Our Board of Advisors provides expertise and experience in areas covering the full range of services TransGlobal offers as well as provides guidance on particular initiatives.

John Starke
Entrepreneur

John Starke has been a principal in four start-up firms, ranging from software to banking. He is currently working with several firms using virtual presence technologies to improve performance of distributed workers, and to spur economic development in communities. He has been CEO of two real estate finance firms, and he has been a consultant in risk management for both industry and government agencies. He also was Director of Planning at the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), and Chairman of the Electronics Development Corporation.

Mr. Starke graduated from The George Washington University with a BS (Electrical Engineering) and MS (Operations Research). He also graduated from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with an MS (Management). Mr. Starke is the author of numerous articles on mortgage lending, and the co-author of a book, Mortgage Lending and Investing, Understanding Risks in a Changing Market.

Charles Iheagwara, Ph.D., P.E.
Founder & Chief Technology Officer of Unatek, Inc.

Dr. Charles Iheagwara, a Cyber security expert is the Vice President of Marketing and Business Development of Unatek, Inc. a US government Information Technology contractor located in Largo, Maryland. As Vice President, he is responsible for all marketing and business development efforts in the company.

Prior to assuming the position of Vice President, he was the Chief Technology Officer responsible for the company’s enterprise technology roadmap, development programs as well as consulting engagements for corporate clients. He led business development efforts with several notable successes including the elevation of the company as a US government prime contractor from its previous obscure subcontractor status and the expansion of corporate consulting services and workforce. He also led corporate relations development initiatives that resulted into the formation of strategic alliances and partnerships with several leading technology companies such as Northrop Grumman, SAIC, KPMG, and Thompson, Cobbs, Bazilio and Associates (TCBA), etc.

Previous employment include stints at the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), DC Government, Lockheed Martin, Aligned Development Strategies, Inc. (ADSI) and Edgar online, Inc. As a consultant at OCTO, he was responsible for the management of the District of Columbia Computer Emergency Response Team. At Lockheed Martin, he was the lead consultant for the Enterprise Information Systems next generation intrusion detection systems re-engineering project, as director of IT security services at ADSI, he managed the INFOSEC program of the District of Columbia HIPAA privacy project for the TCBA –ADSI – Bearing Point contractor group, and as a systems security administrator at Edgar online worked on corporate and NASDAQ Online Web services /Internet portal IT security programs.

He held adjunct professorial positions at several public and private Universities in the Washington, DC metro area between 2002 and 2007 and has published more than forty (40) papers in refereed international technical and scientific journals and conference proceedings. Dr. Iheagwara is currently a Management and Engineering Fellow completing a Masters degree in Management at the Sloan School of Management and School of Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He attended Harvard Business School where he completed classes on business and entrepreneurial studies. He received his Ph.D. degree in computer science from the University of Glamorgan, Wales, UK, a Master of Science degree in Minerals Engineering from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, a Certificate in Environmental Management from George Washington University, and Bachelor/Master of Science degrees in Metallurgical Engineering from the National University of Science and Technology, Moscow, Russia.

A Licensed Professional Engineer and an internationally known technology researcher whose work is widely quoted, Dr. Iheagwara is a sought after speaker at several industry conferences, the recipient of the 2007 Maryland-India Business Roundtable’s “Business Innovator of the Year” Award and sits on the advisory board of TransGlobal Business Systems.

Dr. Charles has years of specialized experience in information security and cyber security. We have provided a program from Dr. Charles for his work at the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission Conference.

To view this program, click here.

Dr. Charles’ was invited to a dinner at the United States Senator’s house on December 1, 2011. The picture above, shows Dr. Charles with the United States Senator, Mary Landrieu, and BET owner, Bob Johnson.

Mary Ann Spilman, Ph.D.
Professor and Director of Executive Management Programs

Dr. Spilman is responsible for development, administration, recruitment and staffing of UMUC’s Executive Management programs and for executive outreach activities that build alliances with the business and government communities. Her areas of specialization are international business development, strategic planning, organizational behavior, research methods, leadership and communication. Dr. Spilman teaches international business in the Executive MBA program and manages 4 leadership residencies focused on cross-cultural management, negotiating global alliances, and decision support systems. She leads executive teams that develop international market entry plans for approximately 8 companies each year.

Prior to joining UMUC, Dr. Spilman was an Enterprise Manager at AT&T Government Communications International, where she was responsible for negotiating, structuring and managing a strategic alliance with an international venture partner. Her organization spanned several states in the United States, as well as Europe.

Other international responsibilities at AT&T included International Strategic Planning, New Market Development, and Business Case Development. She has held many other positions within AT&T, including Federal Systems Business Planning, Financial Management, Operations Management, Process Design and Quality Control, and Business Operations and Research consulting.

Prior to joining AT&T, Dr. Spilman was an independent research consultant whose clients included Bell Laboratories and AT&T. She holds a Ph.D. from Rutgers University, where she taught for several years at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Courses included Statistics, Research Methods, and Management of Human Resources. She received an Executive Masters degree in International Management at UMUC, where she was sponsored by AT&T.

Dr. Spilman currently serves on the advisory boards of a China consulting firm, University steering committee, and as Public Relations Vice President for the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

Dr. Spilman has had several publications in business and academic journals and has presented research and statistical papers in various professional forums.

Ralph S. Blakeney
Technology Industry Manager

Mr. Blakeney is the Technology Industry Manager at the Maryland Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and the Technology Procurement Consultant for the Maryland Procurement Technical Assistance Program (PTAP). He is certified by the ASBDC as a technology consultant and specializes in providing Management and Technical Assistance to early stage advance technology firms, procurement and business development support to technology companies that offer their products and services to federal, state and local governments.

Ralph was formerly the Executive Manager of Service Operations for Digital Equipment Corporation’s Federal Government Computer and Information Technology Services. He also spent nine years as an entrepreneur – founder and CEO of Peak Performance Technologies – a management consulting and training firm to small and midsized technology companies.

Ralph holds an Advance Certificate in Electronic Technology, a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, a Master of Science degree in Management, is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Management of Service Operations and a graduate of the Pacific Institute of Business and Management Development.