Atmospheric & Environmental Research Inc.

As co-founder of AER, Ms. Sze leads AER's strategic development and research program. Her key objectives are to remain at the forefront of atmospheric science by developing premier applied scientific applications for the commercial sector backed by cutting-edge research and development. Ms. Sze earned her B.S. in Chemistry from Purdue University and an MBA from Northeastern University. Ms. Sze is a member of the Board of the Asian American Bank and Trust.

Dr. Hoffman's principal areas of interest are objective analysis and assimilation methods, atmospheric dynamics, climate theory and atmospheric radiation. He has made significant contributions in the field of data assimilation, including the development of some variational techniques. He is a member of the NSCAT Science Team and the EOS SeaWinds Science Team. Dr. Hoffman holds a magna cum laude BS from Brown University, a MA in mathematics from Boston University and a Ph.D. in meteorology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to AER, Dr. Hoffman was at the Goddard Laboratory for Atmospheric Sciences, first as a NCR RRA followed by acting as a USRA visiting scientist.

Mr. Isaacs provides operational leadership, business development, technical strategic vision, and decision making for all aspects of business conducted within the Programs and Systems (P&S), Research and Development (R&D), Space Weather (SW), Weather Impacts on Sensing Technologies (WIST), and Commercial Products (CP) Divisions at AER. He is author of numerous refereed journal articles as well as developer of the Isaacs scattering approximation; used in DoD community atmospheric transmission models such as MODTRAN (Isaacs et al, 1986). A member of AMS, IEEE, and SPIE, he holds ME and MS degrees in Applied Physics and Earth and Planetary Physics from Harvard University.

Mr. David Hogan is currently Vice President of the Programs and Systems Division at AER. He received a B.S in physical sciences and an M.S. in meteorology (remote sensing) from the University of Maryland. With almost thirty years of advanced system design and development experience, Mr. Hogan's career focus has been on the development of advanced science solutions for challenging environmental and remote sensing problems and transition to operational systems. He has extensive experience managing large programs with diverse technical teams composed of multiple contractors and has been successful in delivering tasks on schedule and within budget. He also manages the group that developed and supports AERs operational forecast designed specifically for the financial markets.

Dr. Seeley, Vice President of AER's WIST Division, is responsible for managing the development of the InfraRed Target Scene Simulation (IRTSS) tool which is a specialized weather impact decision aid for defense sensor systems. Through specialized infrared scene simulation it exploits terrain, GIS, weather and radiative transfer modeling, to provide situational awareness for joint service warfighters.

Dr. Hilary E. "Ned" Snell, Vice President of Sensor Applications and Modeling Division. Dr. Snell has been with Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc. since 1994 beginning as a Senior Research Associate. In 1999 Dr. Snell began his leadership of what is now the Infrared and Trace Gas Remote Sensing Group. Prior to joining AER, Dr. Snell studied and received his Ph.D. in Atmospheric and Space Sciences from the University of Michigan with Professor Paul B. Hays as his advisor. Prior to that, he studied and received his A.B. in Geophysics from the University of Chicago under the guidance of Professor John E. Frederick. Dr. Snell is experienced in all aspects of both theoretical and experimental remote sensing. This includes extensive infrared and ultraviolet radiative transfer model and retrieval algorithm development, including the design and implementation of upgrades to the FAST Atmospheric Signature CODE (FASCODE) algorithm, the design and construction of infrared remote sensing instrumentation, and the analysis of data acquired from ground-based and space-borne sensors. He led the development of the infrared ozone retrieval algorithm for the Ozone Mapping and Profiling Suite (OMPS) and served as project manager for algorithm development for the Cross-Track Infrared and Microwave Sounder Suite (CrIMSS), both part of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Satellite System (NPOESS). He is currently involved in the development of an end-to-end system for determining carbon fluxes using lidar measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane coupled with atmospheric transport models. He is also leading the development of a nowcast/forecast system for upper atmospheric phenomena for use in determining the radiance impacts to sensors. Dr. Snell is a member if the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) and the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

Mr. Moncet is heading the Remote Sensing Programs at AER, which oversees the activities of the Infrared, Microwave, Trace gases and Cloud remote sensing groups. During his accumulated sixteen years of experience in infrared, microwave and UV remote sensing and radiative transfer modeling, he has lead the EDR algorithm development effort for the NPOESS/CrIMSS payload and is currently leading the algorithm development effort for the NPOESS/CMIS instrument. Mr. Moncet has served as principal investigator in several other government funded research programs and has been involved in the DoD DMSP Block 6 program, the NPOESS Phase0 study and contributed to the development of the Air Force TACNEPH nephanalysis program. He is co-developer of the Unified Retrieval concept, initially applied to the DMSP Block 5D-3 microwave sensors and now used in the CMIS, AMSU, CrIS and OMPS EDR algorithms, and participated to the SSMT-2 and SSMIS cal/val effort. Since joining AER, he has developed high speed, high spectral resolution radiative transfer algorithms (including the Optimal Spectral Sampling (OSS) method [US Patent] and the CHARTS code for monochromatic radiance calculations in scattering atmospheres) and inversion algorithms for application to space borne infrared down-looking and limb sensors, airborne and ground based interferometers. He also provided support to the aerospace industry for several instrument trade studies. Other areas of activity include cloud properties retrieval from infrared spectrometric measurements and combined microwave/electro-optical imagers, NWP model assimilation and radiation/climate studies. Mr. Moncet is member of the NASA AMSR and AIRS science teams.

Ms. Pirone, Vice President of the Commercial Division at AER, has over twenty-nine years of experience in information technology, and more than eighteen years in weather information services. During her career she has held management positions in both the marketing and technical development of weather products and services. She is currently managing the technology transfer of atmospheric and environmental research to commercial products and services for use in the energy, financial, broadcast and government markets.

Mr. Bonito, Vice President of AER's Space Weather Division, has interfaced with the scientific community at AFRL for over 24 years. He is currently managing the research, operations and support of space weather phenomenology and physics, space weather forecasting, and space weather programs, data and communications support, and decision aids for traditional government customers as well as development of new markets. He has designed multi-processor techniques for the reduction and analysis of real time telemetry for AFRL experiments flown on five space shuttle missions. He also designed, developed, and published the AFGL Interactive Targeting System used during the STS-' mission to support the on-orbit mission planning and the accurate sensor tracking of the CIRRIS-1A sensor from the space shuttle platform. Prior to joining AER, Mr. Bonito was a Principal Investigator/Project Manager for Radex, Inc.

As AER's founder, Dr. Sze is an established leader in atmospheric sciences with major air quality breakthroughs in industry, government and academic communities in the United States and around the world. Upon receiving his doctorate from Harvard University, Dr. Sze's work in air quality was instrumental in the global shift away from harmful CFCs, controlling global methane, and preventing further depletion of the ozone layer. He has chaired and served national and international committees including the U.S. EPA's Science Advisory Board, the Board of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of the National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, and the Harvard University Committee on Environment.

Dr. Prakash Karamchandani, Senior Project Manager in the Air Quality Division joined Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc. in February of 1996. He holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Kentucky and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India. Dr. Karamchandani has over 20 years of experience in air quality modeling for issues such as ozone, particulate matter, acid deposition, atmospheric visibility, nitrogen deposition, and air toxics. Dr. Karamchandani was the technical lead for the development of state-of-the-science reactive plume models (e.g., SCICHEM) and also led the development and application of an advanced treatment of stack plumes in air quality modeling. He has recently developed a sub-grid scale treatment of roadway emissions using a plume-in-grid approach. Dr. Karamchandani has also been involved in several air toxics modeling studies (e.g., mercury, dioxins) and atmospheric deposition modeling projects (acid and nitrogen deposition).

Dr. Smyth received his Ph. D. in Applied Physics from Harvard University with a subject major in plasma physics and with subject minors in fluid mechanics and applied mathematics. His primary research interests are the theoretical modeling of a range of physical problems in the solar system involving gases and plasma, and their complex interactions in atmospheres, magnetospheres, and in the solar wind. These interests include the local and extended atmospheres of planets, satellites, and comets and involve the solutions of kinetic theory regimes that range in nature from collisionless to fully collisional. Particular research topics include the development of photochemical models for the atmosphere of Venus to understand the formation of sulfuric acid clouds surrounding the planet and the development of comprehensive exospheric models to investigate the novel sodium and potassium atmospheres of Mercury and the Moon as well as the coronae of Io. In the last thirty yea

Mr. Harries is a principal with AER&CO. He has more than twenty years of investment banking experience specializing in the telecommunications and information technology industries. Mr. Harries has spent his career with Wall Street investment banking firms and has particular expertise with respect to emerging growth companies. His transaction experience includes public and private financings, mergers & acquisitions and financial advisory services. Mr. Harries most recently was head of investment banking for Kaufman Bros., a telecommunications focused boutique firm in New York. He was also served as president of the investment banking side of Columbia Capital in Alexandria, VA where he leveraged the existing M&A business and began a new private placement effort assisting pre-public communications-oriented companies raise $5-20mm rounds. Mr. Harries has also held positions at Furman Selz, Cowen & Company, First Boston and Shearson Lehman Hutton, where he specifically served technology clients. Mr. Harries received both his A.B. and M.B.A. from Stanford University. CA.

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Mr. Gustafson has been active in the field of remote sensing of cloud and precipitation systems from passive space-borne sensors and active ground based systems for over twenty years. Recent work has focused on development and real-data testing of retrieval techniques for cloud and aerosol properties using satellite and aircraft based electro-optical sensor measurements. Particular emphasis has been on the application of those techniques to operational programs. Research interests include identification of cloud spectral signatures in multispectral sensor data, inference of cloud macrophysical properties through spatial and spectral clustering approaches, and interactive image processing and visualization for manual scene interpretation. He has participated in numerous studies for both commercial and governmental organizations including the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Air Force Weather Agency, Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, Strategic Environmental Research and Deve

Mr. Schramm is a principal with AER&CO. He has more than 30 years of experience in environmental policy development and implementation at high levels of government and industry. Having worked in more than 20 countries throughout the world, Mr. Schramm specializes in environmental management systems and program formulation, regulatory compliance, economic incentives, legal analysis and drafting, and strategic planning. Prior to AER&CO and his consulting career, Mr. Schramm served as a US Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator. He was the founding director of regulatory affairs for Waste Management, Inc., the world's largest solid waste management firm, where he contributed to the formulation of national policy and regulation in the U.S. Congress and EPA. Mr. Schramm has a Juris Doctor degree from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis and a BA with honors in politics and philosophy from Colgate University.

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Mr. Krish Vijayaraghavan, Project Manager in the Air Quality Division, holds M.S. degrees in environmental engineering from Georgia Tech and in chemical engineering from the University of Kansas, and a B.S. in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology. Mr. Krish Vijayaraghavan specializes in the modeling of air quality including photochemical air pollution (ozone, particulate matter) and atmospheric deposition (nitrogen and mercury). Recently he led the application of an advanced air quality model to the southeastern United States to investigate the potential effect of coal-fired power plant emissions on ozone and PM ambient concentrations as well as mercury and nitrogen deposition. Mr. Vijayaraghavan has played a major role in recent applications of mercury deposition models to North America using a multi-scale approach that includes global, continental, regional and local models of the atmospheric fate and transport of mercury He is currently leading AER's efforts on the use of satellite data in air quality modeling.

Mr. Allen is an associate with AER&CO in its high tech and e-commerce practice. He has more than 15 years of senior management and finance experience in the energy and high tech industries. Prior to joining AER&CO, Mr. Allen was president of the global development subsidiary of a $2 billion multi-national corporation. He has developed companies and sold equity through private placement to qualified investors including major private equity funds. The transactions were structured financings that were very complicated to syndicate and required knowledge of business structuring, risk mitigation and allocation, corporate formation, shareholder and joint venture agreements, and SEC rules and regulations. He has directed the preparation of investor Information Memorandum, pro forma projections, financial term sheets and detailed business plans. He participated in road shows to investors and lenders on a global basis. Mr. Allen has experience in a number of key industries including engineering and construction, electric utility, software development, oil and gas, and equipment manufacture/development. Mr. Allen has a BS Electrical Engineering, Fenn College of Engineering the Cleveland State University.

Dr. Thomas Nehrkorn, Senior Staff Scientist and Director of Tropical Forecasting in the Numerical Weather Prediction Group, has been with Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc. since 1985. He received his Ph.D. in Meteorology from MIT with Kerry Emmanuel as his thesis advisor. Prior to that, Dr. Nehrkorn studied and received his M.S. in Atmospheric Science from Colorado State University under William Cotton, and his B.S in Meteorology from The University of Hamburg, Germany.

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Karyl Loux joined De Witt & Associates in 2000. Currently she is a Senior Associate serving school aged clients through the Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired's Education Regional Technology Assistance Program. Karyl received her Bachelor's Degree from Florida State University in 1979, and her Master of Education Degree from the University of North Florida in 1985. She maintains a variety of teaching licenses for special populations. These include Teacher of the Visually Impaired, Hearing Impaired, Handicapped, Orientation & Mobility, and Computer Literacy. She has taught in and is certified to teach in New Jersey, New York, and Texas. Karyl brings a wide variety of skills and instructional techniques to our young clients. These include the ability to use computers with limited or no vision, as well as the ability to utilize state of the art technological equipment such as electronic Braillers, scanning systems, and the latest adaptive PDAs. She understands and interacts well in a variety of educational environments. Karyl spends a great deal of time with professional organizations in our field. She is a member of the Association of Education & Rehabilitation for the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER), and has served a variety of offices in this organization. It is not unlikely to find her offering presentations at conferences and workshops, so that others may share in the skills and knowledge she is constantly developing. Additionally, she frequently publishes articles in AER publications. Karyl and her husband, David enjoy traveling to many places and take several significant trips each year. These include recent trips to the Hawaii, the Carribbean, and Alaska, as well as many interesting places in the 48 contiguous states of our own country.