MEET THE TEAM

Gary Wittlinger

Managing Partner

Applied Research Solutions

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Mr. Wittlinger is Managing Partner at ARS and brings a wealth of experience from large and small business entities. He manages the ARS operations portfolio, both programs and all infrastructure components for a growing small business. Mr. Wittlinger has worked to establish the ARS culture as it has evolved from inception to the destination workplace for our employees today. He has worked to establish firm business processes to ensure successful program execution and corporate agility for ARS. He manages and leads a diverse portfolio from Cyber, DevSecOps, Systems Engineering, Program Management, Logistics and others across many geographic locations. He has been a critical contributor to the stand-up and successful development of the company into today’s corporate entity, inclusive of major GSA Contract Schedules such as OASIS Small Business and GSA IT-70 and PSS Prime Schedules, as well as other ARS prime and subcontracts with diverse DoD customers.

Prior to ARS, Mr. Wittlinger has held leadership positions with MacAulay-Brown, GRACAR, CACI, and IBM. These included many systems engineering positions with the Navy ES-3A and EP-3E intel platforms, including requirements analysis, system training and testing roles.

Mr. Sullivan is Managing Partner at ARS and brings a breadth of experience in operations and strategic business development to the leadership team. He establishes and manages the current ARS $1B+ sales pipeline across a diverse set of current and target client markets. Mr. Sullivan’s large and small business experience and acumen has proven invaluable to the ARS culture as it has evolved since inception in 2012. He has worked diligently to establish the corporate business base of prime and subcontracts through a mature business development capture process, resulting in the valued base of GSA OASIS Small Business prime contracts, GSA IT-70 and PSS Prime Schedules, and several other multi-year DoD contracts within the current ARS portfolio.

Prior to ARS, Mr. Sullivan held leadership positions with MacAulay-Brown, GRACAR, General Dynamics, and served in the US Air Force.

Kevin Sullivan

Managing Partner

Applied Research Solutions

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Dr. Steven Omick

Board of Directors, Chair

Applied Research Solutions

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

As Chairman of the ARS Board, Dr. Omick brings over 28 years of research and executive leadership experience in the private sector and defense and intelligence industries. He holds B.S., M.S., and Doctoral degrees in Electrical Engineering, and has led research programs and is published in the field of computational electromagnetics.

Dr. Omick served as President of Vencore Labs, a leading provider of research in cyber security, advanced networking, data analytics, machine learning, mobility, and radio frequency communications. Dr. Omick was also President and CEO of Rincon Research Corporation, a leading provider of digital signal processing products and engineering services for the U.S. Government Intelligence Community.

L. William Varner is the former President of ManTech's Mission, Cyber and Intelligence Solutions group. Before joining ManTech, he was Vice President and Executive Director of the Intelligence Operations Unit at Northrop Grumman-TASC, which specialized in highly technical engineering and operations support to the intelligence community.

Bill has a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from George Washington University, a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from

Purdue University, and a Master's of Business Administration Degree in Finance from Virginia Polytechnic University.

Bill Varner

Board of Directors

Applied Research Solutions

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Ed Wilson

Applied Research Solutions

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Board of Directors

Major General Ed Wilson, U.S. Air Force (ret), brings a wealth of operations and senior leader perspective to the ARS Board. Having commanded at all levels from squadron to Numbered Air Force, he spent over three decades at the forefront of cyber and space operations. After retiring from the military, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy supporting the Secretary of Defense and other senior leaders with policies, strategies and plans to guide DoD’s ability to operate in cyberspace. General Wilson’s understanding of ARS clients, complex mission environments, and their strategic implications for national defense will be critical for the company moving forward.

He retired from government service in 2019 and founded Pinnacle Strategic Consulting, LLC, which is focused on consulting, board service and public speaking in areas related to cyber, space and intelligence. General Wilson graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, and earned a M.S. in electrical/computer engineering from Northeastern University, and a M.A. in airpower art and science from the Air Force’s School of Advanced Airpower Studies.

James D. Shields is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Riverside Research Institute, ARS’s parent company. He is the former president and chief executive officer of Draper Laboratory, a leading not-for-profit resource for guidance, navigation, and control technology. In his 13-year tenure at Draper Laboratory, he created programs and established efforts to broaden the sponsor base through focusing the application of Draper capabilities on new problems in biomedical, energy, and intelligence systems to complement the Laboratory’s traditional national security and space efforts. Prior to his time at Draper Laboratory, Mr. Shields spent 29 years with TASC, where he held several director-level positions and spent thirteen years as Vice President.

Additionally, Mr. Shields is a director of Aerodyne Research and on the board of advisors for Benchmark Space Systems and Assured Enterprises Inc. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Jim earned both his B.S. and M.S. in electrical engineering from MIT.