Management Team

Management Team

Dr. Rick Twogood, CEO

Dr. Twogood has a broad range of technical and senior management experience, including over 32 years in the U.S. national laboratory system. While at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California, he managed large organizations and programs in national security research and development, laser programs and Department of Defense programs. From 1996 to 2000, Dr. Twogood was the Deputy Associate Director for Electronics Engineering, with management responsibility for that 750-person department at LLNL. He also served as Deputy Associate Director for New Initiatives in the Engineering Directorate, and managed programs including non-acoustic anti-submarine warfare, laser guide stars, micropower impulse radar, strategic defense and other technologies. Dr. Twogood has a PhD in Electronics Engineering from the University of California at Davis and has over 30 publications in the field of digital signal and image processing. He is a senior member of the IEEE, and a member of the AIAA.

Dr. Faranak Nekoogar, CTO

Dr. Faranak Nekoogar, is the Chief Technology Officer at Dirac Solutions Inc. where she leads the secure wireless communications and battery-free sensor research and development efforts. Faranak is recognized leader in the field of ultra-wideband communications and passive RFID technology. Prior to joining DSI, she conducted extensive research for various DOE and DOD missions at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Before joining LLNL, Faranak had several technical and management positions at organizations such as NASA Ames Research Center, and Silicon Valley electronics chip design startup companies, as well as consulting roles with companies such as Lucent Technologies, Philips Semiconductor, IBM, and Qualcomm Corp in the area of electronic chip design and verification. She has a PhD in Applied Science / Engineering from the University of California at Davis, and has authored 3 technical books, and over 20 patents and records of inventions in the area of wireless technology.

Torsten Eckert, VP of Software Development

Torsten has a BS in Physics and Mathematics and MSEE from University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). He is an expert in radar signal processing and RFID systems with a focus on algorithm development and software implementation in embedded microcontrollers, software-defined-radios, as well as high level programming.

Scientific Advisors

Prof. Farid Dowla

Prof. Dowla is an expert in Signal Processing and RF communications with BS, MS, and Ph.D. in EE from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is the author of numerous publications, patents, and books in the area of wireless communications. He has been employed at LLNL for the past 31 years leading research for DOE and DoD on UWB communications and radars and is currently a Professor at University of California, Santa Cruz teaching communications, radar, and signal processing.

Prof. Matt Reynolds​

Description

Accounting/Administrative Support

Liz O’Brien

Liz O’Brien has over 38 years of experience as an administrative assistant. Prior to joining DSI in 2010, she spent 16 years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory providing administrative support to various organizations, including Dr. Twogood’s Imaging and Detection Program in Lasers. She also supported Dr. Twogood during his role as the Deputy Associate Director for Engineering and New Initiatives, and then went on to support various managers within the Engineering Directorate office, and later supported the head of the Forensic Science Department within Global Security. Liz has been working at DSI since it began in 2010 as the Office Administrator and manages bookkeeping, payroll and reporting tasks for government contracts.

Happiness Officer

Millo, CHO

Millo is a West Highland Terrier that in his role as Chief Happiness Officer, brings 6 years of experience in making the team happy.