The HIT Platform™ Project is built around technology developed and funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) .
Virtual Global is a cloud computing software company, founded in 2003 by Cary Landis. The company’s flagship product is the TeamHost™ Cloud Computing System, a Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Cloud IDE for creating enterprise class business software in a fraction of the time, risks and costs of traditional programming, while promoting higher levels of standardization via the common platform. NASA currently uses a TeamHost-enabled Software as a Service (SaaS) implementation to manage a nationally dispersed Lunar team. Other customers include Seattle Police Dept, NIST, Pampered Chef HQ, WV Clay Center, Progressity, Inc. and others.
West Virginia University (WVU) is a recognized leader in identity management and biometrics technologies. Under an agreement with the FBI, WVU currently serves as the academic arm of the FBI’s Biometric Center of Excellence. WVU’s role in the project is to provide biometrics research support to the FBI and its law enforcement and national security partners, and to serve as the FBI liaison to the academic community of biometric researchers nationwide. The Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering (LDCSEE) conducts a broad program of research in the fields of electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science and biometric systems.
WVU was recently designated as a Center for Excellence in Information Assurance Education by the National Security Agency (NSA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This designation not only certifies the educational content of our coursework, but also provides fellowship and internship opportunities for qualified students working in this area. The department also has highly active research programs in the fields of information assurance, computer security, biometric systems, and identity management. These research programs feature close collaborations with NASA, the FBI, the West Virginia State Police, and the National Archives. One of the jewels in this research program is the Center for Identification Technology Research (CITeR), a National Science Foundation-supported Industry/University Cooperative Research Center With the designation of the Institute of Information Assurance Studies, we believe it will be possible to continue to grow the depth of our research and education programs in the field of information assurance, as well as increasing the synergy between existing activities.
The Senior Project Team
Cary Landis, Founder and CEO / coauthor, has developed open platform solutions for more than 15 years, helping organizations surmount issues associated with proprietary vendor lock-in. Landis has served as a PHS Commissioned Corps officer in Rockville, MD, Washington, DC and Silver Spring, MD within the US Department of Health and Human Services. During that time, Landis served as a Project Officer for various IT efforts involving Booz Allen Hamilton for the Food and Drug Administration. Landis has led the development of the TeamHost™ Platform since the mid-90s. Landis has also served as co-founder/Vice President of KeyLogic Systems, Vice President of TMC Technologies, CIO of Marada Corporation and current president of Virtual Global, Inc. Most recently, Landis co-authored “Cloud Computing Made Easy” with Dan Blacharski.
Dr. George Trapp, Professor and Chair, Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, WVU, is leading the Project’s efforts with respect to testbed management. George Trapp received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees from Carnegie-Mellon University. He has written over 60 research papers primarily dealing with mathematical modeling, and has worked on developing national and international specifications such as IGES, STEP and the DoD CALS standard. He has been a consultant to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, the Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the National Energy Technology Laboratory. He currently is working with the National Biometric Security Project and the Lockheed Martin Radiant trust Center of Excellence.
Greg Henthorn, Health IT Vendor Relations, has a strong track record in business and corporate development. In the late 1990s, a startup company that Mr. Henthorn cofounded became one of the first systems integrators of Asera, a Silicon Valley business-to-business software company that raised over $100 million, and was led by former Oracle and Sun Microsystems senior technologists. Asera was revolutionary at the time and was an enterprise class system built on a component-based architecture. Mr. Henthorn has served as a consultant for Virtual Global on various projects for the past several years and has played a major role in developing the business model and competitive strategy. Mr. Henthorn is a former senior partner in Fourth Venture, a venture capital firm in the Mid-Atlantic region, and possesses diverse experience in finance, technology development, management, business law and market landscapes, and government programs/initiatives. His formal education includes J.D., West Virginia University College of Law (Morgantown, WV), a B.S. Chemical Engineering, and an MBA, WVU.
Sonia Bailey-Gibson, healthcare operations expert, has more than two decades of experience in providing health care service and management. She has led several healthcare enterprises, including a publicly traded nursing home chain, Genesis Health Care Corp., where she was a Senior Vice President of Operations and led the operations for up to 60 nursing facilities, assisted living and retirement communities. She is a fellow and certified with the American College of Health Care Administrators and is a licensed nursing home administrator. She is past president of the West Virginia Health Care Association, and currently serves on the board of Hospice Care Corp. and Advisory Board for BB&T and West Virginia University’s College of Business and Economics. She also is a board member for the WV Nursing Home Administrator’s Licensing Board, appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate in 2008. Sonia holds a BA in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from West Virginia University.
Samuel Bonasso, Senior Advisor, is former Administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), and former Secretary of Transportation for the State of West of Virginia. A seasoned leader, Mr. Bonasso is also serial entrepreneur experienced in dealmaking, product commercialization, sales, and government relations. Mr. Bonasso holds a civil engineering degree from West Virginia University and holds a U.S. patent in the field of structural engineering.