Management Team

For twenty-five years, Tony has helped enterprise and government clients transform the way they do business through information technology. An engineer and 3D/CAD specialist, he started his career designing NASA and commercial spacecraft, then led MCI and Verizon product marketing and sales teams designing and delivering strategic telecommunication solutions to global enterprise, utility, and government accounts. He served as product portfolio lead for Verizon’s partner program global expansion, and conceived the Verizon Wearable Computing & Augmented Reality program. A serial entrepreneur, Tony founded three award-winning software & IT services firms, then served as Business Development Director for Synapse Wireless, a 120-person Industrial IoT technology leader. Tony also served as Development Director at one of the largest business incubators in the U.S. where he coordinated mentorship, commercialization guidance, and access to growth capital for emerging tech startups. Tony is currently CEO of Brainwaive LLC, a global advisory guiding enterprise clients and tech startups in the fields of business innovation, emerging technology, and cyber-security for unconventional connected devices (AR/VR, mobile tech, wearables, IoT, UAS/drones, and more). He holds multiple industry certifications, and engineering degrees from Texas A&M and the University of Texas, Arlington. He is an active member of the IEEE developing standards for Augmented Reality and wearable device security, and promotes the Industrial Internet Consortium working groups in Business Strategy, Connectivity, and Smart Manufacturing.

Dr. John J. Simmins is Chief Technology Officer for Ethar, where he oversees development and implementation of new products and services. John has expertise at the intersection of augmented reality, artificial intelligence and geospatial information systems. For a decade prior to joining Ethar, John led $2M+ in annual research for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), including $1.5M+ focused on augmented reality applications. Prior to EPRI, he served in roles as CTO, VP Product Development, and Director of Engineering & Operations for various companies, including planning and facilitating a multinational SAP installation that won the CIO Magazine “Implementation of the Year” award. John also program managed cross-functional teams at GE Global Exchange Systems (GSX), delivering mission-critical, high-transaction-rate e-Commerce implementations. John is an industry leader and published expert in AR/VR, geographic information systems, big data, and the advancement of open, interoperable software tools and global standards.  

Emerging tech expert, security and privacy strategy, standards and tech policy

Bob has been working in new and emerging tech spaces for over 25 years with a passion and focus on security, privacy and safety. He built multiple emerging technology programs and initiatives at the IEEE—including its VR/AR and cybersecurity programs—where he spearheaded IEEE’s entry into new technology and industry spaces and new use areas for existing technologies. He led the development of new industry focused programs across a variety of industry verticals. Bob has extensive experience in technical standards and spec development and use, along as working at the intersection of technology and policy. He has driven strategic initiatives in the global standards ecosystem across a host of standards bodies, organizations and alliances, and has held tech advisory seats at the OECD and APWG among others.

Board of Directors

Tony Hodgeson, Founding Member, Director and CEO

Bob LaBelle, Founding Member, Director and COO

Scott Satterwhite, Director