Well-known to composites industry veterans, George Tunis has been creating novel products, processes, and applications in the composites industry since he started his professional career with DuPont Composites in 1984. During his six-year tenure with DuPont Composites, Tunis was the program manager for the U.S. Navy, designing and producing composites for naval ships and submarines, and won DuPont’s coveted Corporate Marketing Excellence award in 1989. He then formed Hardcore DuPont Composites and led the development of numerous patented large-scale composite structures for the marine, infrastructure, rail, and shipping industries. In 1990, Tunis won Sailing World Sailboat of the Year. For his integrated composite railcar, Tunis was awarded the Owings Corning Grand Design Award in 1996. Tunis also founded SCRIMP Systems LLC in 1993 and scaled that technology globally along with partners DuPont and Toray. In 1998, Tunis formed Tunis Works, LLC and subsequently Hardwire, LLC. At Hardwire, Tunis has led his team to become a world-class designer and producer of composite-based armor systems for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, the U.S. State Department, and for critical domestic infrastructure protection. Tunis’ company has supplied over 100 acres of overhead protection for military and homeland security applications for protection against mortar and rocket fragments as well as over 5,000 armor kits for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles. In 2012, Tunis was named an Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” for the State of Maryland. Tunis is a composites industry visionary, an entrepreneur, and a passionate team leader. Tunis holds ten patents and multiple trademarks for his composite technologies and innovations. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware.

John Hammond has a background in business and product management, strategy development, engineering, sales, marketing and manufacturing operations. John joined Hardwire full-time in 2003 and is responsible for business development, sales and marketing, finance, and government and commercial agreements. He has grown Hardwire’s armor business from segmented research activities to a production-ready, high-volume operation. With John’s leadership, the Hardwire development team has spun-off armor products into vehicle, personnel, marine, aircraft, police, and infrastructure markets. Prior to Hardwire, John spent 13 years with DuPont in numerous business management, engineering, sales, product management, business development and manufacturing positions. His last position with DuPont was as DuPont’s chief officer and Vice President of Marketing & Operations for a $130 million a year chemical marketing and distribution joint-venture company whose formation Hammond led. For that work, John was awarded DuPont’s Corporate Marketing Excellence Award in 1998. In 2000, he left for another start-up, ChemConnect, Inc., and helped lead the company’s rapid emergence as the most powerful chemical industry online trading hub and online procurement services provider to the chemical industry. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, along with executive education at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

Scott L. Kendall – Director of Manufacturing and Engineering

Scott Kendall joined Hardwire in 2004 and is responsible for Hardwire’s manufacturing, process engineering, design and development, equipment fabrication, engineering in support of service contracts, and process development for Hardwire customers. Kendall has been responsible for conception, testing, and implementation of many armor solutions for U.S. Army and Marine Corps, U.S. State Department, and critical domestic infrastructure protection applications. His expertise in explosives and blast phenomena was instrumental in the development of Hardwire’s Structural Blast Chimney, a technology which has been shown to improve vehicle and occupant survivability from underbody mine threats. Scott’s unique ability to design and implement new manufacturing techniques for composite materials has revolutionized armor manufacturing. His implementation of automated, high-precision production fabrication processes has allowed Hardwire to rapidly produce armor and survivability systems at an advantageous cost comparable to traditional systems. Kendall is a former Air Force F-16 pilot and Wing “Top Gun” instructor who flew more than 42 combat sorties, was awarded two air medals and was selected as the winner of the Orville Wright Daedalian Achievement Award as the top graduate from U.S. Air Force pilot training school in 1990. Kendall was the former engineering manager for Astropower in Newark, Del., a provider of materials for the solar power industry. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware.

Robert Cosgriff – Director of Armor Manufacturing

Rob Cosgriff joined Hardwire in 2007 to lead Hardwire’s manufacturing expansion efforts, including the design, construction, and ultimate operation of Hardwire’s 63,000 ft2 armor manufacturing facility. From 2008 – 2011, he oversaw production and delivery of over 5,000 Explosively Formed Projectile (EFP) armor kits for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles. Since October 2010, Mr. Cosgriff has managed Hardwire’s Ultra Light Vehicle (ULV) Program, a research and development initiative to create a highly survivable, hybrid tactical military vehicle for the Department of Defense. Prior to joining Hardwire, Rob completed a distinguished career with the U.S. Navy, which culminated with a highly successful tour of duty as the Commanding Officer of the nuclear powered fast-attack submarine USS HYMAN G. RICKOVER (SSN 709). Rob led the RICKOVER on numerous missions in direct support of national security objectives and the Global War on Terror. In 2006 his boat’s performance was recognized as the number one ship in Submarine Squadron EIGHT. Rob earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University, and a Master’s Degree in Political Studies from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques, University of Grenoble (France).

Steven J. Winckler - Consultant

Steve Winckler joined Hardwire as a consultant in 2005 and conducts research and development in support of Hardwire’s military and homeland security solutions efforts. Winckler is currently President of Global Composites, which he formed in January 1999 to provide composites manufacturing, engineering and design consulting. He was a founding member of the Cyclics Corporation, which developed and commercialized cyclic thermoplastic technologies for processes such as resin transfer molding (RTM), pultrusion, resin film infusion (RFI), vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM), compression molding (SMC type processes and others), and making thermoplastic prepreg. Prior to that, Winckler founded General Composites, Inc, and developed proprietary RTM equipment for various recreational applications including rowing shell seats (Vespoli USA), bicycle forks (Serotta bicycles), snow board bindings