Principals:

Karl Edminster is the founder of Electromechanica, Inc. Mr. Edminster comes from a background in military hardware design. Prior to founding Electromechanica, Inc. he worked for Sippican, Inc. (a division of Lockheed Martin )designing experimental buoyant submarine antenna arrays. His work included fiber optic based data collection systems, conceptual modeling and hydrodynamic tow testing. Mr. Edminster worked in the Design and System Integration Group of Foster-Miller, Inc. His work there involved the electromechanical design of miniature military robotic systems for advanced technology demonstrations. This design work included drive and control electronics, battery systems and payload systems. Mr. Edminster earned his B.S. degree in Electromechanical Engineering from Wentworth Institute of Technology.

Stephen Piché is a mechanical engineer specializing in manufacturing process optimization and systems design. Mr. Piché comes from a background in pharmaceutical manufacturing process design and development having worked most recently for Bayer Corporation, Diagnostics Division. His design work there focused on advanced diagnostics of fluidic and mechanical systems for process optimization. Mr. Piché is an SME Certified Manufacturing Technologist. He is also a member of The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) and The American Society for Quality (ASQ). Mr. Piché earned his B.S. degree in Manufacturing Engineering from Wentworth Institute of Technology.

Staff & Associates:

James Krejcarek is a consultant with Bouncing Elephants, LLC a design and engineering firm that specializes in systems, interface, and user-centered design. Mr. Krejcarek's design experience ranges from ticket kiosk interfaces, to network management software design, to spray painting robots, and products for bike messengers. He has experience in managing design processes and in developing and using new design methods. Along with his design experience, he has taken part in founding both Sonicfoam LLC, a polyurethane foam manufacturing venture, and Newport Surf Films, an organization that brings classic surf films to classic theaters in Rhode Island. Mr. Krejcarek earned a B.S. in Engineering with a concentration in Systems Design from Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering.

Joe Dunne is an electrical engineer specializing in the design of embedded systems, firmware development and LabVIEW ® based test systems. Mr. Dunne has an extensive background in military robotics for EOD and mine clearing operations. His previous position at Foster-Miller, Inc included the design of advanced sensor systems for military applications and their integration into military equipment and autonomous vehicles. Mr. Dunne specialized in underwater robotics and advanced concept demonstrations for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) while working in the Design and Systems Integration group at Foster-Miller, Inc. His design and development experience includes software design, electronic hardware design, control systems and modeling. Mr. Dunne is a co-founder of New England Robotics and First to Market Design. Mr. Dunne earned his B.S. degree in Electronic Engineering from Wentworth Institute of Technology.

Affiliates:

Dr. Jonathan Arata, P.E. is the founder and principal of Arata Consulting, an engineering professional services company specializing in advanced analysis and design, failure prognostics and avoidance, as well as vibrations and acoustics. Over the course of a decade-plus career, Dr. Arata has performed mechanical analyses and design studies on systems ranging from peizoelectricaly-driven MEMS vacuum micropumps to the entire engine room of a Trident nuclear submarine and everything in-between. Currently, Dr. Arata's work is focused in the areas of ballistics simulation and armor design, though the capabilities offered by his firm are far broader than that. He earned his Ph.D. in Engineering from Brown University and is a New Jersey registered professional mechanical engineer. Dr. Arata is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the U.S. Association for Computational Mechanics.

Jim Coburn is the founder and principal of JDC Consulting. He recently left NDI Medical, a neurotech startup, to expand JDC Consulting. While at NDI Medical, he was Director of Operations and simultaneously contributed to a variety of software projects. He also authored several funded SBIR's for neurotech applications . He had joined NDI Medical in 2004 after 24 years with Rockwell Automation, the global provider of industrial automation power, control and information systems. At Rockwell, he was the Director of Product Development for Advanced Automation Products. Mr. Coburn has been a manufacturing strategy consultant for such industry giants as Abbott, Gillette, Proctor and Gamble, Ford Motor Company, and The Walt Disney Company. He holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from the University of Notre Dame, South Bend , Ind. and a master's degree in applied mathematics from Cleveland State University. He has published and presented at a wide variety of manufacturing conferences and holds a variety of patents in manufacturing technologies. Mr. Coburn's core competencies include developing control and user interfaces for a wide variety of controllers and applications. He is fluent in C#, PLC code, LabVIEW and other software packages. He has been awarded several major prizes, including Control Engineering's software product of the year (March, 2004).

Chris Granata is the founder and principal of Wireless Techniques . Mr. Granata has ten-plus years of multi-disciplinary systems development experience with background in analog & RF hardware engineering, wireless communication systems, architectural design of real-time / DSP systems, power electronics and sensing of various physical parameters. Past work also includes systems engineering & analysis, electro-mechanical engineering, and thermal engineering. Mr. Granata has developed systems for a broad range of applications including; scientific instrumentation, wireless telemetry, industrial controls and consumer electronics. He has held EE positions at LoJack, Sippican (now a division of Lockheed Martin) and Advanced Thermal Solutions. Mr. Granata completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Electro-Mechanical Engineering and is currently pursuing his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.