About | Wireless Research Center

About Wireless Research Center

The Wireless Research Center is an independent, private nonprofit research center dedicated to applied research and engineering. Located in North Carolina’s Research Triangle region, the WRC helps clients from around the world develop products and services that advance wireless technology innovation. The WRC fosters global collaboration among companies, industry groups, academic institutions and other research organizations.

The WRC has the staff, tools, facilities and experience to provide research, development, engineering, and testing of antenna, RF, and wireless technologies for clients. We work on a broad range products from in-body sensors and implanted medical devices to satellites and space exploration. Our clients range from consumers and business enterprises, industrial, medical and public safety to agriculture, aviation and the U.S. Department of Defense.

The WRC’s novel approach to intellectual property does not require a share of jointly developed inventions, unique among research organizations globally.

Earned certifications include:

ISO 17025:2005
CTIA Authorized Test Lab

Core Services

Antenna design, simulation, test and measurement.
Antenna performance measurement in free-space or integrated with other platforms.
Design, simulation, prototyping, fabrication, test and measurement of RF devices and electronics systems.
Over-the-air compliance validation to meet requirements of Verizon, AT&T, and other cellular providers.
Wireless connectivity expertise – development, standardization and harmonization of medical and wearable devices, sensor networks, 5G and next generation, aviation, defense sensor systems, public safety, IoT, and rural broadband.
Development of intellectual property from initial concept through production, from network infrastructure to connected devices and sensors.

Competitive Advantages

Broad range of wireless connectivity engineering expertise including 5G, LTE, WCDMA, 802.11, 802.15, Cat M1, NB-IoT, Bluetooth, LoRa, and legacy technologies (CDMA, GSM).
Complete antenna and RF design and simulation using CST and HFSS; test and measurement capability using Satimo SG-64 in 5 meter anechoic chamber from 400 MHz to 18 GHz. The WRC’s Satimo SG-64 chamber for antenna testing is one of only five in the world. More information from manufacturer Microwave Vision Group.
Mobile towers supporting field deployment and testing.
Industry standard RF phantoms (head, hand, and full body) for testing portable and wearables RF devices and antennas.
Global resources and collaboration among companies, industry groups, academic institutions and R&D partners.

Leadership Team

Gerard James Hayes, Ph.D.

CEO and Founder

Asokan Ram

Senior Architect

Koichiro Takamizawa, Ph.D.

Technical Manager, Research and Engineering

John Swartz, Ph.D.

Senior Staff Engineer

Shruthi Soora

Senior Staff Engineer

Mike Barts, Ph.D.

Senior Staff Engineer

Scott Vance

Senior Staff Engineer

Paul Allan Sadowski

Senior Staff Engineer

Tom Snyder

RIoT Executive Director

Todd Spain

Executive Director, Advanced Mobility Collective

Jordan Stearns

Operations Manager

Erica Hixon

Project Lead, Connected Communities

Robin Campos

Project Manager, Connected Communities

Jeremy Kennell

Program Manager, Connected Communities

Matthew Bauer

Vice President, Connected Communities

In Memoriam of Larry Steffann

General Manager, 2013 - 2018

Gerard James Hayes, Ph.D.

CEO and Founder

More than two decades of experience in government and commercial electromagnetic research and design. Previously, he was director of engineering at GreenWave Scientific where he led the development of antenna and RF circuit designs for U.S. Department of Defense applications. He served in global leadership positions with Ericsson and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications in the technology and research organization, and at Lockheed Martin for research and development for space-based, phased array applications. He holds more than 75 U.S. patents.

Asokan Ram

Senior Architect

Leadership experience spanning the evolution of wireless technology over three decades, including satellite and aviation communication systems. Asokan has 25 patents and was recognized with Sony Ericsson’s Distinguished Inventor Award, Ixia Engineering Master Award, and Ixia Technical Excellence Award. As architect at Ixia Communications, he led wireless test system design and development and mentored the engineering team. This leadership included the development, from definition to commercialization, of the 4G LTE Multi UE sector simulator and its evolution for LTE-A to 5G-NR technologies. At Ericsson, he led the Technology Working Group for radio access, 3GPP standardization and served in product development and engineering roles. He was a key player in architecting the ACeS GMR-2 geo-mobile satellite system based on GSM/EDGE, and led the standardization of GMR-2 air interface in ETSI. He worked on the development of multiple mobile platforms, terminals and advanced receiver algorithms for 2G GSM/EDGE and 3G WCDMA/HSPA technologies.

Koichiro Takamizawa, Ph.D.

Technical Manager, Research and Engineering

More than two decades of experience in the design and manufacturing of antennas and RF systems development for broad spectrum of industries including consumer electronics, aerospace, medical, and industrial instrumentation. He has worked with antenna systems design and development for mobile handsets and machine-to-machine applications at Sony Ericsson and HTC, and geostationary communication satellite antennas and NASA deep space spacecraft communication antennas design and development.

John Swartz, Ph.D.

Senior Staff Engineer

More than 30 years of experience in electrical engineering and project management performing research and development in industrial, medical, university, and defense labs. He has designed and built RF and laser labs and developed RF and antenna systems and instrumentation for wireless sensor networks, CubeSat satellites for space research, novel DoD satellite applications, and medical imaging systems.

Shruthi Soora

Senior Staff Engineer

More than 15 years of experience in RF and antenna engineering in the commercial, defense and medical device markets and has developed products from early concept to production. Previously, she has held technical positions at RFMD, HTC, Sony Ericsson and Harris Corporation.

Mike Barts, Ph.D.

Senior Staff Engineer

More than two decades of experience in the design and manufacturing of antennas and RF systems. He has developed antennas for commercial and government applications. As one of the founders and CTO of Mohu, he developed a paper thin antenna for over-the-air TV reception which became a best seller on Amazon and in major retailers such as Walmart and Best Buy. He has worked with satellite systems, designing commercial ground station antennas and RF propagation modeling and measurements for mobile satellite system for NASA, which were later used in developing Iridium and SirusXM satellite systems.

Scott Vance

Senior Staff Engineer

Designing antennas for Sony Ericsson, he developed a new, more efficient method of testing for certification measurements which was adopted into the CTIA OTA testing standard 3.6. Scott is an inventor on more than 30 patents in a variety of fields including antenna design, mechanics, and medical implants.

Paul Allan Sadowski

Senior Staff Engineer

Extensive public safety experience in government and the U.S. Department of Defense. He is a co-inventor for Paging Plus which was recognized by the National Association of Broadcasters for TV Broadcast Innovation, and a system for a drone-powered communications and sensor system. He served as the director of infrastructure planning for the N.C. Department of Information Technology’s Broadband Infrastructure office leading the First Responder Network, and he led communications infrastructure technology initiatives for the N.C. State Highway Patrol. He also served as a communications advisor for the Pentagon and as a major in the U.S. Air Force.

Tom Snyder

RIoT Executive Director

More than 25 years in product and technology development in consumer and industrial electronics, healthcare and Internet of Things. Experience in multi-national corporations including HTC, Ericsson and Sony Ericsson, and small business consulting, teaching, startup acceleration and entrepreneurship. Tom has been awarded more than 30 patents. He leads RIoT Labs at HQ Raleigh and co-instructs Product Innovation Lab, a Forbes award winning multi-disciplinary course in innovation and entrepreneurship at NC State University. Previously he served an executive leadership role at the ASSIST Center, a National Science Foundation sponsored effort to create wearable electronics for healthcare monitoring.

Todd Spain

Executive Director, Advanced Mobility Collective

Driving responsible emerging mobility solutions, while reducing the friction of policy, governance, support services and data management. As co-founder and executive director of the Advanced Mobility Collective, Todd serves as a connector and evangelist for The Collective Partners, as well as futurist and spokesperson for the ecosystem through this non-profit. He also is the leader of strategic initiatives at the Wireless Research Center, the parent organization for the Advanced Mobility Collective.

As Chief Instigator at his Native Lane consulting firm, Todd engages with entrepreneurs as an advisor, consultant and serves on numerous boards. Todd has three decades of experience leading technology companies, guiding product advances and has held numerous executive and senior leadership roles with companies ranging from start-ups to tech titans, including Cisco Systems. Building communities that result in meaningful impact is an intense passion.

Jordan Stearns

Operations Manager

Jordan is an Air Force Veteran with 11+ years of experience in the technical & RF field including 5 years working on navigational aids, Ground-to-Air radios, and communications systems followed by 6 years in cellular and antenna testing. As the first full time employee of WRC, he helped oversee the installation of the Satimo SG-64 chamber and spent 4.5 years running the chamber and developing the processes and procedures to help WRC become A2LA, CTIA, and Verizon certified/accredited. He now manages the day to day operations at the Wireless Research Center.

Erica Hixon

Project Lead, Connected Communities

Erica has three decades of Technical experience working alongside the executive teams of industries such as Information Technology, Semiconductor, and Wireless. In addition, Erica is responsible for the role as a Quality Manager and manages requirements for Certifications at WRC Wireless. Erica prioritizes family and community. Giving back and getting involved is a driving factor for her personally and professionally. She is committed to becoming a voice to the voiceless and a symbol of hope to those that feel there is no chance to overcome social barriers.

Robin Campos

Project Manager, Connected Communities

With 20+ years experience in Project Management and Business Analysis, Robin has worked in and with a variety of industries in both the Public and Private Sectors such as Federal Grants, Information Technology, Healthcare, Telecom, Wireless and more. Having worked on Capitol Hill for both a Congressman and a Senator as well as with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Office of Naval Research, she focuses on building relationships through improved communication at all levels.

Jeremy Kennell

Program Manager, Connected Communities

Jeremy’s expertise in navigating public and private industries, including education,publicly elected positions, private corporations, and nonprofits is expected to be a key driver during the implementation of this program. His experience includes serving on numerous boards, a decade of classroom instruction from pre-k to graduate-level courses, leading economic development for communities, and growing private businesses, including his own.

Matthew Bauer

Vice President, Connected Communities

Matt’s career arc follows a consistent theme: helping start, build and grow organizations while leveraging business and telecoms as a positive force for people and the planet. He started his career with the U.S. House Telecom & Finance Subcommittee and went on to co-found three companies and two nonprofits, including \one of the first telcos focused on social and environmental impact and founding B Corp company, BetterWorld Technology.

In Memoriam of Larry Steffann

General Manager, 2013 - 2018

Served as a general manager of the WRC from 2013 until his death in 2018. He was a serial entrepreneur including working with two companies with successful “exits” through an initial public offering (IPO) and a corporate acquisition. He was a co-founder of RIoT. He launched the first startup incubator, Joystick Labs, in the American Underground and served as the Entrepreneur in Residence at the NC State Poole College of Management. The WRC launched a RIoT scholarship fund in his honor.