Robert J. (Bob) Simmons
CEO, CTO, Chairman of the Board & Co-Founder
In addition to serving as the CEO, Mr. Simmons is the company’s Chief Technology Officer responsible for ConXtech’s product development strategy and R&D. Self employed since the age of 17, Mr. Simmons has spent a majority of his career in the structural concrete industry, focused primarily on design-build parking structures, mixed-use and mid-to high-rise residential markets. His structural concrete company, RJS & Associates (RJS), grew to employ over 400 full-time employees.
Under Mr. Simmons’ leadership, RJS has earned a stellar reputation in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as outlying areas working with most of the major national and regional developers operating in the Bay Area high-density residential market. A successful serial entrepreneur, he conceived the ConXtech system in 2000, after working for nearly a decade to develop alternative structural solutions for the mid-rise market which RJS serves. In 2004, he led the spin out of ConXtech from RJS & Associates.
Howard M. Franklin
COO
Mr. Franklin brings a unique combination of business, technical and construction experience to lead ConXtech’s operations team. Through previous experience, he has acquired a wide range of knowledge in organizational infrastructure; contracts; intellectual property; creating, administrating and documenting management information systems; customer support and training. Additionally he brings significant expertise in finance and accounting, including financial modeling, forecasting and data flow analysis. These operational skills are of particular value as the company transitions the ConXtech business model and organization to meet the growing demand for ConXtech’s innovative technologies.
Mr. Franklin also draws upon his experience as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer for a federally registered investment advisory firm with $250M in assets under management. He is an entrepreneur, and invented and co-founded MegaWall Corporation which designed, patented, and manufactured an innovative concrete masonry wall-building system for the commercial and residential market which dramatically reduced construction time and delivered a lower cost solution. Among his many responsibilities at MegaWall he managed the development of the technology infrastructure needed to launch MegaWall’s first semi-automated manufacturing facility, and developed the processes to “clone” the initial operation.
Mr. Franklin is a software developer and an author of an array of software applications, books, articles, educational materials and how-to manuals for various hardware and software technologies offered by high-tech companies such as Apple and Hewlett-Packard at the earliest stages of the personal computing revolution. He holds a BS Degree in Applied Mathematics from Brown University where he graduated magna cum laude, and conducted graduate studies in Computer Science at Stanford University as a National Science Fellow.
Raymond G. Kitasoe
Vice President, Engineering
Mr. Kitasoe oversees the on-going refinement, testing and municipal and regulatory approval processes for ConXtech’s system. Mr. Kitasoe has 25 years of construction management experience with emphasis in the commercial and multi-family residential segments. During this time, Mr. Kitasoe has participated in all aspects of the construction business including; project management, financial management and design. Specifically, Mr. Kitasoe has served as a Project Manager for Herrero Contractors, DBD Structures, D. Ross Construction, Super Structures and The Plymouth Group.
His experience also includes working for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) for six years and for H.J. Degenkolb Associates for four years. At AMD he served as Division Controller for the company’s most profitable division. At H.J. Degenkolb Associates he was involved in the structural design and analysis of new and existing structures. Mr. Kitasoe earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering with honors, an M.S. in Structural Engineering and Structural Mechanics and an M.B.A. with a focus on finance from the University of California, Berkeley.
Michel (Kelly) Luttrell
Vice President, Business Development, Co-Founder
Ms. Luttrell, who co-founded ConXtech with Mr. Simmons, manages the Company’s business development, marketing, partnership and intellectual property activities. Before joining ConXtech, Ms. Luttrell served as Vice President of Security Technology and Solution Sales at Wave Systems Corporation. During her five-year tenure at Wave Systems she was responsible for sales and licensing of security software products to large corporations in the personal computer industry.
Prior to Wave Systems, Ms. Luttrell worked for Silicon Graphics Computer Systems for nine years in various marketing and sales roles. During this time, she served as the Strategic Account Manager for Silicon Graphic’s single largest customer. In the first three years in this role, Ms. Luttrell grew the account fourfold to over $60 million in annual revenues. Prior to Silicon Graphics, Ms. Luttrell was a Marketing Representative focused on the Manufacturing sector at IBM Corporation’s National Accounts Division. Ms. Luttrell obtained her B.S. in Environmental Design at the University of California, Davis.
Chris Keyack
Vice President, ConXCAD
Mr. Keyack is responsible for development and deployment of ConXCAD, a suite of software add-on tools based upon ConXtech’s finite set of structural components. He is also responsible for extending ConXCAD capabilities to include improved interoperability among the leading industry-standard Building Information Modeling (BIM) and analysis software products offered. Prior to joining ConXtech, mr. Keyack managed the Solutions Team at Tekla USA, creating Tekla Structures extensions not included in out-of-the-box Tekla Structures platform. His focus was developing add-on-tools to meet the needs of steel and concrete detailing, fabrication, structural engineering, and construction management teams across the United States.
Mr. Keyack has earned a reputation developing technologies and solutions that enable stakeholders in the industry to harness the power of BIM software which results in enhanced collaboration. He joined ConXtech with the unique perspective of a BIM software user, a software developer and provider and a BIM implementation consultant working to solve interoperability challenges among a broad set of software platforms.
Travis (TJ) Simmons
Vice President, ConXtech Construction
Mr. Simmons manages day-to-day field operations of ConXtech Construction. He and his team also interface with development, engineering and architectural teams to ensure a seamless flow from building concept to manufacturing through field assembly. Mr. Simmons has significant experience in construction project layout, operating sophisticated manufacturing equipment and manufacturing equipment specifications.
Over the past decade years, Mr. Simmons has contributed this expertise to the construction of millions of square feet of residential and mixed-use, office and other structures valued at more than $180 million. Mr. Simmons was instrumental in the initial development of the ConXtech system. As a part of that effort, he produced the first CAD/CAM versions, built the prototype ConXtech system components and tooling fixtures, managed outsourcing of the ConXtech prototype and assembly, managed the design, fabrication and installation of the “test frame” and supervised ConXtech system testing. Mr. Simmons is a member of the American Institute of Steel Construction.
Tom R. Collins
Director of Global Fulfillment
Mr. Collins is a highly seasoned steel industry executive with over thirty-five years experience in all phases of the business. He possesses domestic and international experience in Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain Management, Project Management, Operations, P&L Management and Strategic Planning. Mr. Collins has held executive positions with some of the largest steel fabricators in the United States, most recently serving as President of Southwest Steel, a Las Vegas based division of SME. He possesses extensive experience in establishing international operations and sourcing and spent three years in China and Hong Kong while serving as Vice President, General Manager of Havens Steel International which was acquired by Schuff Steel in 2009. Mr. Collins also spent thirteen years with The Herrick Corporation where he served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing and ultimately as Vice President and General Manger with responsibility for all “bottom line” factors, including company vision and long range planning.
Mr. Collins brings ConXtech a comprehensive perspective of the existing conventional steel industry, a keen appreciation for ConXtech’s value proposition and a vision to drive ConXtech’s technologies into the industry on a global basis. Mr. Collins attended Missouri State University where he earned a BS degree in Business.
