Key Personnel

Dr. Gilmer L. Blankenship, Founder

Dr. Gilmer Blankenship is the founder of TRX and an active member of the TRX management team. He also started Techno-Sciences, Inc. (TSi), an engineering company now based in Beltsville, MD that has developed the world's most advanced satellite tracking stations and mission control centers for international search and rescue (SARSAT). 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 more than 25 years. His research interests include applications of signal processing, scheduling 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 more than 120 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.

Dr. Carole Teolis, CEO

Dr. Teolis has over 12 years experience in technical management and expertise in signal processing and control systems design. Prior to joining TRX, Dr. Teolis was Vice President of Systems Engineering at Techno-Sciences, Inc. (TSi). At TSi she played a significant role in leading the Systems Engineering Group in the development of several innovative engineering systems. Dr. Teolis has published many journal and conference papers in the areas of control systems design and signal processing. She holds two patents for applications in gas turbine engine health monitoring and has patents pending for the TRX location technology. Dr. Teolis received her Ph.D. Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland in 1994.

Ms. Karina Drees, CFO

Ms. Drees is responsible for the business development, operations and financial management at TRX. She has extensive experience in finance and operations for growing technology companies. Her expertise includes developing overall business strategy, daily operations and maintain cash flow for organizations by evaluating investment needs. In addition, she had successfully co-founded a network vulnerability assessment company, which is still operating today. Ms. Drees has a BS from Arizona State University and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Mr. Ben Funk, Vice President of Development

Mr. Funk is responsible for the implementation of TRX’s Firefighter Sentinel, having developed circuitry, embedded processor assembly code, printed circuit boards, robust packet protocols, and a Visual Basic interface for the wireless data packet transmitter and receiver. Prior to TRX, Mr. Funk worked for Alertus Technologies, where he assisted in designing a new early emergency warning system device. Mr. Ben Funk received his BS degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland.

Mr. Amrit Bandyopadhyay, Vice President of Engineering

Mr. Bandyopadhyay is an expert in tracking algorithms and sensor fusion techniques. He has developed patented methods for 3D tracking and building floor plan generation. Prior to joining TRX, Amrit co-invented a CPP Spin Valve Element, an innovation using giant magnetoresistance (GMR), and had several journal publications in the field of magnetic semiconductors. He also has expertise in computational simulation, wireless sensor networks, and RF tracking. Amrit received his MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland and a BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Alabama. 

Mr. Asher Kohn, Software Engineer

Mr. Kohn has served as the lead software engineer in the development of user interface, GIS, and real-time base station software for TRX's Sentinel System. He received a BS degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Maryland.

Mr. David Lemus, Mechanical Engineer

Mr. Lemus is the lead mechanical engineer at TRX designing the Sentinel System packaging to ensure a rugged, high temperature mechanical device. David received a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland.

Dr. Kamiar Kordari, R&D Engineer

Dr. Kordari is responsible for developing advanced sensor and signal processing algorithms for tracking and navigation solutions at TRX. He has extensive experience in signal processing, sensor fusion, wireless sensor networks, and control systems design. Prior to joining TRX he held positions with Techno-Sciences, Inc (TSi) and E. I. DuPont Inc. Dr. Kordari received his Ph.D. Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland.

Dr. Anthony Teolis, Consultant

Dr. Anthony Teolis has expertise in signal processing, digital representation, pattern classification, wavelet transform theory and its applications and related computer implementations. He received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees (1993) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park. He is the author of the textbook ``Computational Signal Processing with Wavelets'' published in 1998 as well as tens of journal and conference papers. He has developed iterative algorithms for the reconstruction of signals from both adaptive (signal-dependent) and non-adaptive discrete representations. He has also obtained several results on the effects of noise in both the signal and representation domains yielding robust algorithms for noise rejection. Applications include data compression, noise suppression, and signal classification. He is the co-inventor of the patented WAM speech compression algorithm. He is the inventor of the Tree-Structure Representation algorithm for Specific Emitter Identification (SEI). He has worked extensively on algorithmic aspects in electronic warfare and signal processing for the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC.