Leadership

As President and CEO, Gary is leading Liquid Robotics through a period of unprecedented growth and industry recognition. The Economist and the World Economic Forum are a few industry notables who have recognized Liquid Robotics for their pioneering technology that is fundamentally changing the way the world accesses, collects, and monitors ocean data through the innovative use of ocean robots.

With more than thirty years of executive experience, Gary has delivered worldwide revenue growth and established market leadership for innovative technology, renewable energy, and cloud computing companies. As Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales for Silver Spring Networks, he led the transformation of how utility companies and cities measure, monitor, and manage energy usage by leveraging IP networking technologies to build Smart Grids. Prior to Silver Spring Networks, Gary was President/CEO of Asempra Technologies and has served in a number of executive positions at companies such as McData Corporation, Volera, PGSoft, Crosswise Corporation, WorldTalk and Touch Communications.

Gary serves as a Council Member on the Oceans and National Security Initiative for the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, member of Alliance of CEOs, Board of Directors for the World Ocean Council and as a Commissioner for the Global Information Infrastructure Policy Organization (GIIC).

Gary earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz. In his spare time, he enjoys outdoor activities with his family, including cycling, skiing, and swimming with Wave Gliders.

A mechanical engineer, robotics expert, and entrepreneur with vision and determination, Roger Hine founded Liquid Robotics in 2007 in cooperation with Jupiter Research Foundation. Roger is the primary inventor of the Liquid Robotics Wave Glider®. This disruptive technology, with its unique ability to convert wave energy into forward propulsion, is the world’s first energy independent autonomous marine robot that is changing the way the world monitors and explores our oceans. For this accomplishment he has been named by the World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer of 2013 and most recently accepted The Economist’s World Ocean Innovation Challenge recognizing his invention with the greatest promise to enable the Blue Economy.

Prior to forming Liquid Robotics, Roger directed robotics and automation technology development programs at a leading semiconductor equipment manufacturer, Asyst Technologies. Earlier in his career, Roger was a mechanical engineer at Hine Engineering.

Roger received his Bachelors of Arts in Economics from Wesleyan University and his Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.

An avid scuba diver, he enjoys mountain biking, skiing, working on aerial drones, spending time with his family, and swimming with his favorite Wave Gliders.

As the CFO, Caryn is responsible for the financial management, information technology and Contracts and Global Trade Controls (GTC) departments. Caryn brings a rich background in corporate development, investment banking and financial management to the Company. Her career focus has been leading companies through complex organizational transformation and financial management.

Prior to joining Liquid Robotics, Caryn was Director, Corporate Development at Boeing. In this position, she worked closely with Boeing’s senior executive team and Boeing’s business units to develop, evaluate and execute differentiated growth strategies through acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and equity investments. As an investment banker at BMO Capital Markets, her experience included extensive transaction and strategic advisory experience throughout a broad range of industries.

Caryn has a Master of Business Administration degree from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. She is an active member on several boards, including the University of Pennsylvania Basketball Board and the Tuck Annual Giving Executive Committee.

Caryn played Division I college basketball at the University of Pennsylvania and played for the National Basketball Team of Guyana, South America, where her family originates. She and her husband enjoy sports, travel and wine tasting.

Daniel (Dan) Middleton is the Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Business Development for Liquid Robotics. Dan brings decades of career success in the global telecommunications and technology markets to his role leading the Liquid Robotics worldwide sales organization.

Prior to joining Liquid Robotics, Dan served as Executive Vice President of Global Sales at Silver Spring Networks (SSNI) from its pre-revenue through its NYSE IPO in 2013. Under his leadership, he helped transform how utility companies and cities measure, monitor, and manage energy usage by connecting homes and businesses to Smart Grids and the Internet of Things (IoT). Over his career, Dan has held executive sales positions at global telecommunication companies including, Alcatel-Lucent, Nortel Networks, and Riverstone Networks.

Dan received a Bachelor’s of Mechanical Engineering from The Georgia Institute of Technology and holds an M.B.A. from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Dan and his family love traveling and each year they explore a new vacation destination. When back in Atlanta, he dedicates his time to his family, tennis and his community where he is currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Mount Vernon Presbyterian School.

In his role as Senior Vice President of Global Partner Development, Graham is responsible for the development and execution of partner strategy world wide. As one of the founders of Liquid Robotics, Graham’s expertise in business, technology, and operations has played a major role helping to transform Liquid Robotics from a small start-up to an industry leader of autonomous ocean robots.

Prior to Liquid Robotics, Graham managed Software Engineering at Asyst Technologies, a manufacturer of robotics, control systems, and embedded applications. Earlier in his career Graham was President and CEO of Gibraltar Software, Inc., a security management enterprise application and President and CEO of Tuxtops, Inc., maker of Linux-based laptops and mobility software. He began his career as Software Engineering Manager at Hine Design, Inc., manufacturer of semiconductor automation systems.

Graham received a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management Engineering (Economics) from Claremont McKenna College.

Graham enjoys outdoor activities including skiing, scuba diving, fishing and kayaking.

As Vice President of Engineering, Tim Ong is responsible for managing all aspects of Liquid Robotics’ engineering organization and plays a major role in directing the Company’s technology and product development.

With over twenty years of experience designing advanced aerospace and maritime robotics, Tim has been instrumental in bringing innovative products to market. His engineering achievements range from creating the design of Lancair International’s flagship aircraft the Evolution, to leading the mechanical design and overall system performance for Liquid Robotics’ Wave Glider, recognized as the most experienced unmanned surface vehicle in the industry.

Tim brings an endless energy and ‘can do’ spirit to every opportunity and challenge. He’s noted for his “go big or go home” mantra. It’s with this spirit and dedication to excellence he leads Liquid Robotics Engineering organization to pioneer new advances and innovation in unmanned ocean robots.

Prior to joining Liquid Robotics in 2009, Tim held leadership positions at Lancair International and Philips Electronics. He served in the US Army National Guard as a helicopter pilot from 1989 through 2004.

Tim received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana Tech University. Tim received additional education in Mechatronics from Philips Electronics in the Netherlands.

When not designing autonomous ocean robots, Tim loves spending time with his wife and children. Additionally, he coaches soccer, designs aircraft, and loves woodworking.

Becky Tanner leads Liquid Robotics worldwide Marketing organization. In this role, she is responsible for the Company’s overall reputation, market positioning and sales enablement.

Becky brings a background focused on brand development and management, creative direction, positioning, global integrated marketing programs, web marketing, and operations.

During her fifteen years at Maxim Integrated, Becky developed an outstanding reputation for her leadership, creativity, and execution of global programs. As the Executive Director of Corporate Marketing & Operations, she successfully led the rebranding effort for the 30-year old Company, transforming and elevating its brand positioning in the market. Becky is known as a leader who motivates people to achieve new levels of contribution.

A native of California, Becky received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing Communications from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She is an active member of Watermark, an association of female executive leaders in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In her spare time, Becky enjoys spending time with her kids, being outdoors, traveling, and cooking. After she says goodbye to the high-tech industry and commutes, Becky dreams of going to culinary school and living in the country with acres of land.

In his role as Vice President of Manufacturing, Jerome is responsible for all elements of production and supply chain management for Liquid Robotics.

He brings decades of expertise as a technical and business executive for small private and large public companies. Before joining Liquid Robotics, Jerome served as Vice President of Operations at Looxcie (aka Vidcie), the leading provider of enterprise grade live streaming video solutions over mobile networks. At Looxcie, he managed all aspects of manufacturing execution, supply chain, logistics and quality for the consumer electronics and enterprise products of the organization. He honed his manufacturing, operations, and engineering knowledge as General Manager at Automation Controls, a distributor of factory automation technology and manufacturer of specialty equipment. At Automation Controls, he led the turnaround of the ACES business unit from a loss to consistent double digit profitability in only six months.

Jerome held leadership positions in the semiconductor industry as Director of Engineering Services at ATMI, and Director of Operations at Microbar. In his early years as a mechanical engineer, Jerome worked for Purus on adsorption technologies used to treat polluted soil and water.

Jerome earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Santa Clara University.

In his spare time, he enjoys many outdoor activities and interests with his family. He is a volunteer assistant coach for his son’s youth competitive soccer program, a jazz musician (saxophone), and a home winemaker of many years and enjoys hiking, snow skiing, running, and mountain biking.

As Vice President of Mission Services, Mark leads the global Mission Services and Support Organization and the Engineering and Test Facility in Kawaihae, Hawai’i.

To this role, he brings decades of expertise in developing and scaling professional services, training, and support infrastructure for small private and large public companies. His service delivery experience spans consumer, enterprise, utility, and military customers. Throughout his career, Mark’s success has been attributed to his focus and commitment to delivering the highest level of customer satisfaction with a consistent predictable customer experience.

Before joining Liquid Robotics, Mark served as Vice President and Client Delivery Executive for Silver Spring Networks, the leading provider of IoT and Smart Grid solutions. During his 7+ years with Silver Spring he grew the services and product bookings by over $200M while successfully managing deployments of over 8M meters.

A native to Silicon Valley, Mark held leadership positions working for companies like Lockheed DataPlan, KPMG, Intuit, 3Com, Excite@Home, Neoteris, Juniper Networks, Aruba Networks, and LogLogic.

Mark earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautics Flight Operations with minors in Business and Cybernetic Systems from San Jose State University.

In his spare time, he enjoys many outdoor activities with his family. He has volunteered and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Santa Clara Vanguard (a non-profit youth performing arts organization), and enjoys road cycling, snow skiing, and golf.

As the Director of Human Resources, Heidi is responsible for the development of HR corporate strategies and the delivery of services and programs company-wide.

Heidi has over fifteen years in Human Resources spanning small, mid-size and large organizations across the retail, software & hardware, biotech, entertainment and high technology industries. She has earned a strong reputation for being a trusted business partner skilled across all aspects of managing an effective, responsive and highly respected human relations organization. Her areas of expertise include organizational and change management, performance management, employee career planning, mentoring and coaching and mergers & acquisitions.

Prior to joining Liquid Robotics, Heidi supported fast growth companies by linking people strategies to business strategies. In her leadership position at Dolby Laboratories, she successfully collaborated across the company to drive a corporate-wide reorganization to improve decision making, strategic direction, and professional growth. In addition to Dolby Laboratories, Heidi served as HR business leader for global industry leaders; Riverbed Technology, Seagate, Exelexis, and Informatica.
Heidi holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a Master’s of Science in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from California State University, San Bernardino.

In her spare time, Heidi enjoys running and outdoor activities with her family. She has a love for health and exercise and is a certified personal trainer and Pilates instructor. She volunteers as a grief counselor at Kara, a non-profit organization, dedicated to providing grief support for children, teens and families.

Robert Gelbard is an international business consultant specializing in project development and implementation, crisis management and risk analysis.

During his career in the United States Foreign Service, Ambassador Gelbard held senior foreign policy positions, including as President Clinton’s Special Representative for the Balkans, Ambassador to Indonesia and East Timor, Ambassador to Bolivia, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (including responsibility for counter-terrorism), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Inter-American Affairs, Deputy Assistant Secretary for South America, Director for Southern Africa and Deputy Director for Western Europe.

Ambassador Gelbard served as the U.S. Government representative to the Paris Club and as President George H.W. Bush’s Personal Representative for the 1992 San Antonio Summit. Other Foreign Service assignments included Paris, Manila and Porto Alegre, Brazil. Gelbard also was a staff member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Gelbard was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bolivia.

Ambassador Gelbard received the Presidential Meritorious Award, the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award, the State Department’s Superior Honor Award and Meritorious Honor Award, and the U.S. Coast Guard’s Distinguished Public Service Award, as well as numerous other commendations. He was awarded the Condor of the Andes, Order of the Grand Cross, Bolivia’s highest decoration for a foreigner, and the Medalha do Gaucho from the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Ambassador Gelbard is a graduate of Colby College (AB) and Harvard University (MA). He also studied at MIT. He holds honorary LL.D. degrees from Villanova University Law School and Colby College for his work on peacekeeping and international democracy building.

General Sharp graduated from West Point in 1974 and was commissioned an Armor officer. He has earned a Master of Science degree in Operations Research and System Analysis from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

General Sharp commanded the United Nations Command, Republic of Korea – United States Combined Forces Command, and United States Forces Korea from 3 June 2008 to 14 July 2011. Earlier in his career, General Sharp’s command positions include; Squadron Commander 1st Squadron, 7th U.S. Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood Texas; Regimental Commander 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Polk, Louisiana; Assistant Division Commander for Maneuver 2nd Infantry Division, Camp Red Cloud, South Korea; and Division Commander, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia. He commanded troops in Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti, and SFOR’s Multinational Division (North) in Bosnia.

General Sharp had four assignments at the Pentagon on the Joint Staff. He was the Deputy Director, J5 for Western Hemisphere/Global Transnational Issues; the Vice Director, J8 for Force Structure, Resources, and Assessment; the Director for Strategic Plans and Policy, J5; and the Director of the Joint Staff.

General (Ret) and Mrs. Sharp live in the Washington, D.C. area. He is consulting for several U.S. and Korean companies, serves on the BOD for NEXEO Solutions, ARTIS, and The Korea Society and is involved in strategy and policy discussions at several D.C. area Think Tanks concerning strategy and policy for Northeast Asia and especially Korea.

Dr. Terrill is an oceanographer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography leading basic and applied research programs in a variety of marine and environmental disciplines. Under his leadership, he founded the Scripps’ Coastal Observing Research and Development Center (CORDC) in 2003 to focus on the development of new technologies, their application for basic and applied sciences, and the exploitation and fusion of data for improved decision-making.

He has extensive experience with the design, coordination, and implementation of complex field measurement programs that are executed globally, both in the ocean and on land. Sponsorship for these initiatives comes primarily from federal and state agencies; including USACE, NOAA, and Navy ocean observation, and Maritime Domain Awareness initiatives. Dr. Terrill was also one of the early leaders in establishing the Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System, one of the eleven U.S. Regional Associations that form the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS).

He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mechanics and Engineering Science from University of California San Diego (UCSD) and a Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography – Applied Ocean Sciences from Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The Honorable John J. Young has almost 20 years of senior level legislative and executive branch experience working defense research, technology development, and procurement programs.

In April 2009, John completed service as the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, overseeing $200+ billion of DoD research, development, procurement, and logistics programs. He previously served as the Director of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E), leading the unprecedented Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicle program, and as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition. Mr. Young’s experience also includes ten years as a senior staff member with the U.S. Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

After leaving public service, Mr. Young established JY Strategies, LLC, a Limited Liability Company specializing in providing strategic insight to firms on defense programs, the Department of Defense, the Congressional authorization and appropriations process and change management. Additionally, John served as Vice President for Business Development at E6 Partners, LLC.

Mr. Young is a member of the Board of SRI International, Morphotrak International, Saab-Sensis USA Corporation, Tenax Aerospace, HDT Global and the Georgia Tech Research Corporation, as well as a member of the Georgia Tech School of Aerospace Engineering Advisory Committee. He serves on the advisory board of Cubic Defense Systems, PIXIA, FedBid, Inc., Liquid Robotics, and SpaceX.

He is a fellow and a member of the Board of Regents of the Potomac Institute and a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. During his Pentagon tenure, he was awarded the DoD, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Army Distinguished Civilian Service Awards, as well as the Department of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award.

Mr. Young has a Master’s in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University and a Bachelor’s in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Admiral Sir George Zambellas is a highly distinguished British Royal Navy officer, with an exemplary background in maritime, joint service and multinational command. In April of 2016, he completed a three-year appointment as First Sea Lord, a period that included the UK Strategic Defense and Security Review. During his tenure, his principal focus was on people, to ensure that, with significant quantities of new equipment being delivered to the British Royal Navy including two new carriers, new ballistic nuclear submarines, frigates and aircraft, the quality and quantity of technical expertise is ready.

He began his 36-year career as a helicopter pilot in frigates and carriers, before a series of sea commands, culminating in command of the UK Amphibious Force, the UK Maritime Force, NATO’s 4-star Maritime Command and Royal Navy Fleet Command. He has extensive operational experience, including as Chief of Staff in the UK Joint Headquarters for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, in Operation Highbrow in 2006 to evacuate multinational civilians from Lebanon, and in Operation Palliser in 2000 where, as Captain of HMS Chatham, he was deployed to Sierra Leone, earning the Distinguished Service Cross.

Zambellas achievements have earned many honors and awards. The most notable are: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Bath (GCB), 31 December 2015, Knight Commander of the Order of Bath (KCB), 16 June 2012, Distinguished Service Cross and Operational Service Medal for Sierra Leone in 2000, Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 2009, Deputy Lieutenant of Dorset, September 2013 and Honorary Doctorate in Science from Southampton University in 2014.

Sir George Zambellas was educated in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and at Stowe School. He studied aeronautical and astronautical engineering at the University of Southampton and graduated in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science (BSc Hons) degree.