The TRX Systems Board of Directors includes Dr. Carole Teolis, TRX System's CTO and Chairman, Carol Politi, TRX Systems' CEO, and the following board members:
Dr. Gilmer L. Blankenship
Dr. Gilmer Blankenship co-founded Techno-Sciences, Inc. (TSi), an engineering company based in Beltsville, MD that has developed the world's most advanced satellite tracking stations and mission control centers for the international search and rescue (SARSAT) program. He founded TRX Systems to develop technology for tracking first responders in GPS denied environments. In addition to his entrepreneurial activities, Dr. Blankenship is also Professor and Associate Chairman of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Blankenship has conducted research in control system science for many years. His research interests include applications of signal processing, scheduling and search theory and applications, nonlinear and adaptive control theory, and the design and application of software systems. It is his awareness and understanding of cutting edge research in these areas that keep his companies ahead of the competition. He has published many papers and reports in these areas. His MS and Ph.D. students work at universities, research laboratories, and high technology companies around the world. He is a Fellow of the IEEE.
Randy Beardsworth, Principal, Catalyst Partners
Randy Beardsworth has over 30 years of strategic and operational experience, with expertise in maritime security, maritime domain awareness, border and transportation security, law enforcement, and immigration policy. In addition to serving on the TRX Board of Directors, he is a Principal at Catalyst Partners, where he helps clients with strategic planning and business development. Since President Obama’s election, Beardsworth has been engaged in various transition activities including serving as a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) transition team and co-lead for Presidential Study Directive 1 which combined the National Security Council and Homeland Security Council to create the National Security Staff.
From 2002 until 2007, Mr. Beardsworth served in a variety of senior positions at the US Department of Homeland Security including: a senior member of the Department’s Transition Team; Chief Operations Officer for the Border & Transportation Security Directorate; Acting Under Secretary for Border & Transportation Security Directorate; and, Assistant Secretary for Strategic Plans where he created a long-range vision for DHS. He also oversaw DHS’ counterterrorism strategic planning, as well as the creation and initial oversight of the Program Management Office for the Secretary’s Secure Border Initiative.
Prior to his service with DHS, Beardsworth served in two administrations as the Director for Defense Policy on the National Security Council staff, where his primary responsibilities included oceans policy and deployment readiness issues. Before entering civilian government service, Beardsworth served in the US Coast Guard, where he held command of four ships throughout his career and completed numerous tours ashore. He holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Colorado and a Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
Eric Koefoot
Eric Koefoot is the co-founder and CEO of Red Lion Technology, an enterprise software company located in Northern Virginia.
An experienced software executive and an Internet pioneer, Eric either founded or served as a senior executive with four Internet companies since 1996. He was most recently the founding CEO and Publisher of U.S. News Ventures, a branded Internet publishing company funded in part by U.S. News & World Report. Prior to that role, he was co-founder and CEO of Five Star Alliance, a successful eCommerce startup in Alexandria, which became the largest independent booker of luxury hotels worldwide and was sold in 2007 for over a 10X return to investors in less than 3 years.
For almost 7 years before that, Eric served in executive roles at Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI), including CFO, VP of Business Development, VP of Strategy, VP of Operations and Technology, and then quite successfully as the VP of Sales for the division. Prior to WPNI, he worked for 9 years as a financial executive in product development at Ford Motor Company, consulted at Deloitte Consulting, and founded a startup company, PrimeSource, which provided financial and strategic consulting services to Fortune 500 clients. Eric has an engineering degree from M.I.T. and an MBA from the Sloan School at M.I.T.