Executive Advisory Board

Joseph Ambrosio
Unique Electric Solutions
Smithtown, N.Y.

Mr. Ambrosio's tenure in the alternative fuel transportation industry includes design, development, and integration of a variety of liquid and gaseous fuel systems, battery energy and thermal management, APU systems for HEVs (fuel cell, micro turbines, and internal combustion engines), and testing procedures. He has been an active member of the SAE for 19 years. His professional experience includes ground up electric and hybrid electric propulsion system design, energy storage system development, printed circuit board production, quality control, and industrial engineering.

Mr. Ambrosio has authored a number of published technical reports for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) on battery energy and thermal management for heavy and light duty electric vehicles. In addition to EV/HEV system integration and research and development, he has worked closely with U.S.-based and off-shore electric utilities along with organizations such as the Department of Energy's Clean Cities on alternative fuel vehicle development, electric drive system development, and vehicle demonstration programs.

Mr. Ambrosio has co-authored seven U.S. patents in the field of battery energy/thermal management, energy storage enclosures, and advanced propulsion systems. He is currently active in the following organizations: Curriculum Advisory Board Engineering Science at the State University of N.Y. at Stony Brook, Curriculum Advisory Board Technologies at Bronx Community College, and Former Treasurer, Board Member, and current Vice Chairman at Greater Long Island Clean Cities Coalition. Mr. Ambrosio is a graduate of New York Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. As an entrepreneur, he was a co-founder of Neocon Technologies (1994), Odyne Corporation (2001) ElectroMotive Designs (2009).

David Antar
IPVideo Corporation and A+ Technology & Security Solutions, Inc.
Bay Shore, N.Y.

David Antar is a true entrepreneur at heart, with over 30 years in the security industry. Over that time, he has started several successful high-tech companies based on a keen ability to understand the needs of his customers and the trends in the marketplace that drive business growth.

A+ Technology & Security Solutions is one of the largest physical security integrators in the tristate area with a strong presence in K-12, Higher Ed, Commercial and Public Sector. IPVideo Corporation is a global security and IOT solutions manufacturer and software developer that sells award winning products like the HALO IoT Smart Sensor exclusively through a 1000+ worldwide dealer network. A+ STEM Labs is an innovator in STEM teaching solutions and has over 1500 mobile science labs in the New York City school system. Global Fusion Center is a high-tech virtual guarding firm that is disrupting the security industry with cameras that are equipped with artificial intelligence to trigger events back to a 24/7 command center. Headquartered in Bay Shore, New York, all companies operate out of an 18,000 square foot showcase facility in addition to having a 7,000 square foot New England operation in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In 2012 all business units were combined under the umbrella of a single holding company, Advance Convergence Group (ACG).

Antar explains, "Client centric philosophy is crucial to any successful business and it's extremely important to stay on top of the latest technology in today's changing marketplace. It's all about exceeding your customer's expectations each and every time."

Antar's success is a testament to the wisdom of this philosophy. David was inducted into the Long Island Technology Hall of Fame and has been honored at numerous local and national events. He is integrally involved in with many strategic boards and organizations to help make the world a smarter safer place.

Soyeb Barot
Gartner
Stamford, C.T.

Soyeb Barot is a research analyst at Gartner, responsible for covering advanced analytics, machine learning, and AI topics in his current role. He earned his Master's Degree in Computer Science from New York Tech back in 2005. He has led enterprise data management and data science teams in the past providing deep technical expertise, and leadership, within the insurance, banking, retail, media, and information system domains.

He specializes in building roadmaps for analytical and AI strategies, working with academics and technology organizations to bring ML, NLP, and AI solutions to the broader industry. Soyeb has been a speaker at various industry conferences and plays a pivotal role in building future-state architectures and digital transformation initiatives for Fortune 100 enterprises globally.

Thomas D. Bianculli
Zebra Technologies Co.
Holtsville, N.Y.

Tom Bianculli serves as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Zebra Technologies. In this role, Bianculli is responsible for the exploration of emerging opportunities, coordinating with product teams on advanced technology development, solutions strategy and inorganic investment.

Bianculli started his career with Symbol Technologies, Inc. as part of the data capture solutions business. In the following years, Bianculli held positions of increased responsibility including architectural and director of engineering roles. Bianculli provided technical leadership for the business and co-led the development of the company's first imager-based handheld data capture product while on assignment in Japan.

Bianculli went on to form the Emerging Business Office at Motorola to explore new opportunities adjacent to the core businesses. At the time of the Zebra Technologies' acquisition of Motorola Solutions' Enterprise Business in 2014, Bianculli transitioned the Enterprise segment of Motorola's CTO team to Zebra and was subsequently appointed as CTO of the new combined organization in 2016. The CTO team has driven the key tenets of Zebra's Enterprise Asset Intelligence vision including sponsorship of the company's software acquisitions and the development of vertical strategies in support of that vision.

Bianculli has been granted over 20 U.S. patents and is a Motorola Distinguished Innovator and Science Advisory Board Associate. He was recently named one of the Top 100 Leaders in Technology 2021 by Technology Magazine.

Bianculli holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering from Polytechnic University, NYU He also serves on the Board of Directors for the School of Engineering for the New York Institute of Technology and the Board for the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe.

Ronald Connelly
World One Investments
Glen Burnie, M.D.

Ronald Connelly has over 25 years of experience in the defense contracting industry. Throughout his 25 year career he has been an RF engineer, business development manager, and a program manager for various opportunities.

As a RF engineer, he has worked on various projects including Air Force One and Air Force Two, performing electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) analysis. He also performed EMC analysis on the International Space Station (ISS) and worked with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop the next generation tactical data link for military systems.

Mr. Connelly has performed EMC analysis for the next generation of Lightweight Counter Mortar Radar (LCMR) system and the Lightweight Surveillance and Target Acquisition Radar (LSTAR) system developed by the U.S. Army.

In the role of business development, Mr. Connelly has pursued contracts with various Department of Defense (DoD) and federal government agencies in excess of $300M including the U.S. Army Future Command, U.S. Air Force Research lab, and National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA).

Matthew Daus
Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP
New York, N.Y.

Matthew W. Daus, Esq., currently serves as Transportation Technology Chair at the City University of New York's (CUNY) Transportation Research Center, where he conducts research and continues to be extensively published as an expert on ground transportation regulation and technology. As a CUNY Distinguished Lecturer for the past nine years, he has taught courses on transportation history, policy, sustainability, for-hire regulation, and technology.

Mr. Daus has served for the past ten years as President of the International Association of Transportation Regulators (IATR), a non-profit educational and advocacy peer group of government transportation regulators from around the world promoting best regulatory and innovative practice. Commissioner Daus is the longest serving Chairman of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), serving for over eight years.

Prior to his tenure as Commissioner, Mr. Daus served in executive and other positions in NYC government for almost 20 years at several agencies, including as General Counsel to the TLC and the NYC Community Development Agency, as Special Counsel to the TLC and NYC Trade Waste Commission, as a NYC Human Rights Prosecutor, and as Commissioner of the NYC Civil Service Commission.

Mr. Daus is a partner and currently chairs the Transportation Practice Group at Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP.

Robert A. DiFazio, Ph.D.
RZio, LLC
Greenlawn, N.Y.

Dr. Robert A. DiFazio has spent over forty years doing research and development in wireless communications, signal processing, networks, video, machine-to-machine communications, and international standards. Before founding RZio, LLC—a research and development and consulting company—he was Executive Vice President and Head of Research and Development at InterDigital where he led a worldwide organization of over 150 engineers spanning North America, Europe, and Asia. He and his team developed 3G, 4G/LTE, and 5G cellular technology that became the basis for a world-renowned patent portfolio generating hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue per year.

Dr. DiFazio actively participated in projects on 5G cellular, next generation WiFi, millimeter wave radios, small cell and heterogeneous networks, video/multi-media compression and distribution, and advanced systems for efficient use and sharing of spectrum to meet the everincreasing demand for wireless data. He directed participation at major international standards bodies including 3GPP, IEEE 802.11, IETF, oneM2M, and MPEG.

Prior to InterDigital, Dr. DiFazio spent more than twenty years at BAE Systems working on software defined radios, smart antenna systems, jam resistant modems, and low probability of intercept communication and navigation systems. He was a founding employee of a wireless startup. His outreach activities include many technology talks, publications, and interviews.

Mark Hanny
Partnering for Growth, LLC
Holden, M.A.

Accomplished former IBM senior executive with track record of catalyzing growth through innovative new business models in software, SaaS, digital transformation, and cloud. Throughout his career, Mark has been an "intrapreneur" within IBM, helping the company to launch new product lines, create new skilled partner programs, expand into emerging markets, and reach new clients through a skilled partner network.

Mark is a results-oriented sales and marketing executive with a strong general management background. Mark has successfully held positions in sales, marketing, product management, mergers and acquisitions integrations, and channels and global alliances.

Mark played a vital role in helping IBM—a company with a tradition of "flying solo"—form its first-ever Software Business Partner program, reflecting the importance of alliances and partnerships in the evolving digital economy. Mark joined IBM's mergers and acquisitions group where he led IBM's $762 million acquisition of Tivoli. Mark played a crucial leading role in helping IBM grow its software business from $500M to $28B, through increasing its business through skilled partners from 0% to over 42%.

Mark has been cited by CRN IT Magazine six times as Top Channel Chief. Mark has been interviewed on major national media, including The New York Times, CNBC, Investor's Business Daily, and China Daily.

Mark has transformed into a recognized IT industry consultant as principal.

Larry Karantzios
ZScaler, Inc.
Manhasset, N.Y.

Larry Karantzios is a Senior Pre-Sales Systems Engineer at ZScaler. Karantzios is tech lead in migrating traditional company on premise network/security solutions to a digital transformation Cloud Internet Security solution along with Secure Remote Access in a Zero Trust Environment.

Before ZScaler, Karantzios worked as a Senior Pre-Sales engineer at Fortinet designing network/security datacenter and internet access solutions for the banking and financial services sector. Karantzios also worked for Juniper Networks, leading technical sales in computer networks/security opportunities in global banking and financial institutions.

Previously to changing careers to pre-sales engineering, Karantzios was vice president at Credit Suisse. He was responsible for securing the bank's global Internet access as well as the design and security of all global DMZ zones. Prior to accepting a career in IT systems network/security for Wall Street financial firms, Karantzios worked at Northrop Grumman Aerospace in the systems engineering group, integrating encrypted digital voice/data communications systems on the Navy E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft. Karantzios received an M.S. degree in organizational behavior and a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering.

John R. Keville
Sheppard Mullin
Houston, T.X.

John Keville is the office managing partner in global law firm Sheppard Mullin's Houston office. With a degree in mechanical engineering from New York Tech, and a law degree from St. John's University School of Law, John first-chairs patent, trade secret, trademark, and copyright litigation trials across the country in all areas of technology.

He was recognized twice in 2021 as a runner-up for the American Lawyer's Litigator of the Week award for two-straight jury verdicts of willful patent infringement, has been Houston's IP "Lawyer of the Year," and is known for being "an extraordinarily diligent, no-nonsense straight shooter" and "truly formidable" in the IP arena. He has served on the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences Dean's Advisory Board since 2018.

Michael Lantier
H2M Architects + Engineers
Melville, N.Y.

Michael Lantier's 15-year career at H2M started within the Electrical Engineering Department and has progressed to a leading role providing support to numerous school districts and higher education clients throughout the tri-state area as a Deputy Market Leader. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of New York and is U.S. Green Building Council LEED accredited. His responsibilities include client management and full-service project management including pre-bond support services, financial review, feasibility reports, design services, and construction administration services. In the Electrical Engineering Department, his experience includes the design and construction management of complex power distribution, emergency distribution, and fully integrated life safety systems.

Mr. Lantier is the primary client contact and manages numerous K–12 school districts. Although he holds a degree is in electrical and computer engineering from New York Institute of Technology, his years of experience have provided knowledge on many aspects of school construction. He has extensive experience in evaluating existing facilities, developing capital plans, evaluating energy performance contracts, and participating in pre-bond efforts. His experience within H2M has provided him with long standing relationships across all service markets, resulting in efficient project management and expedited decision making, which ultimately saves his clients time and money while resulting in successful construction completion. His outreach includes positions on numerous not-for-profit boards and industrial advisory boards. Mr. Lantier rounds out his education with an M.B.A. in Finance from Stony Brook University.

George Likourezos
Carter, Deluca & Farrell, LLP
Saint James, N.Y.

George Likourezos is a partner at Carter, DeLuca & Farrell, LLP—a fullservice intellectual property law firm based in Melville, New York. His practice encompasses all aspects of patent, trademark, and copyright law. George focuses his law practice on patent law and representing his clients before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and patent offices throughout the world. His clients include individual inventors, startups, universities, research institutions, and middle-market, and Fortune 100 companies involved in a wide range of technologies.

George has a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, and a master's degree in Operations Management from NYU Tandon School of Engineering. His law degree is from the Touro Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. He is a director and on the advisory board of several technology companies, including a mentor of the prestigious Starburst Aerospace Accelerator, and a board member of ADDAPT and the Long Island Capital Alliance.

Mitchell Maiman
Intelligent Product Solutions
Hauppauge, N.Y.

Mitch, co-founder and former President of IPS, has more than 40 years of experience in successful product development. Along with his partner, Paul Severino, IPS has built a large, multi-functional product development team serving many tier-one clients including Zebra Technologies, Google, Verizon, Tyco, Leviton, Anheuser Busch, L3 Communications, PepsiCo, Steinway, and Becton Dickinson as well as numerous smaller clients. Mitch's present role followed a long, successful career at Symbol Technologies where he served as Vice President of Engineering running engineering for a large, highly profitable business unit as well as an Advanced Development organization.

Prior to Symbol Technologies, Mitch spent his career in commercial, industrial, consumer, and defense product manufacturing companies including NCR and United Technologies. He has a plethora of U.S. and international patents around his innovative work over his career. Mitch holds a masters's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University in N.Y. as well as an M.B.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University in N.J. He has a bachelor of science degree in Engineering Science from Hofstra University. Currently, Mitch is active in helping develop the local economy through roles with Stony Brook University, Launchpad, New York Institute of Technology, the Long Island High Tech Incubator, and the incubators affiliated with M-Corp and 2nd Muse.

Jimmy Marsanico
Prescient AI
Westbury, N.Y.

A local New Yorker and New York Tech alumnus, Jimmy Marsanico brings over a decade of experience in developing software products, architecting machine learning systems, and building highly effective teams. Jimmy's career has spanned from small startups (TheMuse.com, Imgur.com) to large enterprise organizations (Bloomberg LP, Pearson). Most recently, he joined the founding team at Prescient AI—a marketing technology company built on powerful machine learning systems to help reduce the need for user-tracking data in the direct-to-consumer ecommerce space.

Jimmy is a passionate technologist and creator who believes strongly in the power of human-computer interactions—how technology improves the lives of those who use it. This belief system is deeply rooted from his time spent at Carnegie Mellon University, where he was a researcher in the CyLab Center for Biometrics, as well as in the HCI DevLab. He graduated Summa Cum Laude (4.0) with a Master's Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Prior to CMU, his educational groundwork was developed at the Old Westbury campus of New York Tech. During his four years there, he proudly served in the Student Government Association, as the president of the local IEEE student chapter, as well as president of the Phi Eta Sigma honor society. He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.S., also in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and was given the honor of being the graduating class's Student Commencement Orator.

Jacqueline Mason
Morgan Stanley
Westbury, N.Y.

Jacqueline Mason is a seasoned technology professional with over 25 years experience in the financial industry. Currently, Jacqueline is a Vice President at Morgan Stanley in Enterprise Technology Services, End User Technology (EUT) division. In her role, Jacqueline is responsible for driving the strategic agendas of End User Technology and Operations, with a focus on transitioning and adopting Agile methodologies to deliver products and services on a global scale. As such, Jacqueline partners with all areas of the organization to support the division initiatives, and ultimately is a key contributor in delivering the end-state operating model for EUT.

In addition, Jacqueline is committed to giving back and such serves as a mentor, supporting and advocating for the development and advancement of employees, as well as youths in her community and high school students in underserved communities. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, she worked at Citi as Senior Vice President in various global roles in Infrastructure Technology, and at Salomon Smith Barney, and Salomon Brothers. Jacqueline is a graduate of New York Tech, attaining a degree in Computer Science. She is a member of the Standing Committee of the Long Island Diocese of the Episcopal Church. Jacqueline resides on Long Island with her husband and two daughters.

Kenneth McCauley
Turtle & Hughes
Stewartsville, N.J.

Ken has been an Advisory Board member with New York Tech since 2014. He brings a broad technology and industrial application perspective to the role. Continuing to partner with his co-Founder from 127 Energy, Ken joined Turtle & Hughes early in 2019 to build the firm's presence and capability in the battery energy storage services space as the market rapidly expands. As a certified woman-owned business with a 97 year history in providing electrical equipment and services, the Turtle & Hughes team possesses a wealth of experience and relationships as a foundation to build upon as the company invests to support their customers in implementing battery energy storage systems.

In addition to Turtle & Hughes, he remains a Board Member of 127 Energy. Prior to co-founding 127 Energy to develop and finance renewable energy and energy storage projects, Ken was President and CEO of Princeton Power Systems, Inc. (PPS). At PPS, he worked on islandable grid-tied and off-grid microgrid systems globally including U.S. Department of Defense sites, National Park Service locations, Africa, private island and commercial/industrial power systems. Prior to entering the energy storage space, Ken's decade of renewable energy experience included thin film, organic and crystalline silicon photovoltaics firms. Before beginning his renewable energy work, Ken had leadership roles in the silicon and compound semiconductor, mobile and optical communications as well as power electronics industries. This included five years as Managing Director starting up new businesses whilst resident in China and Japan. He has extensive international experience having done business in more than 35 countries.

Ken holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Bucknell University and MBA Marketing/Finance from the University of Richmond. When not helping customers and developing the business, he likes to go fast and is an FAA-licensed pilot who has also jumped out of perfectly good airplanes, a member of the Harley Owners Group, and a PADI certified SCUBA diver.

Brian Monks
UL, LLC
Melville, N.Y.

Brian Monks started his career with UL in 1983. Brian was the driving force behind the creation of UL's internationally distinguished Anti-Counterfeiting Operations. In 2015, Brian was appointed as UL's Chief Security Officer and took over all aspects of the company's Enterprise Security Program. In 2020, Brian assumed a new role reporting directly to the President and CEO, working on strategic planning and special projects.

Brian works closely with agencies such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, FBI, INTERPOL, Europol, and other law enforcement agencies. Brian is a frequent keynote speaker at anticounterfeiting conferences around the world. In addition to these activities, he has written numerous articles that have appeared in prestigious publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Reader's Digest, The Washington Post, and other various publications. Brian also belongs to many different professional memberships and affiliations. Brian serves on the Executive Board of the International Anticounterfeiting Coalition (IACC) in Washington DC, serves on the Board of Business Executives for National Security (BENS) in Washington DC, Board Chairman of the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) in Washington DC and on the Board of Governors of the Chicago Scots in Chicago.

Brian has a Bachelor of Technology Degree in Electro Mechanical Computer Technology, a Master's Degree in Business Administration, and has received an Executive Leadership Certificate from Yale University.

Barbara Porter
Fragrancenet.com, Inc.
Huntington, N.Y.

Barbara joined FragranceNet.com in January 2010 as the Chief Technology Officer and in April 2021 was also made the company's Chief Operating Officer. She oversees all operations and technology within the organization, including warehouse management, order management, shipping and logistics, retail operations, application development, hardware, handheld, network, telephony, and virtual and cloud environments. She also oversees business intelligence, data engineering (machine learning), and PMO functions.

Prior to joining FragranceNet.com she worked for 1800flowers.com for ten years, initially as the Manager of Web Development, then as the Director of Customer Application Development (managing 13 ecommerce websites, a retail point of sale application, and a multi-brand call center application) before transitioning to the operations side of the organization as the Director of Enterprise Initiatives—chartered with identifying and sponsoring projects for operational improvements throughout the organization that would reduce costs and/or increase customer satisfaction.

Prior to 1800flowers, she worked in the petroleum industry for 11 years in various roles including accounting, purchasing, marketing, and administration.

Sanyogita Shamsunder
NextNav
Fremont, C.A.

Sanyogita Shamsunder is the Chief Operating Officer at NextNav. Previously, she acted as the head of Global Edge Networking at Google where her team was responsible for various cloud networking products, solutions and systems supporting Google's Global Network. Prior to that, she was the VP of Product Strategy and Operations at Verizon where she was responsible for incubating enterprise and consumer products driven by emerging technologies. Sanyogita championed industry leading 5G network and technology development. Sanyogita's work experience spans all areas of the wireless business, including silicon, network technology development, and spectrum strategy. Earlier in her career, she held various research and development roles at Lucent-Bell Labs, Sandbridge Technologies, and Stanford Telecom.

A sought-after speaker, Sanyogita has spoken at many industry conferences, including Mobile World Congress, Fierce Wireless events, CES, and various IEEE conferences and workshops. She also actively mentors and advocates for women in technology. She is on the Board of Industry Leaders of Consumer Technology Association, technical advisory board of Maxilinear, and the non-profit Manavi. Sanyogita received her M.B.A. from the Wharton School and Ph.D in electrical engineering and math from the University of Virginia.

Thomas Van Laan
CloudCalc, Inc.
Houston, T.X.

Tom is currently CEO of CloudCalc, a Houston-based provider of software to the civil and mechanical engineering market. In addition to an M.B.A. from New York Institute of Technology, he holds an S.B. in Civil Engineering from MIT, an M.S. in Computer Science from Pace University, and is a licensed Professional Engineer in three states. Prior to founding CloudCalc, Tom spent over 15 years as CEO of COADE, Inc. He is also the author of the engineering text Piping and Pipe Support Systems, Design, and Engineering.

Tom has been a member of the Dean's Executive Advisory Board of CoECS since 2013.

William Zucker
Nokia Mobile Networks Business Group
Murray Hill, N.J.

Bill Zucker is a Senior VP and the Baseband and SoC Development Unit head in Nokia's Mobile Networks Business Group. Bill previously was the Baseband Platform Unit Head, assuming that position after the Nokia acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent in December 2015. In his current role, Bill leads a global research and development team responsible for all the SoCs used in both the baseband and RF platform products in Nokia's wireless portfolio. Previously, Bill held various senior management positions in Wireless R&D at Alcatel-Lucent and Lucent Technologies.

Bill holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Bachelor of Engineering from Manhattan College.