About Us

Theodore Pietz

A native of Maine, Ted has worked at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport, RI after graduating from the University of Maine with a BS in Computer Science ('03) with a minor in business administration, and MS in Information Systems ('04); his tasking has included solving complex application integration problems and "cradle-to-grave" network design, end-to-end system integration and testing, deployment, and sustainment. With a penchant for strong technical authorship, more recent tasking includes cybersecurity and Wide Area Network (WAN) support.  Additionally, Ted serves as a Contracting Officer Representative (COR), assisting the Contracting Officer (KO) with technical and financial oversight during the execution of a 5 year contract with over 90 contractor personnel and a $31M ceiling.

During a two year stint at an Echelon 2 command in Washington, D.C., Ted was embedded in a Development and Deployment Team (DDT) responsible for executing over $50M per fiscal year (FY). Ted gained Program Executive Office (PEO) experience, building cost Rough Order of Magnitude (ROMs), and learned how to work effectively in an environment with high level senior civilian and military personnel.

Serving on Portsmouth's Solid Waste/Recycling Advisory Committee since 2015 and elected Chair April 2017, Ted has gained exposure to government at the municipal level. Ted's civic involvement and exemplary working relationship with the Staff of the Town of Portsmouth led to his being selected by Richard Rainer, Town Administrator of Portsmouth, to serve on the Information Technology Working Group (ITWG) January 2019. In March of 2021, Ted was elected Vice Chair of the Portsmouth Economic Development Committee (PEDC), and was named chair of the Broadband Study Subcommittee.

Andre Gonzalez

A native of Florida, after earning a BS in Computer Engineering from Florida International University, worked designing and deploying a fiber-based municipal WAN for the City of Coral Gables, FL which tapped into a large datacenter in the Port of Miami. Since 2010, Andre has worked at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport, RI; initial role was running and designing a System Safety Program Plan (SSPP) as the Principal for Safety. Other prior tasking included network engineer for submarine networks and fleet support as part of an advanced networking architecture team. In 2020, Andre was named the lead engineer as Technical Decision Authority (TDA) for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), leading a team of 7 people with a program budget of over 10 million dollars a year, while completing a series of rigorous cybersecurity courses at SANS Institute, specializing in network pen testing, WiFi pen testing, and general network security. Andre served in the Civil Air Patrol (U.S. Air Force Auxiliary), is a Master Scuba Diver, and is fluent in Spanish.

Robert Dennison

A native of Pennsylvania, Rob joined the United States Navy in 2000. Rob earned an AAS in Computer Science and Networking Technologies while serving the submarine fleet coast-to-coast as a Fire Control Technician (FT). In 2011, Rob made a seamless transition to full-time support of the Technical Direction Authority (TDA) of the Submarine LAN (SubLAN) project at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, RI; where his tasking focused on servicing and deploying networks on submarines, schoolhouses, and trainers throughout the US Navy enterprise.  Currently serving as the submarine Subject Matter Expert (SME) to the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR), Rob has expanded his breadth of experience to include hardware and software implementation, cybersecurity, and deploying medium to large node networks. In his spare time Rob has managed multiple real estate projects and is active on Aquidneck Island. Rob has experience in management and oversight of the financial executions against approved plans, objectives, schedules, resource expenditures, when deploying fiber networks and managing real estate ventures.

Raphael Kopecky

A native of Upstate New York, Raph is an alumni of the School of Information Studies (iSchool 2011) @ Syracuse University. Raph graduated with an MS in Information Systems along with a certificate of advanced study in Cyber Security. In 2014, Raph moved to Newport, RI to work for Lockheed Martin (Leidos) supporting submarine networks.  Outside the world of IT, Raph's passions lie in backcountry skiing and during the summer months he can be found hitting flawless drives on the golf course.  

Marcelo Gomes

A native of Brazil, Marcelo is known for enthusiasm, passion, and attention to detail, the hallmarks of his natural teaching ability.  A former sectionally ranked junior in Florida, and a scholarship tennis athlete at the University Of North Alabama, Marcelo has worked at the Hall of Fame Tennis Club, Newport, RI, since 2016; he is the Senior Tennis Professional and Junior Coordinator and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.

NOTE:  The above is an abridged version of the Aquidneck Light introductory post on Facebook 18 Jan 2020.