Leadership

Deborah Theobald

Chairwoman / Chief Executive Officer

Deborah’s master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering concentrated on robotics and human factors of space travel, including impact on human physiology and health maintenance. For her master’s thesis she tested a custom-built, haptic robot-human interface in varying environments including NASA’s KC–135 microgravity jet. Deborah co-founded Vecna Technologies in 1998 and the Vecna Cares Charitable Trust in 2004. During that time she has guided the company to its present position as the world leader in multiple product lines. Deborah speaks regularly at conferences and has won numerous awards for her company’s achievements as well as its strong commitment to being socially responsible and improving the world for future generations.

Bill Donnell

VP, Government Business Development

After graduating from Yale University, Bill joined the United States Army and served four years on active duty as a Medical Service Corps Officer specializing in healthcare information technology (IT) and hospital administration. After transitioning from the military, Bill focused on IT and business operations within integrated healthcare delivery system and earned a master’s degree in Health Systems Management. Today, with years of healthcare industry and program management experience, Bill oversees Vecna’s U.S. government and commercial business operations. Vecna’s customers call upon him to provide strategic direction for large-scale, complex programs and business policy decisions in such areas as Information Management, Access to Care, Logistics, and Resource Management.

Michael Bearman

VP, International Business Development

Michael oversees Vecna’s contract management and project execution units. Vecna customers depend on him to oversee implementation and strategic decision-making efforts. As General Counsel, Michael also protects Vecna’s legal, contractual, and intellectual property rights. While practicing law at McKenna Long & Aldridge’s Washington, D.C., office, Michael gained experience in appellate and commercial litigation, government contracts, products liability defense, IP litigation, and corporate law. He graduated cum laude from Georgetown with a degree in law. While at Georgetown, Michael was a member of the “Law & Policy in International Business” Journal and represented juveniles in connection with the Juvenile Justice Clinic.

Janie Tremlett

VP, Domestic Business Development

Janie Tremlett serves as Vecna’s VP of Domestic Business Development. Throughout her 25 years in health IT, Janie has been a recognized leader in translating organizational challenges into innovative and practical technology solutions. Responsible for more than 50 successful technology implementations, Janie has held numerous positions including Sr. VP & Chief Marketing Officer at Concordant, CIO/CTO at Commercialware and Commonwealth Financial Network, and Director of Information Delivery at Blue Cross/Blue Shield where she managed the development of one of the first practice management applications. She has also been a key contributor to the electronic insurance claims and EDI standards committees, MGH’s Internet Health Care Forum, and a number of national technology initiatives. Janie’s articles have been published in magazines such as CIO Week, Healthcare IT News, and Information Week, and speaks frequently at industry events. Janie holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Union College and a MBA from Syracuse.

Daniel Theobald

Chief Technical Officer

With bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, Daniel is well versed in the engineering sciences. Through his graduate work at the MIT AI Laboratory, he developed web-based control algorithms for a robotic Mars explorer, a progenitor of the NASA rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Graduating from MIT at the top of his class, Daniel received the Henry Ford II Scholar Award, the Hertz Foundation Award, and a fellowship from the National Science Foundation. He is the creator of the Convenient Care Model, which suggests that patients who have a more convenient healthcare experience will act more responsibly and will make better health decisions for themselves. Daniel has been interviewed for a number of print and onscreen appearances, including WGBH’s Innovation Hub, Fox News, the Economist, the BBC, and the Discovery Channel.

Ben Bau

VP and General Manager, Patient Self-Service Solutions

Ben oversees Software Development at Vecna. His responsibilities include providing technical direction and guidance for all product development; ensuring that clients are benefiting from the latest technology advances; advising clients on achieving superior technology return on investment (ROI); and overseeing the quality of all Vecna software products and services. Ben has led numerous large software engineering projects for both commercial and government clients, consistently achieving superior results for the customer. Ben is a graduate of MIT.

Amanda Baldi

Director of Marketing and Communications

A graduate of the Commonwealth College of UMass-Amherst, Amanda joined the Vecna team after working at Partners Healthcare as a Contracts Administrator. With years of writing and communications experience to her credit, she currently oversees the creation and distribution of all of Vecna’s published materials and manages Vecna’s relationships with trade organizations and various media outlets. Amanda has also been an active participant in the Vecna Cares Global Health Initiative. She holds a dual bachelor’s degree in English and Comparative Literature and has been published in Forge Magazine.

Andreas Hofmann, Ph.D.

VP of Autonomous Systems

Andreas is a world leader in robotic motion control systems, a field that combines artificial intelligence, machine learning, expert systems, and robotics to enable advanced planning and motion control tasks for humanoid robots. After working as a Senior Scientist and Manager at Lisp Machine, GE, and Pegasystems, Andreas co-founded Gensym Corp., a company specializing in automatic, supervisory-level control software for the chemical process and manufacturing industries. Among other duties, he was responsible for the development of key components of Gensym’s flagship G2 real-time expert system. Andreas received a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from MIT; a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; and a Ph.D. in computer science from MIT.

Al Ramsey, Ph.D.

Director of Product R&D

Al brings a diversified background in technology-based products and services to Vecna. With bachelor’s and master’s degrees from MIT and a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, his research areas include artificial intelligence, system dynamics, and aerodynamic design. Results from his doctoral dissertation were used to help design space probes for NASA missions to Mars. In addition to his research experience, Al also brings business experience as a Product Manager at a global web-hosting company, where he was responsible for managing the data storage business unit. Outside of work, his interests include martial arts, such as tae kwon do and hapkido.

Martin Buehler, Ph.D.

VP and General Manager, Hospital Robots

Martin leads Vecna’s logistics robotics efforts to develop elegant, simple, and effective technical solutions. While pursuing his career in academia (Ph.D. at Yale; post-doctorate at MIT; tenured professor at McGill University), Martin invented and developed several ground-breaking legged robots. He then moved to Boston Dynamics to serve as the Director of Robotics, as a Chief Engineer, and as a Principal Investigator for various robotics projects. Martin then worked as the Director of Research with iRobot Corporation. Throughout his career, he has generated over 100 robotics publications and has been an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, an Associate Editor of the Journal of Field Robotics, and a member of the Editorial Board for the International Journal of Robotics Research. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and the 2012 recipient of the Joseph F. Engelberger Award for Technology.

Chris Larsen, Ph.D.

Senior Scientist

Chris is a Senior Scientist who directs Vecna’s Life Sciences R&D Grants program. Prior to his work at Vecna, he developed a biological information curation system, Cognia Molecular, for the Cognia Corporation. Chris pursued a post-doctorate in cell biology at Harvard Medical School as well as a teaching sabbatical at Phillips Academy. In his spare time, Chris enjoys running, teaching science to adolescents, cross-country skiing and practicing yoga. He is also an avid musician, playing trumpet, altohorn, and guitar for various community groups. Chris earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biology from Mercer University and a Ph.D. from Emory University.

Al Brunett

Chief Patent Counsel

Al is responsible for developing Vecna’s strategic intellectual property portfolio including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret protection. Working closely with both business managers and engineers, he directs and implements the appropriate protection to help insulate both core and emerging product spaces from competitors along with various commercialization efforts. Al comes to Vecna with extensive intellectual property experience in corporate and private practice. He also brings consulting expertise in a variety of areas including litigation, licensing, patent purchasing, and patent and trademark prosecution. Al received his bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, his J.D. from the John Marshall Law School, and his M.B.A. in finance from DePaul University.

Ed Keisling

VP of Implementation and Support

In his role at Vecna, Ed oversees the Implementation and Support organizations. In his nearly 20 years of experience with fast-growing technology companies, he has held positions in technical pre-sales, consulting, partner implementation, training, release engineering, software development, support, and business development. Ed has also worked with Fortune 500 companies and governmental organizations to implement multimillion-dollar department- and enterprise-wide solutions. He joined the Vecna team after a successful tenure at Pegasystems, where he was most recently the Director of Deployment Engineering. Ed is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, where he earned a degree in Interdisciplinary Mathematics and Computer Science.

Will Locke

VP of Patient Self-Service

In his role as VP of Patient Self-Service, Will has led the development team responsible for Vecna’s self-service products. He has also guided the product to the #1 ranking in the industry by winning the exclusive endorsement of the American Hospital Association (AHA). Will has extensive experience interacting with and understanding the needs of Vecna’s customers. Before joining the executive team, he was the Project Manager for Vecna’s implementations at Johns Hopkins and Ingalls Memorial Hospitals. Will provides overall workflow, product, and application management and guidance to Vecna’s project management support personnel across all projects. He is an M.B.A. alumnus of the Tuck School at Dartmouth.

Ron Urwongse

VP of Operations, Contract Execution Division

A graduate of MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Ron has managed first Vecna’s QC PathFinder product line and now the operations of contract execution. He brings extensive experience in team leadership, budget management, and enterprise IT transformation research. Prior to earning his M.B.A., Ron worked as the Director of Marketing for Waybe Systems, as a Product Manager for Microsoft Corporation, and as a consultant with American Management Systems.