The Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Advisory Board provides counsel to the ECE Department Chair and Associate Chairs regarding the mission, goals, and strategic plans of the Department, and seeks to promote the interests of the Department locally, regionally, and internationally. Members offer their insights, advice, and expertise on a wide range of issues that include undergraduate and graduate education, research activities, strategic planning, corporate partnerships, fundraising, and public relations. Members also serve as liaisons between the Department, industry, government, and other academic institutions.
Founder
INFRASI
Adedoyin (Doyin) Adewodu is the founder of INFRASI, which is a technology solutions provider that specializes in IT modernization, technology sourcing, and the adoption of emerging technologies. Before starting INFRASI, Doyin worked at Booz Allen Hamilton and AT&T, where he gained experience in enterprise mobility management, wireless communications, cybersecurity, and systems engineering. Doyin holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech, an M.Eng in Electrical and Computer Engineering from UMD-College Park, and an MBA from Cornell University.
Retired Managing Director,
Ciena India
Dimple Amin is currently retired as Managing Director for Ciena in India. Mr. Amin has held many senior leadership positions at Ciena over his 20 year career at the company including leading Optical Transport Engineering, Solutions Development & Integration, Product Validation & Test, Product and Supplier Quality, Program Management, Quality Management Systems, Corporate Social Responsibility, Digital / ASIC Development, and Advanced Technology. He led a team on the research, development, and commercialization of the world’s fi rst single wavelength 100 Gigabit DWDM platform. He also has led teams which introduced the world’s lowest latency platforms for data center connectivity, high-frequency trading, and enterprise networks. When Ciena was a startup, he designed and developed hardware with industry-leading capabilities for Ciena’s pioneering Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing Optical platforms.
With more than 26 years of experience in the technology industry, Mr. Amin started his career at the US Naval Research Laboratories at the Airborne Electronic Warfare Division, focused on synthetic aperture radar systems, hardware and soft ware design, advanced signal
processing and communications systems.
Mr. Amin holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University (1997) and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland (1991). Mr. Amin is a member of the IEEE and the IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu Electrical & Computer Engineering Honor Society.
Distinguished Professor and Founder, Department of Data Science
Director, Institute for Data Science
New Jersey Institute of Technology
David A. Bader is a Distinguished Professor and founder of the Department of Data Science and inaugural Director of the Institute for Data Science at New Jersey Institute of Technology. Prior to this, he served as founding Professor and Chair of the School of Computational Science and Engineering, College of Computing, at Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Bader is a Fellow of the IEEE, ACM, AAAS, and SIAM; a recipient of the IEEE Sidney Fernbach Award; and the 2022 Innovation Hall of Fame inductee of the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering.
He advises the White House, most recently on the National Strategic Computing Initiative (NSCI) and Future Advanced Computing Ecosystem (FACE). Bader is a leading expert in solving global grand challenges in science, engineering, computing, and data science. In 2012, Bader was the inaugural recipient of University of Maryland’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award.
The Computer History Museum recogizes Bader for developing the first Linux-based supercomputer which became the predominant architecture for all major supercomputers in the world. Bader is a cofounder of the Graph500 List for benchmarking “Big Data” computing platforms. He is recognized as a “RockStar” of High Performance Computing by InsideHPC and as HPCwire’s People to Watch in 2012 and 2014.
Senior Vice President, Engineering Mobile Satellite Systems,
Hughes Network Systems, LLC
Dr. Barnett is a Senior Vice President of Engineering at Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), a wholly-owned-subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation. Dr. Barnett has been with Hughes for 28 years. He has broad technical backgrounds in wired, wireless terrestrial communication and satellite communications having spent more than 30 years in the design and development of terrestrial wired switching and transmission systems; Terrestrial Wireless mobile systems, Geo Satellite TDMA VSAT systems and Mobile Satellite Communication Systems (High Throughput converged Packet and Voice systems), Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite systems, and Ground Based Beam Former. He is currently engaged in the research and development of a High Throughput Packet system and the application/adaptation of existing and emerging (4G and 5G) terrestrial wireless standards to the mobile satellite environment.
Dr. Barnett received his doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.
Director of Engineering
Lockheed Martin Cyber & Intelligence
Mike Barone is the Director of Engineering for Lockheed Martin Cyber & Intelligence. In this role, Mike and his team are responsible for the people, processes and tools that deliver flawless technical, cost and schedule performance on programs primarily within the Intelligence Community or for DoD cybersecurity applications. Mike also has a passion for setting the vision and executing on research and development of next generation capabilities for broad applications across the IC and DoD. In 20+ years with Lockheed Martin, he has been afforded the opportunity to lead and execute on a wide variety of programs such as airborne and ground based radar, sonar, missile launching systems, navigation and shipboard control systems and, most recently, SIGINT collection and data processing programs.
Mike received his Bachelor of Science in Physics from Millersville University and his Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University.
Chief Technology Officer,
Asia Broadcast Satellite
With over 40 years of experience in the satellite industry, Ken has been involved in virtually all satellite communications-related activities, including the procurement, program management, launch, and operation of over 45 satellites. His experience also includes extensive research and development efforts, ITU filings, and establishing terrestrial infrastructure.
Ken began his career at Comsat Labs, right after graduating from University of Maryland. This was followed by a long career at Intelsat. Ken has been with ABS since 2008.
Ken graduated from the University of Maryland with a BSEE degree in 1969 and an MSEE degree in 1971. He is a member of Eta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi.
Co-Founder & CEO
Prequel
Lyndon Brown brings a career focus in building high-growth technology companies to Prequel, where he is co-founder and CEO. Previously, he was Chief Strategy Officer at Pondurance, where he was responsible for Product Management,
Corporate Development, Marketing and driving cross-functional performance. Prior to joining Pondurance, Lyndon served as Vice President of Business Development at FireEye Mandiant, where he focused on strategic growth initiatives. As an executive, Lyndon has successfully led product management, M&A, and global partnerships at firms such as Verodin (acquired by FireEye) and Endgame (acquired by Elastic).
Lyndon spent the first 10 years of his career as a Computer Engineer in the U.S. Intelligence Community. He holds a Bachelor of Science in
Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland and a Master of Science in Systems Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.
His current board responsibilities include serving on the Board of the University of Maryland's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and Center for Minorities in Science and Engineering (CMSE).
ECE Advisory Board Chair
Retired Sector Vice President
Northrop Grumman Mission Systems
Sonal Deshpande is a retired sector vice president of Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, a leading global provider of advanced solutions for defense and intelligence customers.
She had responsibility for mission assurance across the sector, including quality and product assurance, compliance, process excellence and supplier quality.
Prior to that, Deshpande was appointed vice president of engineering, manufacturing and logistics for the airborne and space divisions and was responsible for design, development and production of large-scale, mission-critical systems and complex hardware and soft ware products within the airborne and space programs. She also served as vice president within the advanced concepts & technology areas focused on R&D and business development of affordable and open architecture concepts for maritime electronics.
Deshpande earned her master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Johns Hopkins University School of Engineering and her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from University of Maryland. Additionally, she has completed the Harvard Business School General Management Program.
She is currently an advisory board member for the University of Maryland, College Park, Electrical and Computer Engineering department. She has also served as a board member of the Maryland Science Center and ProjectPLASE. Deshpande is actively involved with promoting, supporting and mentoring women to pursue STEM-based careers.
Technology and Engineering Teacher
Fairfax County Public Schools
Jim Howland currently serves as a Technology and Engineering teacher in Fairfax public schools for the past 2 years
Jim was the civil group director of strategy at The Aerospace Corporation overseeing corporate strategic development and sponsor relations for 4 years.
For 34 years, Jim was at The MITRE Corporation and was a technical director of MITRE’s Electronic Systems and Technology division. He works across MITRE’s C3I Federally Funded Research and Development Center sponsors and is dedicated to technical expertise focused on communications, electromagnetics, sensors, and signal processing technologies. He was also the corporate chairperson for STEM outreach and strategy. He previously served also as the corporate program lead for several counter improved explosive devices programs for both the DoD and intelligence communities.
Chairman, Board of Director, SynerGene Therapeutics, Inc.
Trustee, H.C. Jimmy Lin Foundation
James Hsu is an entrepreneur and a Trustee of the H.C. Jimmy Lin Foundation. Since 2006, James has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of SynerGene Therapeutics, Inc. He provides entrepreneurial executive management to foster innovation in development of therapeutics for cancer and neurological disorders based on SynerGene’s proprietary platform technology with payload delivery via targeted nanocomplexes; SynerGene has ongoing Phase I & II clinical trials for novel nanomedicines addressing brain, pancreatic, and head & neck cancers; SynerGene is also developing countermeasures against chemical warfare threat agents under a grant from Department of Defense (DoD).
James is also President of Resources Management, LLC., (2000-Present). He provides management and financial consulting services for individuals and charitable organizations and sets up youth-inspiring grants and scholarships for communities and universities. He initiated the concept of “Impact Scholarship” to organize team competitions to stimulate and inspire student innovation & entrepreneurship in selected scientific & technology fields and serves as trustee and/or treasurer for charitable organizations.
From 1984-1999, he was Founder, Chairman & CEO of Information Dynamics, Inc. (IDI). After founding IDI, he led and grew the company to generate over 50 million in revenue in 1999. IDI provided information technology, science, engineering, peer review and administrative support services via federal contracts including contracts for National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) Headquarters, Goddard Space Flight Center, Johnson Space Flight Center, Kennedy Space Flight Center, Federal Highway Administration (FHA), National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
He has won many awards and recently became an Adjunct Professor in the Information Management Department at Chung Yuan University in 2018. He was born in China and obtained his B.S. Degrees from the National Taiwan University in 1968, and his M.S. and Ph.D. Degrees in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin in 1971 and 1976, respectively. He also received a Diploma in Business Management from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania in 1979.
Director of Software Engineering
DeepSig, Inc.
Dr. Kosanovic received his undergraduate degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Belgrade, Serbia in 1986. Between 1985 and 1988, he worked as a systems programmer at the University of Belgrade. In 1991, Dr. Kosanovic entered graduate studies at the University of Pittsburgh where he subsequently received his MS and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering in 1992 and 1995, respectively.
Dr. Kosanovic joined Telogy Networks, developing Voice over Packet technology and associated real-time digital signal processing software architectures. In 1999, Telogy Networks were acquired by Texas Instruments, Inc. During his tenure with TI, Dr. Kosanovic continued to manage and lead a team developing advanced real-time signal and image processing algorithms. Dr. Kosanovic holds 14 US patents and was a recipient of two Outstanding Inventor Awards from his business unit at Texas Instruments, Inc. in 2002 and 2006.
Upon retiring from Texas Instruments in 2019, Dr. Kosanovic joined DeepSig, Inc., a startup in Arlington, VA, to lead a software team developing products that use AI and machine learning.
Dr. Kosanovic is also a classically trained pianist and composer. Dr. Kosanovic is a member of Belgrade Society of Jazz Musicians, Serbian Society of Composers, and ASCAP.
Director of System Engineering, Integration, and Test
IonQ Inc.
Dr. Peter Maunz joined IonQ in 2020 and is leading the System Engineering, Integration and Test department. He and his team are responsible for system engineering, introduction and maturation of new technologies, performance improvement, and integration of IonQ's trapped ion quantum computers.
Dr. Maunz has almost 20 years of experience in quantum information processing and trapped ion quantum systems. Before joining IonQ, he worked at the University of Michigan, the University of Maryland, and Duke University. As a Principal Member of the Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories he led a team of engineers and physicists developing silicon based microtraps for quantum computing and served as Principal Investigator for the QSCOUT Quantum Scientifi c Computing Open User Testbed.
Dr. Maunz earned a Diploma in Physics from the University of Konstanz, Germany and received his Doctor of natural sciences (Dr. rer. nat.) from the Technical University Munich and the Max-Planck-Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching, Germany.
Director of Transmission & Substation Engineering
BGE
Jermel Miller serves as the Director of Transmission & Substation Engineering for BGE. In this role, Jermel leads a team of engineers, designers, technicians, project managers, and analysts responsible for engineering, designing and maintaining transmission and substation infrastructure serving 1.3 million electric customers within BGE’s territory.
Jermel began his career at BGE in 2004 as an Associate Engineer. Jermel served as the Director of Distribution System Operations for BGE, leading a team responsible for operating the electric distribution system and responding to emergent events impacting BGE’s gas and electric distribution systems.
Jermel currently serves on the board of the Greater Baltimore Urban League (GBUL) and is a member of IEEE, Baltimore Power Engineering Society and the American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE) Baltimore Chapter. Jermel is a former board member
for the North Carolina A&T State University Alumni Association and is a longtime member of the NC A&T Alumni Association’s Baltimore Chapter.
Jermel is a graduate of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and the University of Maryland’s R. H. Smith School of Business with a Master of Business Administration. He is also a registered professional engineer in the state of Maryland.
Jermel is married to his wife Maya. Together they have 3 daughters and 1 son.
Director of Launchpad Operations,
MasterPece Solutions
Bill Olsen is Director of Launchpad Operations at MasterPece Solutions. Previously, he was Director and System Delivery Lead for Booz Allen’s Cyber and National Agencies accounts. He is experienced in large scale systems development, high performance computing, and Service Oriented Architectures. Bill has over 25 years of experience working for large System Integrators which include: Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and Westinghouse. He holds a Masters in Business Administration from Loyola University and a Bachelors of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from Vanderbilt University. For the last three years, he has served on the Executive Advisory Board for the STEM organization FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics.
Vice President of Remote Sensing
Payload and Ground Systems
Northrop Grumman Space Systems
Jay Patel is the Vice President of Remote Sensing Programs for the Payload and Ground Systems division for Northrop Grumman Space Systems sector, a premier provider of space and launch systems serving national security, civil and commercial customers.
As Vice President, Patel has executive responsibility for leading all aspects of the business unit, focusing on key space systems, payloads and software that support customer's national security missions.
Since joining Northrop Grumman in 2004, Patel has held various leadership positions with responsibilities spanning systems engineering, hardware and software products Previously, he also served as director for Systems Engineering, Integration and Test (SEIT) in the Mission Systems sector, director of the Mission Enterprise Systems Operating Unit, and program director within Remote Sensing Programs.
Prior to joining Northrop Grumman, Patel held various technical and leadership roles.
Patel earned bachelors and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is a champion for building a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture, serving as co-chair of the company’s Space Systems DE&I Council.
Patel is also a dedicated mentor and participates in the High School Involvement Partnership (HIP), the Asian Pacific Professional Network (APPN), Gen2Gen and Connect1NG.
Co-founder
OCoil LLC
Dan is a Co-founder of OCoil LLC, with patents in electric vehicle battery pack design. Prior to co-founding OCoil LLC in 2018, Dan worked for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, U.S. Capitol and industry. At the Naval Surface Warfare Center at White Oak, he was the original workstation designer for what is now called the Common Display System (CDS). For the Naval Explosive Ordnance Technology Division (NAVEODTECHDIV), he ran the Combined Explosive Exploitation Cell, Engineering Lab, Afghanistan, for two tours earning a Joint Civilian Commendation. In chip design, he developed NeuronMOS transistor chips for artificial intelligence at Nippon Telegraph and Telephone and worked on the Alpha 21164PC team at Digital Semiconductor. For the past 12 years he has spearheaded Radio Frequency (RF) design and applications in technical surveillance and security.
Dan studied engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) prior to joining the research team in the VLSI Design Automation Lab at the University of Maryland from 1996-2000.
Head of Qualcomm Automotive AI & Automated Driving System Design
Track record in taking exciting complex system-level problems from whiteboard to products. Head of Qualcomm Automotive AI & Automated Driving System Design teams. Recipient of Qualcomm Research Distinguished Technical Contributor Award and Qualcomm IP Achievement Award.
My focus spans the development of next-gen technologies such as low-level parametric and non-parametric perception algorithms, causal AI-based prediction, and planning models, all geared towards achieving safe, efficient, and human-like L2+/L3 systems across highway and urban ODDs. A pivotal part of my work is software/hardware co-design for the autonomous driving stack, instrumental for efficient autonomous driving solutions within a constrained computational footprint. Developing scalable AD solutions leveraging active learning, continuous learning, and automated ground truth and annotation pipelines to optimize the entire data lifecycle. I lead the University Research program, partnering with professors/students to tackle fundamental problems in AD and AI.
Leadership in creating a strategic vision for new technologies, establishing partnerships, and building technology teams. Publications include 130+ granted US patents, 750+ granted worldwide patents, and 50+ publications in international Journals, conferences, book chapters with 7000+ citations, and h-Index 37. Co-author of Cooperative Communications and Networking, Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Technical Director,
Booz Allen Hamilton
Greg is an Executive Advisor at Booz Allen Hamilton, specializing in the field of cybersecurity. He has served as a lead in Booz Allen’s Cyber Technical Excellence program, where he guided research and development of new cyber capabilities and programs. He has also led staff development for the account’s innovation agenda. Previously he was a long-time member of the senior technical staff at the National Security Agency, where he became the Technical Director of its SIGINT Directorate. His work there centered on cryptomathmatics and digital signals processing. He is a graduate of the University of Miami, holding BS and MS degrees in mathematics.
ECE Advisory Board Chair Emeritus
Chief Technology Officer, Vice President, Engineering & Operations,
ComTek Communication Technologies, Inc.
Milan Vlajnic is Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Engineering & Operations at Communication Technologies. He oversees day-to-day operations, product development, IT & engineering and technology strategy. He has a long track record of providing technology vision and business leadership in ever-evolving telecommunications marketplace.
Mr. Vlajnic has held senior executive positions in engineering, operations, general management and R&D with Nortel Networks, Bay Networks and Penril Datability, where he was leading advances in wireless, optical, signal processing, software engineering, IP media and voiceband modem technology. He received his Masters in General Administration from the University of Maryland and his BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Belgrade.
Senior Director, Network Technologies
Google
Vijay Vusirikala is Senior Director, Network Technologies at Google, where he leads teams developing platforms and systems that power Google’s global network. At Google, Vijay was responsible for developing deep networking technologies spanning routing and optical transport platforms, traffic management, network planning and design, and network analytics.
Prior to Google, Vijay was Director of Marketing at Infinera where he worked with major global network operators to design and deploy digital optical networks. Prior to joining Infinera, he was at Motorola Networks as Director of Market Development for PON, DSL, and IPTV products. Earlier, he was with Sycamore Networks in senior system architecture and product management roles, where he defined architecture for reconfigurable optical networks.
Vijay has over 100 publications and presentations and holds 17 patents in optical components, system design and network architecture. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and executive forums. He received an MS in Physics and a PhD in EE from the University of Maryland, College Park and a BSEE from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras in India.
