John T. Hall, President and CEO

John Hall is Voxtec International’s President, CEO and leader of the senior management team. In addition to his day-to-day responsibilities, John oversees strategic planning, along with corporate financial and operational strategies including: accounting, engineering, manufacturing and professional services execution for commercial and government contracts. Revenue generated from commercial product sales have grown exclusively under John’s direction, doubling each year since he joined the company.

In 2005, John established Voxtec International, Inc. commencing an eighteen month spin out from its parent company, Marine Acoustics, Inc. (MAI), of which it was formerly a division. John’s leadership, business acumen, and product development expertise were precisely what the company needed. Together, along with fellow corporate officers, Ace Sarich and Laurent Campo, they realized their collective vision to commercialize the legendary Phraselator® translation system and it’s supporting Module Builder PRO™ software. John’s continual influence over product development resulted in the SQUID™ SQ.200 hands-free, eyes-free translation device.

In 2003, John joined MAI as Vice President and Business Manager of the Voxtec Division. In addition to serving on the board of directors, John developed the Phraselator commercialization plan. He managed all operational and project budgets, product development and financial planning.

Prior to joining MAI, John served as a strategic management and marketing consultant for MAPA Ventures, LLC, where he helped clients achieve high-value results through the development of new business units in high-growth markets. Additionally, John served as Managing Director within Proxicom, Inc.’s e-Business Strategy and Consumer Goods & Retail Practice responsible for overall relationship management and delivery oversight of strategic account project teams. John put several development teams in place and can be credited with helping to secure several high profile clients such as: Nike, Timberland, and Cole Haan. John has prior experience with investment grade corporate bond sales while working on the trading floor of J.P. Morgan Securities in New York. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan, John achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander and was Honorably Discharged from the United States Navy after ten distinguished years in Naval Special Warfare, including being a platoon commander at SEAL Team One and navigator at SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team One.

John is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics before being commissioned as an Officer in the U.S. Navy. While at the Naval Academy he was a member of the U.S. National Rowing Team. John holds an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Ace J. Sarich, P.E., Vice President and Founder

As Vice President and Founder of Voxtec International, Ace Sarich is chief product development officer and member of the senior management team. In addition to his product development responsibilities; Ace travels extensively on behalf of the company both domestically and internationally to support Voxtec’s existing customers, particularly in the military and law enforcement community.

Ace is widely considered a pioneer and one of the industry’s foremost experts in machine based, mobile, speech-to-speech language translation technology. He personally oversaw research and development of the legendary Phraselator® P2 translation system. His real-world experience and ability to articulate the needs of the end user have contributed mightily to the company’s development of the SQUID™ SQ.200 hands-free, eyes-free translation device, its proprietary Module Builder PRO™ software and numerous language modules.

Ace was previously Vice President of Marine Acoustics, Inc. (MAI), the former parent company of Voxtec International, where as a Professional Engineer (P.E.) he directed the research, development, and fielding of the Phraselator handheld translation system under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

Prior to joining MAI, Ace was formerly Vice President of Engineering at SonoChem, Inc. a position he accepted upon receiving an Honorable Discharge after 20-years of active duty service in the United States Navy. During Ace’s final nine years of service he taught engineering at the United States Naval Academy (USNA). Prior to his teaching assignment at the USNA, Ace was a Navy SEAL who served with distinction in Vietnam and around the world.

Ace is a graduate of the USNA, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Naval Science before being commissioned as an Officer in the U.S. Navy. He received a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School. He is a registered Professional Engineer, holds an active Top Secret Clearance, is a certified explosives handler and is an ADC-registered commercial diver. He co-authored Life Support Systems Design, (Simon & Schuster, 1996) and authored numerous technical reports related to the development, fielding, testing and use of phrase based translation systems.

Laurent M. Campo, Vice President and General Counsel

As Vice President and General Counsel, Laurent Campo is Voxtec International’s chief legal officer and member of the senior management team. Laurent structured and led a multidisciplinary team in the spinout of Voxtec International from Marine Acoustics, Inc. He has also brought his broad transactional and high technology business experience to help Voxtec achieve its rapid growth, such as new debt financing arrangements and the award of government contracts, most significantly Voxtec’s five-year $45 million Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract by Naval Air Systems Command. Voxtec hopes this IDIQ award will streamline the funding process for ongoing research and development and facilitate the U.S. Government procurement of Voxtec products and services.

Prior to joining Voxtec in 2005, Laurent was a transactional attorney at the Washington, D.C. firms Howrey Simon Arnold & White and Dow Lohnes & Albertson. From early in his career, Laurent has successfully lead and completed many domestic and international transactions, including public and private mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance transactions (including public and private equity and debt transactions), and a wide variety of strategic alliance and joint venture transactions.

Laurent graduated Phi Beta Kappa with distinction in all subjects from Cornell University, where he double majored in Government and French Literature. Laurent also holds a JD from the Duke University School of Law, where he was elected Editor-in-Chief of the Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law. He is a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the American Bar Association (ABA) with membership on the ABA’s Small Business and Venture Capital & Private Equity committees. Laurent serves as an active member on the Board of Advisors for onDemandCMO, a strategic marketing and tactical support company for growing businesses. Laurent is fluent in French.

Clayton Millis, Director of Sales & Marketing

As Director of Sales & Marketing for Voxtec International, Clayton Millis is responsible for all sales, marketing, public relations, and product development activities for the company as it strengthens its position as the recognized leader in machine-based, mobile, speech-to-speech language translation technology. With Clayton’s guidance, Voxtec is expanding its reach and leveraging the unique advantages of Voxtec’s products and services across new market opportunities, including, among others, First Responders such as law enforcement, emergency medical personnel and correctional facilities.

Prior to joining Voxtec, Clayton spent 11 years at Toyota Motor Corporation. He began his career at Toyota’s U.S. headquarters, entering the company’s Management Training Program, concentrating on Sales and Marketing. Clayton progressed through several management positions in Toyota’s Mid-Atlantic regional office. He won District Manager of the Year honors for the region and received the “Circle of Excellence” award for top performance over consecutive years. As a Staff Manager at Toyota, Clayton gained broad general management experience overseeing sales training, customer service, Scion brand management, franchise renewals, business management, and used vehicle operations.

Clayton is a graduate of California State University, Northridge, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and was elected Associated Students Senator. He played quarterback and captained the university football team, receiving the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, Inc. Scholar-Athlete Award. Clayton holds an MBA from The Sellinger School of Business and Management at Loyola College in Maryland.

Darrell Wicker, Director of Finance & Administration

As Director of Finance & Administration for Voxtec International, Darrell Wicker’s responsibilities include A/P, A/R, payroll, internal controls, financial analysis, financial reporting, inventory and contracts management. As a CPA with more than 25 years of finance and accounting experience in the commercial sector and with government IT contractors, Darrell has helped improve Voxtec’s internal accounting needs and managed the company’s IT support, infrastructure, networks and telecommunications activities.

Prior to joining Voxtec, Darrell worked with a blend of technology companies, government contractors and Fortune 500 entities. He began his career at Arthur Andersen & Company in Colorado as a Staff Auditor and was most recently Director of Finance for Intracel Resources, Inc, a Bio-tech startup. He has also held management positions with companies such as Digital Equipment Corporation (acquired by HP), General Electric and McAfee.

Darrell is a graduate of Metro State College-Denver, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Accounting. Darrell achieved his CPA certification in Colorado and he is a member of the Maryland Society of CPA’s.

Kit Vallhonrat, Director of Operations

As Director of Operations for Voxtec International, Kit Vallhonrat is responsible for all operating functions including, strategic finance and budgeting, software and hardware engineering, government contract obligations / reporting and manufacturing. With Kit's guidance Voxtec is emerging as one of Maryland’s fastest growing OEM’s. Since his arrival, Voxtec has added one product line and more than tripled manufacturing capacity.

Prior to joining Voxtec Kit spent 12 years in operational roles in the U.S. Navy and later the medical device industry. Most recently he was Operations Manager at Oncura Inc., a medical device company in Plymouth, Pennsylvania. In the course of three years at a newly formed merger, he established an operations team, directing product distribution, supply chain management, partnered mobile service providers, technical service and customer service.

Kit graduated from the United States Naval Academy, where he was a Varsity Oarsman and received a bachelor’s degree in Science before being commissioned as an Officer in the U.S. Navy. As a Surface Warfare Officer his assignments at sea included service as Navigator on two ships and operations in support of American efforts in Somalia in 1994 and Bosnia in 1996. In his last active assignment he reported back to the Academy as a Leadership Instructor and Plebe Lightweight Crew Coach where his freshman squads were 20-5, and would go on to win the 2004 National Championship as upperclassmen. Kit holds an MBA from Drexel University’s Lebow College of Business where he was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society after achieving a 4.0 GPA.

Jack Buchanan, Director of Software R&D

As Director of Software R&D for Voxtec International, Jack Buchanan oversees all software research and development. Jack is considered a preeminent thought-leader within the industry. He is a featured speaker at annual tech conferences and credited with several advancements in language translation software design. His ground breaking research has helped ensure the company maintains its lead in the machine based, mobile, speech-to-speech, language translation market. Since 2000, Jack has worked closely with Voxtec's Founder, Ace Sarich, to develop and launch practical software applications that meet the current, critical needs of our professional customers.

Jack was previously a Software Developer at Marine Acoustics, Inc. (MAI), the former parent company of Voxtec International, where he developed the Acoustic Integration Model (AIM), a Patented, standardized software assessment tool used by marine biologists and underwater acousticians to determine the net sound exposures experienced by marine animals in the vicinity of a stationary or moving sound source over a period of time.

Prior to joining MAI, Jack founded a digital video editing and compositing tools company called in:sync. Jack developed several software products during his tenure at in:sync, his most successful being the Speed Razor™.

Jack is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD), where he minored in Philosophy with a concentration on studies in artificial intelligence and earned his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. While studying at UMD, Jack participated in new robotics research on “walking machines.”

Mike Abbott, Director of Manufacturing

As Director of Manufacturing for Voxtec International, Mike Abbott is responsible for day-to-day management of procurement, manufacturing, quality control, order fulfillment, shipping and receiving. Under Mike's leadership, Voxtec is manufacturing world-class products, which enable users to overcome language barriers in multiple professional environments.

Mike joined Marine Acoustics, Inc. (MAI), the former parent company of Voxtec International, in 2004 as a Production Manager. He has more than 15 years of manufacturing and project management experience for high technology applications. Mike is effectively leveraging this experience to better position the company and its overall manufacturing operations for long-term growth. Voxtec benefits from Mike’s propensity to develop solid supplier relationships, through his leadership, communication and personal interaction.

In addition to completing drafting design coursework at R.E.T.S. Technical School in Baltimore, Maryland, Mike holds APICS CPIM certification for production and inventory management.