Blogger Bios
Len Granowetter ― Vice President, Product Division
Len Granowetter has been with MÄK since 1993. He currently serves as MÄK’s Vice President of Products with overall responsibility for MÄK’s Modeling and Simulation Products business, including support and training.
From 1999-2009, Granowetter was MÄK’s Director of Product Development. Under his direction, MÄK’s product line expanded from a few interoperability toolkits to a full portfolio of applications, plug-ins, and developer’s tools, spanning the focus areas of Link, Simulate, and Visualize.
Prior to assuming that role, Granowetter was MÄK’s Lead Products Engineer. He was the primary architect and developer of MÄK’s flagship product, the VR-Link Simulation Networking toolkit, for several years. He was responsible for transitioning MÄK’s products from DIS to HLA, and for designing VR-Link’s FOM-Mapping architecture to support FOM Agility in MAK products. He was also the original architect of the MAK High-Performance RTI.
Granowetter has been heavily involved in interoperability standards efforts. He has served as Chairman of SISO’s Live Virtual Constructive (LVC) Study Group, as Chairman and Lead Editor of SISO’s Dynamic-Link-Compatible HLA API Product Development Group, as Lead Editor of the C++ API and member of the Drafting Group for HLA Evolved, and as a core contributor to SISO’s RPR FOM Product Development Group. He was also an active member of the US DoD’s LVC Architecture Roadmap (LVCAR) Study’s Working Group.
Jim Kogler – Product Manager, Link Products
Jim Kogler joined VT MÄK in 2002. He is currently the Product Manager for Link Products which makes him responsible for overseeing the strategic product positioning, engineering development, and technical support for all MÄK Link products. Kogler also sits on the CTO Council at MÄK and is responsible for advising corporate leadership on technical interoperability issues and directions.
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 Product Manager of the Simulate Products at MÄK, making product decisions for VR-Forces and its modules. Before joining MÄK, Kidd was a Senior Associate 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.