Board of Directors
Thomas G. Muehlbauer – Chairman / Founding Shareholder / AVACEN Inventor
Fortune 500 senior executive experience with over 40 years of CEO and startup skills including acquisitions, capital formation and public market transitions. Prior to founding AVACEN in 2009, Mr. Muehlbauer started an Internet company which was sold to a publicly traded company, bringing a return to founding investors of over 180% in 2 years. As a hands-on investor, he engineered the startup growth and sale of World View, International, providing multimillion dollar returns to shareholders in less than a three-year period.
Mr. Muehlbauer developed his expertise in corporate management working for Fortune 500 companies. Management positions ranged from Worldwide Data Center Manager to President and CEO for three mid-sized corporations. He holds a Bachelor of Science from The State University of New York.
Anthony Shimkin – CEO / President / Director
25 years of Fortune 500 and startup executive experience in sales, marketing, strategy and business development in medical devices, diagnostics, and HCIT. Throughout his extensive career, Mr. Shimkin held key marketing and innovation leadership roles at several notable companies, including Qualcomm, where he served as senior director of marketing and later, senior director of business development. Before that, he held senior executive positions at Lantronix, Quidel, Cardinal Health, Alaris Medical Systems and Neoforma. He also led the health care equity research team at Wedbush Securities and consulted for leading life sciences companies including Abbott, Boston Scientific, Genentech, Roche and Sanofi. Anthony received his M.B.A. from Boston University, a M.A. from Boston University School of Medicine, a M.S. from the University of San Diego, and a B.A. from Boston University.
Danielle J. Forsgren – CMO / Director / Founder
Danielle has over 30 years of experience in sales and marketing. She has extensive theatre, radio, public speaking and TV experience including multiple appearances on QVC. As the Company’s top salesperson and Chief Marketing Officer, she is currently developing several strategic initiatives to globally expand sales. Her efforts of the last 3 years have placed the Company on the INC. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in the US. She studied at International University and the University of San Diego.
James Wrangler – Director / Founding Shareholder
Jim’s former experience includes being a President and CEO, in addition to extensive engineering and engineering management experience. He was President and CEO of MAXIM Systems until the company was sold in December 2007 to Accenture. Prior to MAXIM, Mr. Wangler served as Chief Engineer for the ISR Directorate of SPAWAR Headquarters, where he also served as the Program Manager for a $200 million Space Surveillance program. He received his M.S. from San Diego State University.
Don Miller – Director
Mr. Miller, a former Naval officer, was co-founder and Sr. V.P. of SeQual Technologies, a San Diego based medical device company. He was also an early-stage investor, Board member, and CFO for numerous companies in San Diego. He received his B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Kansas, and a M.S. in Finance from San Diego State University.
Fredrick P. Waid – Director
Fred focuses primarily in the areas of trust and estate administration, real estate, banking, and corporate governance matters. He serves as a trustee, executor and special administrator of complex trusts and estates, by private and court appointment. Fred has been appointed by state and federal courts as a receiver, special servicer and interim corporate officer. He is a graduate of Baylor Law School and Brigham Young University.
Hamid Khorramian – Director
Hamid currently acts as an executive consultant and advisor to various Fortune 100 companies and funded startups. He works closely with C-level leaders and board members focusing on lean manufacturing, strategic planning and effective leadership to help harvest a winning culture that’s conducive to reaching long-term KPIs. After working in a leadership role at Steelcase for over 20 years, he retired as Global Senior Vice President. During his time at Steelcase, he created and headed a project that reduced the company’s manufacturing footprint by 65% (9 million square feet), while increasing output by 200% and improving overall customer satisfaction.
