Tom Ayers leads ABB’s Tropos Wireless Communication Systems, and was the President and CEO of Tropos Networks prior to its acquisition by ABB.  Since joining the company in 2008, he has provided the visionary leadership to establish the company as a leader in reliable, high-performance, private wireless networks for industrial markets. The cornerstone of Tom’s leadership is to focus the company’s resources on delighting our clients, which has led to the current campaign of “Customers Trust Tropos”, featuring the stories of many of our utility, energy, mining, transportation, and public sector customers who have successfully deployed wireless networks featuring Tropos’ patented RF mesh products.

Tom joined Tropos from Blue Coat Systems, where he was the vice president of worldwide field operations. He helped lead the company through a significant market transition which resulted in over 3,000 new customers, number-one market share and company profitability. Prior to Blue Coat, he led enterprise and SMB sales organizations for the McAfee Security division of Network Associates. Before that, he held senior management positions with Sequent Computer Systems, Amdahl, and IBM. Tom graduated from The University of Texas at Austin where he received a BBA degree in business administration.

Narasimha Chari co-founded Tropos Networks and is responsible for developing ABB Tropos Wireless Communication Systems’ core intellectual property. Chari designed many of the company's wireless routing protocols and cognitive radio algorithms. He has performed research, published papers and disclosed patents in a variety of areas of mathematics, physics and wireless networking. Among other honors, Chari was recognized by MIT Technology Review magazine in 2005 as one of the Top 35 Innovators under the age of 35.

Chari received a BS in Mathematics and Economics from the California Institute of Technology and an AM in Physics from Harvard University.

Mike Bailey manages the engineering, manufacturing, and customer support organizations for ABB Tropos Wireless Communication Systems and brings over 25 years of senior leadership and management experience from high tech companies. His engineering and product development experience spans a range of technologies including storage systems, networking systems, audio and video systems, data compression, and complex process control systems. During Mike’s career he has held management positions at Eastman Kodak, Corning, Compression Labs, Harmonic, and McData. Mike started his career as an Electronic Warfare Officer in the United States Air Force.

Mr. Bailey holds a BSEE from the University of Cincinnati and an MBA from the University of Northern Colorado.

Rob Pilgrim is responsible for corporate business development and strategy for ABB Tropos Wireless Communication Systems including global strategic partnerships, alliances, marketing, M&A assessment, and technology licensing. He built the Tropos solutions ecosystem and spearheaded the Tropos’ GridCom initiative, shifting the company into smart grid communications. Prior to joining Tropos in 2005, Rob was Director of Product Management and Business Development at early DSL pioneer Covad Communications, and spent over 10 years in various management roles in network communications including Sigma Networks and Fluor Corporation working on network programs for Level 3 Communications and T-Mobile. Rob started his career at Georgia Power Company, an operating unit of the Southern Company.

Rob holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Roman Arutyunov is responsible for managing the product management, software engineering, and quality assurance organizations at ABB Tropos Wireless Communication Systems. In his role, Roman leads strategy, planning, and execution for all products and solutions at Tropos. Roman joined Tropos in 2002 and contributed to the development of the core intellectual property of the company including wireless routing protocols, meshing technology, and network management software. Prior to Tropos, Roman held engineering and technology leadership positions at Blue Coat Systems and Entera building WAN optimization and security solutions for enterprise and service provider customers.

Roman holds a BA in Applied Mathematics with an emphasis in Computer Science from University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business.