Our People

The employees of Charles River Analytics offer a unique mix of scientific and technical backgrounds.

Research and Software Development Staff

Our scientists and engineers have backgrounds in:

Some of our most successful scientists and engineers have backgrounds both inside and outside the fields of artificial intelligence, including degrees in mechanical engineering, physics, astronomy, classics, and other diverse areas of study.

Dr. Greg Zacharias

President and Senior Principal Scientist

At Charles River Analytics, Greg provides strategic direction for the Government Services and Commercial Solutions Divisions, while contributing to efforts in cognitive systems engineering and advanced decision support systems. Before founding Charles River, he was a Senior Scientist at BBN Technologies, a Research Engineer at C.S. Draper Labs, and a USAF attaché for the Space Shuttle program at NASA Johnson Space Center. Greg was recently a member of the National Research Council (NRC) Committee on Human Factors, having served for more than ten years, and recently co-chaired the NRC study “Organizational Models: From Individuals to Societies.” He is a Research Affiliate of the MIT Man-Vehicle Laboratory and the Humans and Automation Laboratory. Greg is also a member of the USAF Scientific Advisory Board, serving as past Chair of the Human System Wing Advisory Group for Brooks City Base, as peer reviewer for AFRL, and current member of a Cyberoperations Task Force. He is currently on the board of the Embry-Riddle Research Advisory Board and the Small Business Technology Coalition. Greg obtained his PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT in 1977.

Ms. Karen A. Harper

Senior Vice President of Government Services and Principal Scientist

Karen leads Charles River's Government Services business area, directing the research and development activities of our three technical divisions: Cognitive Systems, Decision Management Systems, and Computer Vision Systems. In her role as Principal Scientist, Karen leads projects focused on the simulation of human behavior, at both the individual and organizational levels, and the development of advanced human/computer interfaces (HCIs) for complex command and control systems. She is responsible for the continuing development and application of Charles River's agent-based model of human behavior, now known as AgentWorks. Karen received the B.Eng. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, in 1995, and the MS degree from the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at Boston University in 1997. Her graduate research focused on robotics and control, specifically biologically-inspired robot locomotion.

Dr. Jonathan D. Pfautz

Vice President of Cognitive Systems and Principal Scientist

Jonathan leads research and development projects focused on the application of Cognitive Science and Engineering to complex computational systems. This work spans research in modeling of human perceptual, cognitive, organizational, and social processes; design of multimodal human-computer interfaces; development of intelligent decision-support tools; and application of user-centered design practices in the implementation and distribution of software systems. This work has led to numerous peer-reviewed publications as well as to successful deployment of both commercial and Government software products. Jonathan holds a B.S. and M.Eng. in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering and a B.S. in Brain and Cognitive Science from MIT. He maintains his relationship with MIT as a Research Affiliate with MIT’s Research Lab of Electronics. He received his PhD in Computer Science from Cambridge University, where he focused on improving human perception of depth in computer-generated imagery.

Dr. Scott Neal Reilly

Vice President of Decision Management and Principal Scientist

Scott leads Charles River's Decision Management division, which applies a wide range of Artificial Intelligence, Optimization, Data Processing, and Modeling & Simulation technologies to help people make better decisions. His personal research interests are primarily in building intelligent agents in dynamic, real-time environments. This has led him to work in areas such as real-time agent architectures, emotion modeling, affective decision making, social-behavior modeling, intelligent behavior execution, embedded conversational systems, plan recognition, believable animation, hybrid agent architectures, speech morphing, and interactive scene and narrative management. He is also interested in developing tools to make it possible to build and understand complex, agent-based simulation systems. Scott earned a B.S. in Computer Science from Duke University. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University where his research focused on modeling artificially intelligent social and emotional agents.

Mr. Magnús S. H. Snorrason

Vice President of Sensor Processing and Networking and Principal Scientist

Magnús leads projects in both the Government and Commercial Services business areas. His projects are focused on sensor processing, i.e., extracting information content from the real-time data streams generated by a variety of different sensors. The application domains include security & surveillance, navigation, and automatic target recognition, and the work involves computer vision, signal processing, image/video enhancement, object detection/tracking/recognition, 3D reconstruction, and modeling human perception. He manages the development of our VisionKit™ and Verideo® software products. Magnús has been Principal Investigator on numerous projects sponsored by the DoD and NASA, such as an obstacle detection and path planning project funded by NASA's 2004 Mars rover mission. Magnús completed all coursework and qualifiers in the PhD program in Cognitive and Neural Systems at Boston University. Magnús received his BA degree in Electrical, Computers, and Systems Engineering at Harvard University in 1988.

Mr. Roger N. Schane

Vice President of Business Development

Roger leads Charles River’s government business development activities. He has over 30 years experience in marketing, proposing, planning, directing, and performing multi-million dollar programs for government and commercial clients in the areas of modeling & simulation, algorithm development, hardware/software system integration, test planning and execution. This includes capturing software services business from large clients and also coordinating teaming with large system integrators. Before joining Charles River in 2005, Roger was Director of Business Development for Applied Analysis, Inc. (AAI) and CACI-MTL Systems. Earlier, he was a Program Manager for Decision Systems Technologies, Inc. (DSTI), Logicon, Inc., and The Analytic Sciences Corp. (TASC). Roger received an MS in Electrical Engineering from Marquette University and a BS in Systems Engineering from the University of Illinois.

Mr. Ted Fichtl

Vice President of Finance & Administration

Ted leads the Finance & Administration Division, which is responsible for the accounting, reporting, contract management, human resources, information systems, and facilities management functions of the Company. Before assuming this position, he was the Director of Strategic Development for Charles River Analytics. Ted is a retired Army Officer with over 25 years of military service. He also has over 20 years of experience in a variety of executive management positions in the defense industry. He is supported by an outstanding staff of professionals. Ted obtained a B.A in History from the University of Nebraska, and an M.A. in Business from Webster University, St Louis, MO.

Mr. Gregory M. Gormican

Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Greg focuses on Charles River's critical strategic financial areas including budgeting/monitoring processes, treasury and banking functions, financial analysis, external CPA reviews, government agency audits, tax returns, and internal financial reporting methods. Prior to coming to Charles River, Greg had extensive industry experience in senior management positions in early stage, rapidly expanding public and privately held companies, as well as significant public accounting experience. Companies that he has held senior management positions include Harbridge House, Inc., Bioassay Systems Corporation, Legal Sea Foods, Inc., Command Transportation, Inc., and SmartNames, Inc. Greg obtained a B.A. (Cum Laude) in Economics from Boston College, an M.S. in Accounting from Northeastern University, an M.S.T. (Taxation) from Bentley College, and an M.B.A. (with High Honors) from Babson College. He is also a Certified Public Accountant in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.