ABOUT US
Technical Advisors:
Company Advisors:
Dr. Richard Thompson
Chief Technical Advisor
Currently serves as Chair of the Telecommunications Department at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Information Science and Telecommunications. Dr. Thompson received a BS in Electrical Engineering Lafayette College in 1964, a MS Electrical Engineering from Columbia University in 1966 and a Ph.D. in Computer Science University of Connecticut in 1971. Dr. Thompson's expertise and experience in communication systems and technology is recognized worldwide. He has expertise in:
- Communications Switching: Research and practical experience in system, network, and fabric architectures, in control algorithms, and in intelligent networks. Special research expertise in photonic switching - in space, time, and wavelength. Practical expertise in switching software. Becoming expert in the statistical behavior of packets and in IP Telephony.
- Computer Science: Research expertise in automata theory and formal languages, cellular automata, and fault tolerance. Special research expertise in probabilistic automata. Practical expertise in software architecture and software engineering.
- Human-Telecom Interaction: Research expertise in integrated communications terminals, humancomputer interaction, and integrated multi-media services. Knowledge of linguistics. Practical expertise in sensory perception and cognition.
- Transmission: Practical expertise in digital and optical transmission.
- Technology Transfer: Tried to commercialize the Electronic Telephone System, Get-Set, and DiSCO projects. Worked with industry on TERN and MLEN projects. Proposed research center will emphasize co-operative projects with industry.
Dr. Thompson's industrial experience includes:
From 1977 - 1993 Dr. Thompson worked for AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill NJ. He was a Member of Technical Staff in Digital Systems Research Department. 1968 - 1969, Litton Industries, Hartford CT. Senior Research Engineer in the Royal Typewriter Division. Performed exploratory hardware design and prototyping of an electronic adding machine, solid-state line printer, and a magnetic-tape controller for a word processing system.
1963 - 1968, Bell Laboratories, Holmdel NJ. Member of Technical Staff in the Local Switching Center:
Additionally, Dr.Thompson served from 1993 - 1995 in a part time capacity at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Advanced Systems Division. Dr. Thompson recommended NIST's internal and external strategy regarding photonics and participated in telecommunications projects for NIST's Advanced Technology Program.
Dr. Stephen Pieczenik
Trained in Psychiatry at Harvard and has both an M.D. from Cornell University Medical College and a Ph.D. in International Relations from M.I.T. He served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and/or Senior Policy Planner under Secretaries Henry Kissinger, Cyrus Vance, George Schultz and James Baker. Dr. Pieczenik was the principal International Crisis Manager and Hostage Negotiator under Secretaries Kissinger and Vance. During this time he developed conflict resolution techniques that were instrumental in saving over five hundred hostages in different terrorist episodes, including the Hanafi Moslem Seizure in Washington, DC, the TWA Croatian Hijacking, the Aldo Moro Kidnapping, the JRA Hijacking, the PLO Hijacking, and many other incidents involving terrorists such as Idi Amin, Quaddafi, Carlos, FARC, Abu Nidal and Saddam Hussein.
In addition, Dr. Pieczenik helped develop negotiation strategies for major U.S.- Soviet arms control summits under the Reagan administration. He was also involved in advising senior officials on important psycho-political dynamics and conflict mediation strategies for President Carter's successful Camp David Peace Conference. In 1991, Dr. Pieczenik was a chief architect of the Cambodian Peace Conference in Paris. Dr. Steve Pieczenik is a critically acclaimed author of psycho-political thrillers and the co-creator of the New York Times best-selling "Tom Clancy's Op-Center" and "Tom Clancy's Net Force" book series. He is also one of the world's most experienced international crisis managers and hostage negotiators. His novels are based on his twenty years experience in resolving international crises for four U.S. administrations.
Dr. Andrew Snow
Is director of the McClure School, at Ohio University. Dr. Snow administers interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate telecommunications programs. These programs deal with the voice and data networks, including technology, design, implementation, operation, management, regulatory and social issues, and economic feasibility. Prior to coming to Ohio University, Dr. Snow taught graduate and undergraduate courses at Georgia State University, the University of Pittsburgh, and Polytechnic University.
His principal research focus is information systems dependability, with particular emphasis on network and telecommunications infrastructure reliability, availability and survivability. He is the author of numerous articles that have appeared in such publications as IEEE Transactions on Reliability, IEEE Computer, Journal of Network and Systems Management, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Engineering Management Journal, and ACM StandardView. Snow's practical and consulting experience includes information, data network, and telecommunication systems design and implementation for a variety of commercial and government clients. Previous to pursuing doctoral studies, Snow progressed from member technical staff, manager, director, vice president, president, general manager, and start-up entrepreneur in systems integration and information systems companies, including ConTel and Price Waterhouse Coopers
Mr. David Wolf
Co-founder and Managing Director of The Mercator Group, is a seasoned consultant with over 20 years experience serving technology, business services, distribution and manufacturing companies. Mr. Wolf has an extensive background in new business formation (strategy, team building, financing, interim management), technology/software development, eCommerce, and supply chain optimization and an exemplary track record of guiding companies through various stages of growth and development.
In the course of his career, he has managed projects in a wide range of disciplines and has orchestrated over 50 public and private financings and M&A transactions and numerous strategic alliances. Prior to founding The Mercator Group, Mr. Wolf was a member of the founding management team of a pioneering eCommerce company where he served as President of its software development organization and played a key role in its business growth and successful IPO. He has also served as Chief Operating Officer of a $1.5 billion computer services and distribution company where he was responsible for rationalizing and integrating several major acquisitions. Mr. Wolf started his career as a lawyer, specializing in merger and acquisition and securities work for middle market and emerging growth companies in New England. Mr. Wolf has a Bachelor of Arts degree from McGill University and a Juris Doctor degree from Boston University. Mr. Wolf is a Price-Babson College Fellow and is a frequent guest speaker at industry events and conferences
Mr. Jeff Parness
A serial entrepreneur and technology finance veteran, having raised over $150,000,000 for start-ups through IPO in all market cycles. He most recently co-founded Elematics, a real-time optical networks provisioning software company where he recruited the initial management team, help define the business strategy, and helped raise over $20 Million from Warburg Pincus since August 2001. Elematics was awarded Telecommunications Magazine "Top 10 Hottest Startups in 2003." Jeff continues to serve as Special Advisor to Elematics and as Venture Partner to VenturiFX, a seed-stage venture capital fund he co-founded which created Elematics (formerly known as QOptics) and where he built a world-class Advisory Board.
Prior to founding VenturiFX, Jeff helped to raise $77Million for Arbinet-thexhange, the world's leading real-time exchange for global telecommunications capacity which today services over 300 carriers worldwide. Jeff's decision making process in helping to finance and build Arbinet in its early stages was featured in a Harvard Business School case study. Jeff also helped to raise $9Million for GivingCapital, a pioneer in online charitable donation management technologies. In 1996, Jeff helped to manage the Initial Public Offering process, and served as the first Director of Investor Relations for IDT Corporation (NYSE:IDT), the global telecom company founded by Howard Jonas, and the parent company of Net2Phone (Nasdaq:NTOP), the world's leading Internet telephony company.
Jeff currently serves as an advisor to the Board of TeleContinuity, Inc., a telecommunications disaster recovery company focused on the cable service provider and insurance industries and backed by a federal grant from the National Institute of Standards Advanced Technology Program. A White House intern under President Reagan, Jeff is a graduate of the University of Michigan where he received a BA in Political Science
Ms. Tomoko Tokunaga
Ms. Tomoko Tokunaga brings more then 20 years of experience to TeleContinuity in the area of business developments and international relations for the U.S. and Japanese marketplaces. As a business degree graduate of Keio University (MBA), Ms. Tokunaga is actively involved in many different areas of Japanese culture and academia. Aiming to be a bridge between countries, she acquired Bachelors of Arts degree both from Kobe College Japan and St. Michael's College U.S. Thereafter in the area of academia she hold the chair at YMCA International College in Kyoto and Kyoto Foreign Language University. In the business world, she served as a manager of the Tokunaga Hospital, where her father who is a Medical Doctor and the mountain climber succeeded the first ascent to the Mt. Manaslu in 1956 founded. Ms. Tokunaga is a volunteer at the International Zonta Club of Kyoto where she sits on the board of directors and acts as international secretary. She is a successful advisor and consultant to top Japanese Executives, a frequent lecturer in Japan and is an active staff member of Keio University.
Mr. Charles Moore is Chairman and Managing Director of Nobska Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in early stage technology companies in Israel and the United States. Mr. Moore is an Observer to the Board of Directors of TeleContinuity. Nobska Ventures focuses on companies pioneering breakthrough Information and Communication technologies in the areas of Financial Services, Health Care, Enterprise Management & Security, Homeland Security, Defense and Intelligence, areas in which Nobska has deep industry expertise and relationships. Mr. Moore has spent the past 25 years financing and managing growth companies as an entrepreneur, investment banker, consultant, and executive. His early investment experience was with Alex. Brown & Sons and Tanner Capital and he served as President and /or CFO of two healthcare and software technology companies and as CEO of $20mm distribution company and co-founder and Chairman of a national retail and distribution cooperative. In 1998, he co-founded strategy consulting/investment banking firm, Nobska Group. In addition to consulting with Fortune 100, middle market, and early stage companies, Mr. Moore led Nobska Group's team in assignments involving more than $200mm in financing, as well as mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, business sales, management buy-outs, and strategic partnering. See www.nobskaventures.com.
