In order to meet the company’s growth trajectory, Rajant, the pioneer of innovative mobile mesh technology for private wireless networks, announced today the hiring of Geoff Smith as Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing, and Bernard Taliaferro as Channel Director. The company also opened facilities in Arizona and Kentucky, and added 20 employees overall.

Rajant makes mobile, scalable and highly reliable kinetic wireless mesh network technology, which provides a make-before-break always connected communications network so critical applications like Kinetic Autonomous Networking are always available. Its Kinetic Autonomous Networking delivers intelligent path selection to ensure the best conditions for V2V (vehicle to vehicle) and V2X (vehicle to everything) communications, and maximizes industrial IoT (Internet of Things) initiatives around Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV).

Smith has more than 25 years of experience designing, managing, marketing and selling innovative communication solutions. Most recently, he served as Managing Director of Wave Mobile Solutions, a pioneer in outdoor wireless communications specializing in (V2V) and vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communications) radios.  Previously, he held executive positions at Proxim Wireless, including Vice President of Sales, Marketing and R&D.  He also has held management roles at Agere Systems, Lucent Technologies and AT&T Bell Labs.  At Rajant, he will be responsible for driving the company’s global expansion and sales initiative.

“Rajant is changing the way the world utilizes mobile infrastructure today, and I’m looking forward toward building upon that success,” Smith said. “The world is moving autonomously, including autonomous cars, trucks, drones, robots, mining equipment and vehicles, and Rajants Kinetic Mesh Technology is already the proven standard supporting all of these mobile applications.  In my new role, I will work with our talented sales and engineering teams to ensure that partners and end-user companies understand the breadth of Rajant solutions that can help them achieve their strategic advantages.”

Rajant’s technology includes portable radios that connect people into this autonomous infrastructure to control and communicate, and extends the applications to Military, Police, Fire, EMS and industrial warehouse automation.

“The appointments of Geoff and Bernard bolster our team and our global growth initiative,” said Bob Schena, Chairman and CEO of Rajant. “More and more organizations are demanding mesh technology that better handles the shortcomings associated with traditional WiFi technology. Our ability to support a myriad of applications and mobility simultaneously is resonating with influencers who are looking for increased productivity, insights and results from their communications networks.”

Taliaferro has more than 20 years of experience in the wireless industry and in fostering strong distributor, integrator and reseller relationships. At Rajant, he is responsible for developing and executing the indirect channel go-to-market strategy as well as managing relationships with distributors and integrators to facilitate solution-selling across vertical markets.  Prior to Rajant, Taliaferro was Head of Distributor Management at Ericsson, Channel Manager at BelAir Networks, and Regional Technical Manager at Motorola.

Additional highlights of Rajant operations and channel growth include:

• A new Arizona facility housing an Information Assurance team with deep experience in cryptography to meet the increasing security requirements of communications networks, especially around defense, electronic commerce, and industrial IoT applications
• A new manufacturing operation in Morehead, Ky., supporting development efforts for applications in sports and entertainment and public safety sectors
• Expansion of activities and focus around drones and automation to align with growing demands of Rajant’s existing customer base, including oil & gas, mining, military, government, public safety, transportation and telecom companies

For years, Rajant’s scalable and highly reliable kinetic wireless mesh network technology has been recognized as a leader in mission-critical communications.