Leadership Team
Dr. Gil Blankenship - Chairman
Dr. Blankenship has conducted research in control system science for more than 35 years. His research interests include autonomous robotics, applications of signal processing, scheduling theory and applications, nonlinear and adaptive control theory, and the design and application of software systems. 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 is also Founder and Director of TRX Systems, Inc. He is a Fellow of the IEEE.
Mr. Jean-Luc Abaziou - Chief Executive Officer
Prior to his appointment, Mr. Abaziou was a venture partner at Highland Capital Partners, and a member of the Senior Executive leadership at Ericsson and Alcatel. Prior to working with Highland Capital, Mr. Abaziou was Vice President and General Manager of Ericsson IP Infrastructure and President and CEO of both Torrent Networking Technologies (acquired by Ericsson) and Alcatel Data Networks. He has served on a number of boards and advisory boards, including for the French Foreign Commerce Ministry, George Washington University, the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland and the French-American Chamber of Commerce. Mr Abaziou graduated from .
Dr. Harry G. Kwatny - Executive Vice President
Principal shareholder and member of the board of directors of TSi, Dr. Kwatny is an expert on structural mechanical modeling, nonlinear dynamics, and control systems. He has extensive experience in design of feedback controllers for large-scale systems from the electric power industry. He has developed important modeling and control techniques for electric power systems, particularly for power plant control systems. His work in this area established standard models for the field. He has also developed a modeling methodology for nonlinear, hybrid structural mechanical systems including both flexible and discrete rigid bodies. Dr. Kwatny is a Fellow of the IEEE and S. Herbert Raynes Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Mr. Jeff Khorrami - Vice President of SARSAT
Mr. Khorrami has over 25 years of experience in the design, development, and implementation of COSPAS-SARSAT Local User Terminals (LUTs). He is responsible for the entire TSi SARSAT operation at TSi. He is one of the original developers of the original processing algorithms commonly used in LUTs today. Among his other accomplishments, Mr. Khorrami designed, developed, and implemented a database system for the NASA SARSAT program. This database can store the data received from the US LUTs. It includes application programs to generate statistical and error analyses, status and performance reports, and location searches. He is currently working on the next-generation SARSAT MEO, GEO, and LEO LUTs, and managing TSi's worldwide customer base.
Ms. Amy Pfirrmann Hizoune - Vice President of Finance
Ms. Hizoune has more than 20 years of experience functioning as general business manager of Techno-Sciences, Inc. She has extensive experience in all financial matters including: accounting, contract administration (US and Foreign Government), business development, export administration, personnel, industrial security, and quality management.
Mr. Jacob Blankenship - Vice President International Operations, Asia
Mr. Blankenship manages Techno-Sciences' business in Asia. His focus is on project execution, business development, and the marketing and commercialization of TSi's Trident and SARSAT products. As well, Mr. Blankenship is responsible for managing TSi's representatives and agents in the region, developing strategic partnerships, and defining the strategy for the region. In his previous role at TSi, Mr. Blankenship successfully lead the installation one of the world's most expansive Maritime Domain Awareness systems with the TSi's Trident Division.
Mr. Kurt Kacprzynski - Vice President Trident Systems
As a member of the Trident Team since 2007, Mr. Kacprzynski participated in all phases of Trident's maritime surveillance work including product design, system installation, training, and program management. He previously served on active duty in the U.S. Coast Guard and is currently a Commander (O-5) in the Coast Guard Reserves. He is experienced in U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security major acquisition programs. Mr. Kacprzynski is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and Licensed Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia. He earned a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and a M.S. degree in Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Gregory J. Hiemenz -Vice President of Advanced Technologies
Dr. Hiemenz has over 14 years of experience in cutting edge research and development, product development, and design of military systems. He is an expert in structural dynamics, shock and vibration mitigation, and semi-active control, and has been a pioneer in adaptive seat suspensions using Magneto-Rheological (MR) Fluid Technology. Because of his research successes, he was awarded a Vertical Flight Foundation award in 2007 from the American Helicopter Society and the AIAA Hal Andrews Young Engineer of the Year Award in 2008. He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from The Catholic University of America and earned his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Maryland Department of Aerospace Engineering. Dr. Hiemenz joined TSI in 2006 after years of work at a major defense contractor.
