence together to support security challenges that can't be solved by computers alone. When not working in bits and bytes, I can be found writing music or tearing into home renovation projects.

Finding beautiful software solutions to tough problems is my passion. I have had the joy to do exactly that for the last 30 years, in many fields gravitating around computer vision and imaging. For example, I created the core algorithms for the first explosive detection system ever deployed in airports worldwide.

Today, luck smiled on me again: I am hard at work creating algorithms and software architecture with a great team. We are applying amazing new technologies to the old problem of finding a needle in a haystack or rather, the bad guy in a crowd.

All 12 years of my professional career, I’ve worked in the airport security sector and it’s become my passion. I was a part of multiple teams that successfully designed and certified numerous X-ray baggage scanners. My responsibilities have ranged from SQA, SW Development to Technical Lead. At Evolv, as a System Engineer, I am working on diagnostic tools to analyze performance and limits for our products.

I’ve spent over 25 years working with imaging systems and their applications including high resolution special effects, image archiving, computer tomography and magnetic resonance, plus electron and light microscopy.

One of the things I enjoy most is being in the field and interacting with our customers – real people. With years of experience in manufacturing and engineering, and plenty of time in the ‘real world’, I have the unique ability to take what I learn outside of the lab and contribute practical application in the design of our products. The ultimate reward for me is being part of creating a solution that is meaningful and helps protect people, and save lives.

My two second natures – visual thinking and problem solving – have pushed me to learn about the magic of image processing. Throughout my undergraduate studies in computer science and PhD in computational science and engineering, I have worked on projects involving algorithm design and software development for image enhancement, feature detection, tracking, and multi‐sensor image registration.

As a computer vision engineer at Evolv, I’m shifting gears from medical to security applications. It is the utmost fun to work with a team of talented engineers, developers, and business professionals, and to be involved in the creation of innovative products, going from ideation to delivery.

Having previously worked with one of the founders and some of the team, joining Evolv was like coming home after a long absence. Familiar faces, people I trust and admire and the reassuring feeling that the incredible talent, teamwork and commitment, will make this journey an incredible one!

I love boating on Lake Geneva and every time I go out, it’s never the same feeling. The weather can change rapidly and it’s all about constantly adapting to the environment. It’s a lot of fun and sometimes challenging in stormy weather but it’s always a great satisfaction to bring the boat and passengers back to safe shores. Selling, like sailing: understand your environment, have a unique product and a great team behind you and you’ll always find your way through troubled waters!

Devoid of a higher education but blessed with technical propensity and an insatiable desire to construct equipment that works, I have worked with some exceedingly talented engineers in my 30 + year career. Some of our projects included: constructing equipment that measures continental plate drift via very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI), augmenting the airline industry’s cockpit digital messaging system with a global reach over HF radio, leveraging the existing infrastructure of copper telephone wires, and bringing the internet to the home in a meaningful way via DSL. Once again, I have the privilege and honor to work with a unique set of individuals with whom I share the mission of making the world a safer place. Let’s get to work!

Having been involved in security technology for the past thirty-five years, I never forget the scope and importance of our work. I am thrilled to share this passion with the rest of the Evolv team. In the end, whatever we do, we must help improve protection of people, their belongings and their freedom. This passion is only second to my family and my Alfa Romeo!

Working with organizations that make our world a safer place to live is my passion. Having translated this into a professional career, I’ve developed niche expertise in cargo and human scanning working with law enforcement agencies in the Middle East and India.

Excited about being part of Evolv, I’m responsible for Sales & Marketing in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent, leveraging my experience in all facets of business operations: business development, technical and project management. Outside of work, I train in Martial Arts and am currently graded Second Dan Black Belt in Shorin Ryu Seibukan Karate.

Being be on a winning team with the goal to design new and complicated systems and then drive them to a successful conclusion has always put me on the front line of emerging technologies. Whether it was designing electromechanical systems, assembling and testing space based telescopes for NASA, troubleshooting the Acela propulsion system, designing automated equipment or squeezing more efficiency out of an assembly line, the quest for technological adventure drives me. So when the opportunity came to join the advanced team of Engineers and Scientists at Evolv Technology, I took it. At Evolv Technology I can continue to do what I love most and that’s being on the front line of a new technology while being part of a winning team.

Over the last 30 years, I have been an Aussie delivering innovative explosive detection technologies and biometric solutions to customers throughout Asia Pacific and Japan. My passion is to enable our valued customers to fulfill their obligations in protecting people and property. At Evolv, it takes this to the next level. It’s a great privilege to be working with some of my old colleagues along with the amazing talented team at Evolv. Away from the office, my other interests include swimming, cycling and running, triathlons.

All my life, I've only ever had one speed: full throttle. When I get involved in something, I commit 100% - it consumes my time, energy and creativity. This is a useful trait, but it means that I need to be very careful to invest myself in things that are worthwhile.

When I first read Evolv's mission statement, I knew immediately that this is where I wanted to be. With a degree in electrical engineering and a background in security-related electromagnetic detection systems, I recognized this as a place where my passion and experience could be used to make a real difference in people's lives. If we succeed in our mission, Evolv systems will fundamentally reshape the way we think about security, potentially affecting millions of people along the way. Causes don't come much worthier than that.

So if the road to success is paved with long hours and elbow grease, I say "bring it on!". A little hard work is a small price to pay for the chance to do something that matters.”

For the past 25 years, I have been fortunate enough to pursue a profession that is also a passion of mine: the security of our nation and our allies around the globe. At the Central Intelligence Agency, I was responsible for a wide range of missions from counterterrorism to counterintelligence to counterproliferation, with a sharp focus on identifying and preempting threats to our livelihood and advancing stability in fragile regions of the world. It was exciting to then translate my passion to a new challenge at Palantir, where colleagues shared the same commitment to strengthening our nation and core institutions through innovative technology while placing a high premium on protection of privacy and civil liberties.

My exposure to the highly adaptive and iterative nature of cutting edge technologies has strengthened my belief that we can preserve a world where people thrive and operate freely while remaining safe and secure. I am very excited to now be working with the Evolv team of people who are pushing the envelope with game-changing technologies aimed precisely at the artful integration of security capabilities into our everyday pace of life in a way that helps preserve our core freedoms.

From investment banking to consulting to nonprofit management, the common thread woven throughout my career has been people. Attracting, engaging and working with talented people is the one constant that has kept me coming back for more.

I’m so excited to be able to play a role in shaping the future of Evolv. From defining roles to identifying the very best people to fill them, I love what we are doing to build a strong corporate culture here at Evolv. Together, our team is working to make the world a safer place, and there isn’t much that’s more rewarding than that.

I have worked in manufacturing for ten plus years, from purchasing raw materials, to paying suppliers and shipping the final product. Being part of a team that brings an idea or design to fruition is what drives me. As the daughter of a machinist, I was always fascinated when my father would bring home some new tool he created. If he couldn’t buy what he needed, he would make it and sometimes use two-part epoxy to hold it together! Being part of Evolv and making something MEANINGFUL is a highlight in my career.

I’m a jack of all trades. I’ve been in the manufacturing field for nearly 20 years, working with mostly military and medical device companies. Specialized in the use of power tools, hand tools and a various shop machinery, I love getting my hands dirty while wearing a suit and tie. Expanding my experiences at every opportunity, I’ve been fortunate to work with many great engineers; my philosophy is ‘be quick to adapt in order to succeed’ and ‘work hard and have fun’. I’m excited to be part of the team at Evolv, bringing my passion to a meaningful mission.

For the past 20 years, I have been involved in installing and supporting a variety of explosive detection systems throughout Europe and Asia Pacific. My greatest satisfaction comes from interacting with customers to help them achieve their goals. With years of technical experience in the field, the ultimate reward is being part of the Evolv team, creating a solution that is meaningful and helps protect people. Away from the office, my interests include cycling and flying radio controlled scale models.

I've spent the last 15 years working to make our nation more secure and resilient. As Massachusetts' Homeland Security chief and then Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, I managed the response to crises as varied as the H1N1 virus and the BP Oil Spill and issues as far-ranging as immigration reform to interoperability. Again and again, I've learned that at the end of the day, a safe homeland is one where ordinary citizens like you and I are informed and prepared and engaged.

Resilience is about managing risks, and adapting to change with evolving ideas, and new technologies. But innovation is just a buzzword until you hit the pavement with thoughtful products that engage the realities of the modern security space. I'm excited and proud to be part of a team working to protect people and places across the world.

As a leader at the Central Intelligence Agency and then the New York City Police Department soon after 9/11, I have had the honor of being surrounded with men and women dedicated to protecting America's national security interests and the security of Americans at home and abroad. At each step of the way during these nearly 50 years in the intelligence and law enforcement communities, it was the mission, the team and the people I worked with that defined what was accomplished.

Evolv embodies these same qualities. A mission to provide security and safety to as many people as possible via the creative application of new technologies. A team spirit that ignites the imagination and creativity needed to find, develop and apply new technologies to the mission at hand. And an assemblage of people who thrive on rising to technological challenges that are tied to protecting people from those who would do them harm.

I had the honor of serving as the TSA's Chief Technology Officer where I assisted Administrator John S. Pistole in the development and execution of risk-based security initiatives. I also oversaw the development, test and evaluation, acquisition, deployment and maintenance of security technologies and systems across multiple modes of transportation.

Prior to the TSA, I was a co-founder and Executive Vice President of Reveal Imaging Technologies, Inc., whose systems were designed to focus on risk management, threat detection, and security enhancement for the transportation industry. Reveal was acquired by SAIC, where I had previously served as Vice President of Corporate Development for their Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System product line. I also held senior management positions in operations, government affairs, and business development at PerkinElmer, Inc. and Vivid Technologies, Inc.

With nearly three decades of private sector and government experience contributing to the national security mission, I am thrilled to work with the team at Evolv whose mission is so simple yet so profound.

Since March 2015, I have served as President of my alma mater, Anderson University. Prior to that, I was Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration for 4 ½ years, where I worked with a great team to help transform the TSA from a one-size fits all agency, to a risk-based, intelligence-driven agency focused on its core national security mission of keeping air travelers safe.

For nearly 27 years prior to TSA, I was an FBI agent. After 9/11, I led the Counterterrorism Division and later was put in charge of all national security matters for the FBI. As Deputy Director, I helped transform the FBI into the national security agency it is today. My passion, whether in government or now in academia, is to inspire and empower people to do their absolute best in transforming, adding value and making a difference in the lives of others.

My journey started in Karachi and has taken me through small towns in Ohio to Boston and now Palo Alto. After finishing my PhD at MIT I became an entrepreneur by co-founding an advanced materials company, and then a venture investor. As an investor, I have worked with entrepreneurs ranging from those who are barely in college to those with Nobel prizes. The excitement and challenges remain the same. And entrepreneurs choose to bring me on as a partner because I have been in their shoes before, and I help them navigate through the unknowns before it starts to feel like an overnight success.

Entrepreneurs I back are best described as missionaries, not mercenaries. They are rebels in their own mind, imagining and then building the world they want to live in. It is an honor to work alongside great teams that dare to solve society's biggest challenges and have no fear. Evolv's team represents the best of them. Evolv's mission is to protect people around the world by harnessing the potential of new hardware, software and data-centric technologies. We unfortunately live in a world with people willing to go to any length to harm innocent people. Evolv gives me hope they won't succeed and goodness will always eventually prevail.

One of my favorite things is to think through the confluence of new technology platforms and disruptive business models that can be the foundation of new consumer experiences. I spent my entrepreneurial career building travel, specialty/targeted consumer direct commerce and consumer fintech businesses.

As a venture capitalist, I apply that same lens and am maniacally focused on building companies that are disruptive in their given markets – looking to create that perfect platform/technology and business model shift. Kayak revolutionized how we search travel options, giving consumers an easy and transparent way to purchase travel services online. Warby Parker upended how we shop for eye glasses – taking the friction out of the process, changing the experience from one of dread to one of delight.

I love big ideas and establishing leadership in a new field that isn’t already saturated with a flock of me-too companies. Being truly better by delivering a new model, not incrementally better with features and functions, breaks brand loyalties – opening up enormous opportunity. The right components are in place for Evolv; I am all about breeding ambition into everything we do to help make the world a safer place.

I love imaging. My first experience in the field was 30 years ago when I published my undergraduate research involving NMR, which is the technological underpinning of today's medical MRI. Later in life I helped develop a holographic 3d ultrasonic imaging system from some fundamental discoveries at a national lab. What attracts me to imaging is its interdisciplinary nature. Advances in materials science, sensors, computers and mathematics have all converged to allow an amazing company like Evolv to flourish. Capabilities that were relegated to science fiction a generation ago are now today's reality.

I'm fortunate to have had the opportunity to work at the frontier of business and science my whole career. Working with the world's best entrepreneurs and innovators has been a true joy.