Our Team
Nicol Verheem
Founder, CEO
Nicol Verheem is a Technical Oscar® and Emmy® award winning Electronic Engineer, serial Entrepreneur and also a seasoned startup Investor. Nicol has served on the executive management team of a multi-national public company, started and scaled venture backed startups, and also bootstrapped startups from scratch. He successfully exited his last startup Teradek, with great returns to all investors.
Vijay Shravah
VP of Business Development
Vijay is an accomplished aerospace executive with 17+ years of experience in aerospace engineering, business development, and entrepreneurship. With a background that includes NASA, Lockheed Martin Space, and early stage space companies such as Starfish Space, Vijay brings a unique blend of technical expertise, business acumen, and entrepreneurial spirit to the industry.
Rodney Grubbs
Guru: Space Imaging
Rodney Grubbs had a 35-year career in film, television, and imaging in space at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. He was the Artemis Imagery Integration Lead for NASA’s return to humans landing on the Moon.He has Emeritus status with NASA and chairs the Motion Imagery & Applications Working Group, in the Space Internetworking Services Area of the Committee for Space Data Systems. He has been a Principal Investigator on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS), including the first ever live HDTV and UHD programs from a spacecraft.
Gabe Phan
Director of Software Engineering
Gabe Phan has been working in a startup environment for most of his career. He has built several teams and the company's infrastructure from scratch. He has worked in several industries including telecomms, video and gaming. At GE Security, he played a key role in transforming their legacy products into modern IP based products. At Teradek, he architected the software to make the company an industry leader. At Intellivision, he was responsible for all the firmware for a new gaming console and controllers.
Connor Lemp
Software Engineer
Connor Lemp is a dedicated software engineer with 5 years of experience and a degree in Mathematics. With a genuine love for problem-solving and a strong curiosity for exploring new technologies, Connor approaches software development with an open mind and a desire to learn. He strives to design and implement robust software solutions, continuously seeking opportunities for growth and improvement.
Saidjahon Mamirov
Junior Embedded Software Engineer
Saidjahon is a Software Engineer passionate about creating software and hardware solutions for Embedded Systems. With an educational background in Mathematics and Computer Science from Saint Mary’s College of California, Saidjahon is equipped with a strong foundation in programming. Eager to contribute his skills to TRL11, Saidjahon is poised to create impactful embedded systems that push boundaries for video technology in space.
Kanchi Shah
HR Generalist
Kanchi is an experienced Human Resources professional with four years of industry experience. She has worked as a Recruiter for small and large corporations where she focused on partnering with leadership teams to build relations and growing the team. She has experience in hiring, onboarding, and off-boarding employees along with performance management, employee relations and maintaining HR records.
John Milian
Junior Electronics Engineer
John possesses a versatile electrical background with a degree in Electrical Engineering from California State University, Fullerton. He was an Inside Plant Engineer at Charter Communications, where he gained experience troubleshooting RF equipment to maintain high signal integrity. He also worked as an Electrician Assistant and further enriched his practical knowledge in Power and wire stripping. He has participated in building a Rover by forming part of the Electrical Team and experienced with Altium Designer.
Joseph Melucci
Junior Embedded Software Engineer
Joseph is a graduate from the University of California, Irvine. He has a Bachelors in Computer Science and has experience working as a Software Engineer in industry. Recently, he was a Software Engineer Intern at Meta on a Machine Learning team. During university, he specialized in Data Management and built multiple full-stack applications using languages and frameworks such as Java, Apache Tomcat, Bootstrap, Javascript, Python, and more.
Octavio Camacho Barragan
Junior Embedded Software Intern
Octavio has a B.S. degree in Computer Science and a Master of Science in Business; both from the University of Texas at San Antonio. After shifting his focus back towards his passion from college years, embedded systems, he has landed an incredible opportunity to put his skills to work at TRL11 to develop the new generation of space vision embedded systems.
Bryson Pierce
Aerospace Mechanical Engineer
Bryson is a Mechanical Engineering graduate from UC San Diego with a specialization in Control and Robotics and a passion for space.He's interested in the digital side of mechanical engineering, he focuses on the intersection between mechanical systems, embedded controls, and computational analysis. With a proven track record of innovative problem-solving, he consistently strives to create new, cutting-edge aerospace solutions.
Trevin Powell
Aerospace Mechanical Engineer
Trevin is a Mechanical Engineer with a drive to make a positive impact on the world. He has engineering experience with several different companies doing automation, rapid prototyping, testing, design for manufacture, and product development. He also has many years of experience building and repairing various electronic and mechanical structures/devices during his personal time. He is an effective problem solver because of his experience, determination, and pursuit of knowledge.
Stephen Long
Consulting Senior Scientist, Systems Engineer, and Advanced Concepts Architect
Stephen is a Sr. Scientist and Advanced Concepts Engineer that has served leadership roles in the DoD, Intelligence Community, and in private industry. He has degrees in Communications (Television and Film Directing), Audio and Television Engineering, and Physics from American University. He's a world-class expert for Motion Imagery, Metadata systems and is a community leader across Motion Intelligence, MASINT, GEOINT, and C4ISR / BMC2 Integration disciplines.
Aneesh Goel
Business Developoment Manager
Aneesh is a graduate from Berkeley with a degree in Economics and a minor in Earth & Planetary Science. During his time in college, he started a student-run course on NewSpace Entrepreneurship, co-founded the NewSpace at Berkeley, served as the President of Berkeley Venture Capital and was an Investment Associate for the MBA Fund Courtyard Ventures. He has also interned previously in the space industry.. Aneesh is excited to lead TRL11’s business strategy, development, and product strategy.
Nathan Carlson
Director of Operations
