Sondre Skatter - Chief AI Scientist

In his current role as Chief AI Scientist in Smiths Digital Forge Sondre Skatter is responsible for introducing cutting-edge algorithms into Smiths Group product offerings and in driving Smiths’ digitization initiative. Whether based on Machine Learning, or physics and models, the algorithms seek to squeeze more performance and functionality out of existing Smiths products, as well as imagine new product ideas. Sondre Skatter got his master's in physics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 1994 and a PhD in at Norwegian University of Life Sciences in 1998. He has mainly worked in the field of explosive detection across multiple technologies applying physics and algorithms to improve performance of these systems.

Sondre has 15+ patents issued and 11 papers published in peer-reviewed journals. Sondre has three daughters, a ridgeback, and loves rock climbing, trail running and playing music in various bands and jam sessions.

Skills

Multidisciplinary technology leadership
Algorithm system design and architecture
Physics, modeling, statistics
Machine Learning
Advanced, representative user interfaces and data displays
Detection algorithms and systems
Software development (C++/Python)

Pedro Garzon - Chief Engineer

Pedro Garzon is the Chief Systems Engineer at the Smiths Digital Forge. He has worked with engineering teams from the different divisions of Smiths to define product requirements, identify enabling technologies, and develop agile plans to prove the application of new technologies and validate their commercial value. Since joining the Smiths Digital Forge, Pedro has architected, designed, and managed various products in an agile hardware development process. At the same time, he has assembled a team of very talented and passionate engineers that lead the products through technology demonstrators, proof of concepts, prototypes, pilots, certification (safety, EMC, Environmental), set up production, and deployment.

Before Smiths Digital Forge, Pedro worked at Smiths Detection, where he led the hardware development of the CTX 5800 and the CTX next generation system, a next-generation CT scanner. He holds eight patents and applications in different fields CT, methane leak detection, and IoT.

Pedro has demonstrated mechanical design, digital product architecture, and prototype-to-production transfer expertise. He holds a master's degree in Mechanical Engineering with an emphasis in design and shares his passion for soccer with his family.

Skills

System design/architecture of complex digital enable products
Thermal management
Interdisciplinary engineering
Transition research/prototype design to production
Mentoring young Engineers
Leadership of multidisciplinary groups
Knowledgeable in multiple manufacturing process
Rapid prototyping and proof of concept

Natarajan Subramanian - Chief Software Architect

Natarajan Subramanian is a Chief Software Architect at the Smiths Digital Forge. Prior to working at the Forge, he has worked predominantly on networking middleware, software platform for the CT products and the overall software architecture of multiple products. Prior to working at Smiths, he worked at Morpho Detection and GE Homeland Security as the Chief Software Architect and worked on the architecture and implementation of their CT products and network solutions. He has a Masters in Computer Science from the University of Mysore, India and has worked as a technical lead at HP and a scientist at Defence R&D labs.

Natarajan currently manages the software group as part of his Architect role at the Forge and is also responsible for co-developing and implementing software architectures required in our industrial IoT solutions.

Natarajan is experienced in embedded development, middleware, databases, networking and cloud development. In his current role, he has implemented solutions in C, C++, golang, rust, typescript or python. He has also put together highly skilled software teams and automated large parts of the SDLC.

Skills

put together highly skilled software teams that can work on complex systems
define and implement an SDLC that suits the problem on hand
work on multiple domains from embedded systems and sensors to middleware, databases, cloud native apps, mobile apps, cloud architectures and devops.
rapid prototyping of new ideas/designs
system security
architecting for observability
automated CI/CD flows for embedded systems

Thomas Benson - Chief Software Architect

Thomas is a Chief Software Architect in Smiths Digital Forge. He has a background in high-performance computing, GPU-accelerated computing, x-ray computed tomography (CT), and radar signal processing. While at the Forge, he has worked on embedded software development (e.g. bootloaders, board support packages, and applications for microcontrollers and ARM-based boards, etc.), data acquisition system software, GPU-accelerated image reconstruction, safety-critical software for a medical device, device cybersecurity (e.g. high-assurance boot / secure boot, per-device key provisioning, device encrypted volumes, etc.), Angular-based web user interfaces for real-time data visualization, and cloud software applications, including data ingest engines. Prior to joining Smiths, Thomas worked at GE Global Research (2006-2011), Georgia Tech Research Institute (2011-2015), and Morpho Detection (2015-2017).

Over his career, Thomas has authored production software that is currently running worldwide in medical devices, airport checked luggage CT scanners, and industrial IoT cellular-based data acquisition systems. He is an inventor or co-inventor on 9 patents and has published over 30 journal and conference papers. Thomas holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Skills

Software performance optimization (e.g. cache-aware algorithms, vectorization, algorithm optimization, etc.)
GPU accelerated computing (C++/CUDA)
Embedded software development (C, Go, Rust) and build systems (buildroot)
Device cybersecurity (e.g. secure boot, trusted execution environments, etc.)
Implementing real-time algorithms

Paul Ramsey - Operations Director

Samit Basu - Chief Digital Officer

Samit is the Chief Digital Officer of Smiths and is working to facilitate the digital transformation of the Smiths businesses as we transform ourselves into a leading technology company. In the past 5 years, he has architected, built and lead the Smiths Digital Forge – a center of excellence for digital technology for Smiths consisting of a dynamic, creative and motivated team of hardware, software, and data engineers that work together to bring new capabilities to Smiths product offerings. Under Samit’s leadership, the SDF has delivered market-ready technologies to the different divisions of Smiths, including a complete software and firmware stack for a smart infusion pump, minimum viable product demonstrators for condition monitoring of seals in the oil and gas space, a cyber secure, hazardous location certified industrial IoT gateway, and networked sensor solutions for commercial and residential ducting. Prior to joining Smiths in 2017, Samit was the CTO of the legacy Morpho Detection business (now part of Smiths Detection) and was responsible for new technology development and innovation, including the development of common software platform technologies for the CTX product line, the development of the CTX5800 and the TARDIS (now SCT) system concept and architecture.

Samit is recognized as an expert in the field of signal and image processing, system design, computed tomography, inverse problems, electrical engineering and software engineering. He is named as inventor or co-inventor on over 80 US patents and has more than a dozen peer reviewed publications in high impact journals. Software and technology that Samit has developed is deployed in hospitals, airports and critical infrastructure all around the world. His personal open-source software technology has been downloaded over a million times and is used to advance engineering and scientific work around the world. He has received several awards from General Electric and Safran for his innovative work and leadership.

Samit holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. He has two teenaged children and is the lead singer in two rock bands.

Skills

Multidisciplinary technology leadership
Edge-to-cloud system design and architecture
Mixed signal hardware design (PCB, Schematic, Board bring up, etc)
Algorithm design (inverse problems, image reconstruction, etc)
GPU accelerated computing for simulations
Computed Tomography system design
FPGA gateware and firmware design and implementation
Embedded software (C/C++/Rust)
Cloud software (time series database design)