About Us » Management Team
Stephen D. Johnston, Chief Executive Officer
Stephen joined SmartSynch in 2000 prior to the commercial launch of our first SmartMeter and has led the company as Chief Executive Officer since 2004. Before joining SmartSynch, Stephen spent seven years as an investment banker with Wachovia Securities in Charlotte and Atlanta, where he worked with companies in various industries developing complex corporate finance solutions. Stephen was a Hearin-Hess scholar at the University of Mississippi and graduated with degrees in Banking and Finance and Managerial Finance. He serves on the Board of Momentum Mississippi, an advisory Board created by Governor Haley Barbour to set economic development priorities for the state of Mississippi. He also serves on the University of Mississippi Research Foundation Board. He is a member of Young President’s Organization and is also an active participant in numerous community service and educational activities.
Ajit Habbu, Chief Financial Officer
Ajit brings to SmartSynch more than 25 years of technology and financial experience in a leadership capacity. From 1983 to 1999, he worked for IBM Corporation, where he held numerous management positions, including Chief Financial Officer of IBM’s Education Business Unit, a 450-person sales and service organization with worldwide revenue of $1.5 billion. Most recently, he served as the Chief Financial Officer for Ener1, Inc. (NASDAQ: HEV), a publicly traded clean technology company that makes lithium-ion batteries for hybrid vehicles. Prior to Ener1, he was the Chief Financial Officer for Recall Corporation, a $500 million global Information Management Services company with 239 locations in 23 countries and 4,000 full-time employees. Ajit received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the India Institute of Technology and earned his M.S. in Systems/ Industrial Engineering from the University of Iowa. He received his MBA in Finance and International Business from the University of Chicago.
Campbell McCool, Chief Marketing Officer
Campbell's responsibilities include heightening awareness for the SmartSynch brand during a time of unprecedented demand for smart grid solutions throughout the North American utility industry. Campbell is a frequent speaker at smart grid conferences nationwide as an expert in leveraging the power of the existing cellular networks for smart grid deployments. He has spent his entire career in marketing and marketing-related activities, and brings to SmartSynch a wealth of knowledge and experience in consumer and business-to-business marketing, traditional advertising, direct marketing, public relations, promotions, Internet/electronic marketing, trade show marketing, grassroots and social media. In 1992, he formed McCool Communications (advertising) and The Calliope Group (public relations) in Atlanta and grew them into one of the Southeast’s most respected boutique marketing and advertising firms. In 2001, he sold to publicly held Maxxcom, where he worked for several years before moving back to Mississippi in 2004. In recent years, he has worked on a variety of strategic projects for the University of Mississippi, the Barksdale Reading Institute and other non-profit organizations as well as his own entrepreneurial ventures. He is an alumnus of the University of Mississippi.
Joakim Wiklund, Chief Technology Officer
Joakim is a wireless technology veteran with more than 20 years of experience in mobile networks, wireless data applications and mobile handsets. He spent over 15 years in various technical, product and line management roles with Swedish mobile system giant Ericsson. As part of the Ericsson GPRS team that delivered the first commercial GPRS end-to-end solution, Joakim had full responsibility for the technical aspects of the product. He was one of the founding members of 3G.IP, a group of leading operators and vendors that shared a common 3G network architecture strategy, leading the implementation of multimedia using 3G networks. He moved to the U.S. in 2000 as Director of Ericsson’s Wireless Center in Silicon Valley, spearheading the company’s initiatives on wireless data solutions and applications. In 2004 he joined Sonim Technology as CTO with responsibility for product management, technology, development and manufacturing. He started and managed a fully owned subsidiary in Bangalore, India, and managed hardware design and manufacturing partnerships in China. Sonim delivered the first commercial Push To Talk over Cellular solution in 2005. Based on customer requirements, he initiated the development of a rugged GSM phone. In 2007, Sonim delivered XP1, the first in a series of 10 handsets developed under Joakim’s leadership, which has defined a new market segment of rugged GSM/UMTS handsets.
Nangy Gul, Senior Vice President, Business Development
Nangy brings over 20 years of experience in electric, gas and water utilities and wireless systems. He joined SmartSynch in April 2002 as Director of Sales for the Western Region and now serves as Senior Vice President of Business Development. He is responsible for SmartSynch’s key business accounts and manages top-tier sales efforts. He has led the company in substantial revenue growth, and his industry knowledge has awarded him the reputation of a highly regarded smart grid consultant and expert in the smart grid space. Nangy’s multidisciplinary background ranges from electric distribution systems design, R&D, project management, product development and technical sales. He has held various positions at Omaha Public Power District, Underwriters Laboratories, CellNet Data Systems and Nertec. His expertise and smart grid knowledge has granted him the opportunity to serve as a guest speaker at various industry events nationwide. Prior to joining SmartSynch, Nangy held the position of Technical Director at Schlumberger/CellNet Data Systems, where he developed and executed large wireless data services contracts for the electric, gas and water utility industries with a focus on metering and distribution automation applications. Nangy is a graduate of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln with a degree in Electrical Engineering.
Ravi S. Raju, Senior Vice President, Client Services
Ravi joined SmartSynch in 2002 as a Senior Product Manager involved in the requirements, design and implementation of the SmartMeter System, prior to being named Director of Marketing. Prior to joining SmartSynch, he was Chief Technology Officer for 121 Micro and Vice President of Technology for Vention Inc., where he grew and managed large development organizations specializing in systems integration and custom applications. Ravi graduated with a BA in Economics from Davidson College in North Carolina and completed coursework for a master's in Computer Science from Mississippi State University.
Tom Van Denover, Senior Vice President, Sales
Tom joined SmartSynch in 2011 and brings to the company more than 28 years of experience leading sales teams and directly selling to utilities worldwide. His successful career includes executive positions with Tropos Networks, Inc., where he served as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales, and Comverge, Inc., where he served as Senior Vice President of Utilities Sales. He also held executive sales positions with KEMA and Convergent Group selling utility consulting and systems integration services to investor-owned and municipally owned utilities throughout North America. Tom holds an MBA from the University of Houston and a BA in Communications from Ball State University.
