Authors

Our Product Managers

Jim Kogler – Director COTS Products
Nate Kidd – Simulate Products
Brett Wiesner – Visualize Products
Aaron Dubois – Link Products
Kevin Johnson – Terrain & Environment Products

Our Executive Team

Dan Schimmel
Kathy Pratt
Len Granowetter
Ben Lubetsky
Dan Brockway

More MÄK Bloggers

Jeff Bail - Senior Software Engineer
Deb Fullford - Account Manager
Bob Holcomb - Solution Architect
Alan Kosow - Account Manager
Steve Peart - International Sales
Pete Swan - Business Development Executive
Fred Wersan - Principal Technical Writer
Doug Wood - Principal Software Engineer

Jim Kogler – Director, COTS Products

Jim Kogler joined VT MÄK in 2002. He is currently the Director of COTS Products which makes him responsible for overseeing the strategic product positioning, engineering development, and technical support for all MÄK COTS Products. From 2008-2010, Kogler was the Product Manager for Link Products. He was responsible for all interoperability product direction, design, and deployment. Prior to assuming that role, Kogler held the title of Lead Product Engineer for three years. He was responsible for product interoperability, development procedures, software design standards, code and architecture reviews, and assisted the Director of Product Development in setting strategic direction for MÄK products. Kogler started at MÄK as the lead engineer on the VR-Link product. He was responsible for the design and implementation of both the MÄK Gateway and VR-Exchange.

Kogler is actively involved in the Modeling and Simulation Interoperability community through SISO (Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization) and IEEE. He served several terms on and was elected Vice Chair of the Standards Activities Committee (SAC), as well as being elected Secretary of the Board of Trustees for SISO Inc. Mr. Kogler has long been involved with the development of the RPR FOM and has previously held the position as Chairman of the PRR FOM Product Development Group. He is a balloting member of IEEE 1278.1-2010, IEEE 1516-1010, and has served as SISO representative to the IEEE Standards Activity Board.

Kogler holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from Clarkson University and is pursuing a Master of Science in Economics from Suffolk University.

Nathan Kidd – Product Manager, Simulate Products

Nathan Kidd is the Lead Architect of the Simulate Products at MÄK as well as the Engineering Manager for the VR-Forces development team. He joined MÄK in 2000 first contributing to the development of MÄK’s tactical trainer product line including Battle Command 2010 and Army Command 2010. Kidd later became a key contributor to an SBIR project for automating development of higher level behaviors for simulated agents, and then joined the VR-Forces team in 2003. Before joining MÄK, Kidd was a
Simulation Systems Engineer for Lockheed Martin Federal Systems. There, he was lead engineer of avionics display prototyping, and responsible for the computer generated forces systems in the Vehicle Simulation Laboratory.

Kidd holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering with a concentration in Mathematics from Clarkson University.

Brett Wiesner – Product Manager, Visualize Products

Brett Wiesner is the Product Manager for MÄK’s Visualize products, managing the VR-Vantage product line. Wiesner has spent more than ten years at MÄK, starting out developing the company’s PC-based tactical trainers Battle Command and MAGTF-XXI.

Wiesner holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Tufts University.

Aaron Dubois – Product Manager, Link Products

Aaron Dubois is the Technical Product Manager of the Link Products at MÄK, managing the link and interoperability products, including the RTI, VR-Link, VR-Exchange, and the Data Logger. Prior to assuming his current role, Dubois was the Lead Engineer for the MÄK RTI.

Dubois holds a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from Boston University.

Bob Holcomb – Solution Architect

Bob Holcomb joined VT MÄK in 2006.  He is currently the Sales and Marketing Team's Solution Architect responsible for crafting company demos, pre-sales support, reseller support, and technical support for proposal development.  He also occasionally conducts developer training for the Link and  Visualize products.  Prior to holding the role, from 2006-2010 he was a Senior Simulation Consultant for VT MÄK and consulted with customers on project design, implemented custom solutions and training.  He has also done feature development in nearly every product at one time or another.

Prior to coming to VT MÄK, Bob was an Army Officer in the Aviation branch and flew OH-58D Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters.  He worked in leadership and staff roles from Platoon to Army level organizations and is a combat veteran.

Bob holds a Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point and is nearly complete with a Masters of Science in Modeling and Simulation from Old Dominion University.

Fred Wersan – Principal Technical Writer

Fred Wersan is the Principal Technical Writer at MÄK. He is responsible for all product documentation including product manuals, release notes, online help, and first experience guides. He creates demo scenarios and tutorials, provides tech support and product testing, helps manage web site content, writes tech tips, and edits proposals.

Fred has several degrees, including a MA from Boston College in Counseling Psychology, a Masters of Education from Rutgers in Creative Arts in Education, and a Certificate in Software Technical Writing from Middlesex Community College.

Deb FullFord - Account Manager

Deb Fullford is an Account Manager at MÄK, providing technical guidance, demonstration support, and her expert technical knowledge of the M&S market to assist customers develop successful simulations. Prior to her current role, Deb was the Director of Business Development, a member of the International Sales team, and also a Software Engineer on VR-Vantage Stealth.

Deb holds a Masters of Science in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from MIT and a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Boston University.

Pete Swan - Business Development Executive

Pete Swan is a Business Development Executive at VT MÄK and is responsible for worldwide business development for MÄK’s products and services. Pete has 30 years of experience in the modeling and simulation industry in various technical and managerial roles. He has specialized in the development, sales, and product management of modeling and simulation, networking, and synthetic environment software products, in the UK, Canada, and the US.

Pete has held several volunteer positions in modeling and simulation related organizations including Secretary of the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO) Board of Directors. He is currently Secretary of the Executive Committee of the National Training Systems Association (NTSA).

Jeff Bail

Jeff Bail is a Senior Software Engineer at VT MÄK and splits his time working on VR-Forces and assisting the sales team with various projects. Jeff graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology.