Management

The Avistar Management Team includes pioneers in the original development of much of the technology that has led to integrated and networked video, data and voice collaboration, appropriate to Avistar technologies and products. The team includes:

• Bob Kirk, Chief Executive Officer
• Elias (Eli) MurrayMetzger, Chief Financial Officer
• Stephen Epstein, Chief Marketing Officer
• Dr. J. Chris Lauwers, Chief Technology Officer
• Steve Westmoreland, Chief Information Officer
• Mike Dignen, Senior Vice President, Sales
• Bryan Kennedy, Vice President, Business Development
• Dr. Anton F. Rodde, President, Intellectual Property Division 

Bob Kirk, Chief Executive Officer
Kirk joined Avistar as CEO in July 2009 and is responsible for the company's strategic vision and advancement of its mission and objectives. Fueled by his extensive experience as a successful CEO, Kirk’s goal is to ensure the growth of Avistar within the quickly expanding unified communications and videoconferencing industries. Kirk most recently served as the CEO of ChoicePay. Previously to ChoicePay, Kirk served as CEO of VICOR, Inc. where he led VICOR’s successful expansion and subsequent sale to Metavante Corporation. He holds an MBA in Business Management and a Bachelors degree from the West Virginia University.

Elias (Eli) MurrayMetzger, Chief Financial Officer

MurrayMetzger brings to Avistar more than 11 years of experience in financial management, regulatory compliance and operations at technology organizations. Prior to joining Avistar, MurrayMetzger served as Assistant Controller of Centra Software, Inc., a provider of software solutions for online business communication, collaboration and learning. During his tenure at Centra from April 2004 to January 2006, MurrayMetzger successfully navigated the company's Sarbanes-Oxley compliance effort and all SEC reporting and compliance functions as the company reached profitability and was sold to Saba, Inc. in February 2006. Prior to Centra, MurrayMetzger worked for the technology audit practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers from February 2000 to March 2004. He is a Certified Public Accountant and has a Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness with a concentration in finance from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Stephen Epstein, Chief Marketing Officer
Epstein joined Avistar in January 2008 and is responsible for the company’s marketing and product management functions. Prior to Avistar he was Vice President, Head of Product Management at Mantas, Inc., where he was responsible for global product strategy, managing product requirements, defining go to market plans and marketing strategy, while continually evaluating the financial services market in order to provide a clear and decisive direction for Mantas’ business. Previously to joining Mantas, Epstein was Head of Product & Business Development at Bang Networks where he spearheaded product and business development efforts, focusing on delivering real-time information distribution products. Prior to that he held senior-level management and product development positions including Head of Global Foreign Exchange Sales Technology and Group CTO at Deutsche Bank.

Dr. J. Chris Lauwers, Chief Technology Officer
Lauwers has been Avistar's CTO since February 2000. He was the company's vice president of engineering for five years before that. Before joining Avistar, he was principal software architect at Vicor, Inc. He also served as a research associate at Olivetti Research Center. Lauwers holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven of Belgium. He also holds an M.S. and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from Stanford University.

Steve Westmoreland, Chief Information Officer

Westmoreland joined Avistar as CIO in October 2009 and is responsible for the company’s development, quality assurance, and support functions. Westmoreland brings to Avistar over 25 years of proven experience in Information Systems. Most recently he was SVP of Support Operations for Vicor where he helped grow the company and played a leading role as part of Metavante’s successful acquisition of Vicor. Prior to that Westmoreland held CIO positions at Damage Studios and VALinux Systems. Earlier, he held operations and technology positions with Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Centex. Westmoreland holds a BS degree in Computer Science from Louisiana Tech University. 

Mike Dignen, Senior Vice President, Sales

Dignen joined Avistar in July 2010 and is responsible for the company’s sales and account management initiatives.  Prior to joining Avistar, Dignen held executive sales management positions at US Dataworks, Vicor (a business unit of Metavante Corp), and Profit Technologies Corporation. Mike has successfully sold enterprise sized software solutions into fortune 500 companies, as well as emerging small and medium sized businesses. He has a proven track record driving sales efforts into promising new product areas while optimizing the efforts of his sales and account management teams. Dignen is a graduate of The George Washington University and has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in Finance.

Bryan Kennedy, Vice President, Business Development

Kennedy joined Avistar in December 2009 and is responsible for the company’s Business Development initiatives.  Prior to joining Avistar, Kennedy held executive management positions at Avid technology, a leader in digital media solutions;  Platinum Venture Partners, a leading early stage venture fund;  McKinsey and Company, a leading management consulting firm and has founded, participated in and advised numerous successful technology start-ups. His professional experience extends into the digital media, enterprise software, systems and data storage markets.  Kennedy is a graduate of Farleigh Dickenson University with a major in Economics and received an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Dr. Anton F. Rodde, President, Intellectual Property Division
Rodde joined Avistar as President of CPI in December 2003. Prior to joining CPI, Rodde was President and CEO of Western Data Systems (WDS), where he led the introduction and penetration of mission-critical enterprise software into the aerospace and defense industry. Rodde was also president and general manager of several subsidiaries of Teknekron Corporation and began his career at AT&T where he held a variety of technical and management positions. His academic credentials include a M.S. and Ph.D. in physics from Illinois Institute of Technology, and a B.S. in physics from Benedictine University.