About us

Learn how we help OEMs improve reliability, increase performance and reduce costs.

Sensatek Propulsion Technology develops and manufactures wireless, high-temperature, gas turbine sensors to measure heat transfer data for customers in several industries including Energy, Aviation, and Aerospace.

We’re funded by the National Science Foundation, and our blade tip sensors have been tested and verified by OEMs around the world.

The industries we serve

Oil & Gas
Power Generation
Petrochemical
Glass Making
Aerospace
Aviation

Company Milestones

June 2022
Paid demonstration on T56 Helicopter Engine for Air Force.
May 2022
Paid demonstration with GE on new engine concept.
April 2022
Kicked off paid developmental partnership with Raytheon Pratt & Whitney.
April 2022
Begun paid pilot demonstration with Rolls Royce Aircraft Engines.
March 2022
PenFed Veterans Entrepreneurship Investment Program Selection.
February 2022
Selected by NextEra and Florida Power and Light for 35 Mules Business Accelerator.
July 2021
Expanded from 4 employees to 11 employees.
April 2021
Conducted two pilot demonstrations on very large gas turbine engines connected to the grid with very large utility customers for a Fortune 100 leading engine manufacturer.
March 2021
Received $1M in additional awards from the federal SBIR program to continue research and development for passive radio frequency technology in other applications.
September 2020
Landed a U.S. Air Force contract to deliver two on-blade systems for $550K.
March 2020
Hired Chief Technology Officer, Joshua McConkey, who was recruited out of Siemens Energy gas turbine hot gas path instrumentation group.
February 2020
Hired Chief Engineer, Dr. Taofeek Orekan, PhD in Electrical Engineering.
September 2019
Completed Series Seed Round of $2M.
June 2019
NASA STTR Phase 1 Award.
May 2019
Successful Pilot Test with OEM customer.
March 2019
National Science Foundation SBIR Phase 2 for $743K.
December 2018
Filed non-provisional patent app.
October 2018
Engine rig demonstration of temperature sensor technology.
September 2018
Demonstrated proof of concept tech with an engine manufacturing customer.
June 2018
Completed VentureWell ETEAM Stage 1, Stage 2 and Aspire.
January 2018
National Science Foundation STTR Phase 1 and hired 2 FT employees.
January 2018
Filed provisional patent application on new technology developments.
December 2017
Completed Starter Studio Seed Fund accelerator.
April 2016
1st Place Winner of Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Megawatt Ventures Regional Competition.
January 2016
Licensed technology and related patent applications.
November 2015
Company founded.

Meet the Sensatek team

With extensive experience in propulsion technology, the driven team behind our groundbreaking rf sensor systems is committed to innovation.

CEO
Reamonn
Soto
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CEO | |

Reamonn is a Marine Corps Veteran and holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Florida A & M University and Masters of Science in Aeronautics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He received hands-on training in scientific research in the field of astrophysics and condensed matter physics at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and Center for Plasma Science and Technology (CePAST). He is also an active member of the Propulsion Instrumentation Working Group (PIWG), IEEE Sensors Council, Antennas and Propagation Society. Prior to founding Sensatek, he was a Certified Business Consultant with the Florida SBDC, assisting over 200 clients in creating 68 new businesses, that raised over $9.6 million in capital, and generated more than $79 million in sales. Also, he served as a business consultant with the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship at Florida State University helping to assist over 120 CEOs on business model development through the Small Business Executive Program.

Reamonn received numerous awards that include:

  • 1st Place Florida Venture Forum Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Pitch Competition
  • 1st Place Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Launch Your Venture Competition
  • 2nd Place Leon County Research Development Authority Tech Grant Competition
  • 2nd Place Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University 2015 Research Award
  • 2017 Black Enterprise Tech Connect Pitch Competition Top 3.
CTO
Joshua
McConkey
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CTO

Joshua holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Central Florida. Previously served as a turbine instrumentation research group lead at Siemens Energy and served as lead instrumentation engineer for Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery at United Space Alliance. He is focused on measurement inside turbines and other rotating equipment. Seven Patents granted and 21 pending in wireless instrumentation, material science, acoustic monitoring, ultra-high temperature electronics, turbine mass flow, novel turbine blade temperature measurement techniques, 600 °C wireless power transfer, turbine axial shift measurements, heat flux management via nano-engineering, volumetric 3D printing via sound waves, energy harvesting sensor networks, and high temperature laser vibrometry. Authored multiple sets of business plans for commercializing technologies. Shepherded many novel inventions from concept to development to refinement to customer-facing release. Expert knowledge of current needs of rotating equipment community, with deep knowledge of demands for end-point functionalities in highly competitive environments.

Co-Founder, COO
Azryana
Soto
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Co-Founder, COO |

Azryana earned a BSc in Molecular Biology and completed the Technology Commercialization Acceleration Program (Fall 2016). She led the National Science Foundation I-Corps Program effort and achieved 1st place in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Megawatt Ventures Business Pitch Competition.

Materials Scientist
Dr. Swadipta
Roy
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Materials Scientist

Dr. Swadipta Roy received his PhD in Materials Science from the University of Texas at El Paso, and authored 3 research journal publications. His publications include:

• Swadipta Roy, Mallesham Bandi, Vishal B Zade, Abraham Martinez, Vaithiyalingam Shutthanandan, Suntharampillai Thevuthasan, and Chintalapalle V Ramana, “Correlation between Structure, Chemistry and Dielectric Properties of Iron Doped Gallium Oxide (Ga2-xFexO3)”, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 122 (48), 27597-27607; https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b07921

• Swadipta Roy and C. V. Ramana, “Effect of thermochemical synthetic conditions on the structure and dielectric properties of Ga1.9Fe0.1O3 compounds”, ACS Inorganic Chemistry Inorg. Chem., 2018, 57 (3), 1029–1039; https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.7b02363

• Swadipta Roy, Dibyendu Naha, Manojit Ghosh, “Influence of HVOF process parameters of WC-Co-Cr coating on mild steel substrate”, eProceedings of 17th Asian Pacific Corrosion Control Conference (APCCC 17), Eds. V. Kain, V.S. Raja & S. Roychowdhury, held during 27-30, January 2016, IIT Bombay, Mumbai, India, published by IIT Bombay (2016)

Electrical Engineer
Dr. Sreekala
Papali
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Electrical Engineer

Dr Sreekala Papali is an Electrical Engineer at Sensatek. She graduated with a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Central Florida.

Her publications include:

1. Feasibility of Using Near Field Focused Antenna Array for Non-invasive Breast Cancer Hyperthermia Treatment, S. Suseela and P. Wahid, International Journal of Antennas and Propagation, 2020. (Under Revision) 

2. Breast cancer hyperthermia using a grid array applicator, S. Suseela and P. Wahid, IEEE SoutheastCon Raleigh, NC, 2020. 

3. Compact wearable bent slot antenna with compact EBG for wearable applications, S. Suseela and P. Wahid, 2018 IEEE Indian Conference on Antennas and Propagation (InCAP), Hyderabad, India, 2018. 

4. A compact microstrip applicator for localized hyperthermia, S. Suseela and P. Wahid, 2018 International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation (APSYM), Cochin, 2018. 

5. A Parametric Study on Performance Improvement of a Tapered Slot Antenna, F. Parveen, S. Suseela and P. Wahid, 2018 IEEE Indian Conference on Antennas and Propagation (InCAP), Hyderabad, India, 2018. 

6. Non-Invasive Monitoring of Blood Glucose Using Saliva as a Diagnostic Fluid, S. Suseela and P. Wahid, IEEE SoutheastCon St. Petersburg, FL, 2018 

7. Use of magnetic nanoparticles in microwave ablation, S. Suseela, M. Urdaneta and P. Wahid, IEEE 16th Annual Wireless and Microwave Technology Conference (WAMICON), Cocoa Beach, FL, 2015. 

8. A catheter antenna for cardiac ablation, S. Suseela, P. Wahid and P. Mohanan, 2013 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium (APSURSI), Orlando, FL, 2013. 

9. Low cost chipless tag with multi-bit encoding technique, C. M. Nijas, S. Suseela, U. Deepak, P. Wahid and P. Mohanan, IEEE MTT-S International Microwave and RF Conference, New Delhi, 2013. 

Chief Engineer
Dr. Taofeek
Orekan
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Chief Engineer

Dr. Orekan served as a U.S. Navy STEM Fellow and received his Doctor of Philosophy and Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering at University of Connecticut. He is the author of six research journal publications, and is a contributor to a published textbook, Wireless Power Transfer. His expertise includes RF sensor/antenna design, and wireless power & data transfer. He is a member of IEEE Power and Energy Society.

Research Publications include:

  • Lingyu Ren, Yanyuan Qin, Yan Li, Peng Zhang, Bing Wang, Peter B. Luh, Song Han T. Orekan, and Tao Gong. “Enabling resilient distributed power sharing in networked microgrids through software de ned networking,” Applied Energy, UNiLAB Special Issue on “Distributed Energy & Microgrid”, vol. 210, no. 15, pp. 1251-1265, January 2018
  • T. Orekan, P. Zhang and Cyuansi Shih. “Analysis, Design and Maximum Power Efficiency Tracking of Underwater Wireless Power Transfer”, IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 843-854, Aug. 4th, 2017.
  • J. Zhang, X. Xiao, P. Zhang, J. Lu and T. Orekan. “Subsynchronous Control Interaction Analysis and a Trigger-Based Active Damping Control for DFIG-Based Wind Turbines,” Electric Power Components & Systems 44(7), pp. 713-725, Mar. 2016.
  • T. Orekan, Z. Zhao, P. Zhang, J. Zhang, S. Zhou, and J.-H. Cui. “Maximum life cycle tracking for tidal energy generation system”, Electric Power Components & Systems 43(8-
    10): Special Issue on Renewable Energy Devices and Systems, pp. 1182-1192, May 2015.
Mechatronics Engineer
Reynaldo
Perez
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Mechatronics Engineer

Reynaldo Perez graduated with his B.S. Degree in Mechatronics Engineering at the Seminole State College.

Business Development Manager
Aymbriana
Pollard
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Business Development Manager | |

Aymbriana Pollard is the business development manager and is a Project Management Professional (PMP) having earned a Bachelors of Science in International Agriculture and Business at Florida A & M University, and a Masters of Science in Agricultural Economics from the University of Arkansas.

Board Member
Jason
Whaley
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Board Member

Sensatek Board Member, experienced entrepreneur, investor and start-up CEO in “hard tech” businesses. He is currently a general partner at Rhapsody Venture Partners, where he identifies investment opportunities in early stage physical sciences companies, work with entrepreneurs to develop long-term customer-partner relationships, and place capital to fund early stage operations.

Prior to RVP, he was the CEO and co-founder of Manus Biosynthesis, an industrial biotechnology company based in Cambridge, MA. At Manus, he secured over $25M in corporate partnerships to develop sustainable production methods for natural products. He also have deep experience in strategy consulting, first as an engagement manager at Monitor Group, and then as a partner at Fitzgerald Analytics, where he initiated and managed client relationships worth over $1M annually.

Experience with: Business development in complex B2B environments, with novel technologies. New company formation. Raising capital for seed stage companies, especially IP-driven hard-technology companies. Evaluating and structuring equity investments. Due diligence. R&D management. IP portfolio strategy. Financial management. Team formation, recruiting and growth. Back office process design and optimization. Chemicals, flavors, fragrances, food ingredients, agricultural supply chains, industrial biotechnology.

Board Member
Jim
Zucco
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Board Member

Jim is a Board Member of Sensatek. Jim is a successful senior executive in the software and communications industries, with expertise in technology-enabled business and consumer platform businesses.

Jim’s executive experience includes Senior Vice President and CIO of the MCI Corporation, where he led product development and systems engineering. At AT&T, he served as VP and General Manager of the Business Communications Group and led the launch of their Internet business activities, including AT&T’s first IP network and WorldNet, their ISP. At Lucent Technologies, he served as Vice President and General Manager of the North American carrier business unit. As CEO of Shiva Corporation, Jim executed a turnaround strategy that returned profitability within 18 months and, under his leadership, concluded a successful sale of Shiva to Intel Corporation.

Jim was a General Partner with Blue Rock Capital and an Executive-in-Residence at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers. He has served as an independent board member on several public companies. He was a founder, Board member and CEO of Corente, a cloud-based service delivery platform, until its sale to Oracle.

Jim received his BA from Western Maryland College and his M.B.A. from Loyola College. He loves his family, his chocolate lab, mountain biking, and searching for patterns in everything.

Advisory Board Member
Dave
Walsh
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Advisory Board Member

Dave Walsh was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas, Inc. (MHPSA) on April 1, 2014 and served through 2016, with responsibility for the Western Hemisphere electric power generation business of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Hitachi Ltd. of Japan. Mr. Walsh was the first non-Japanese corporate officer of MHPSA’s parent company, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd., in Japan. He was also the first American Board member of the America’s company, MHPSA. Mr. Walsh retired from Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems in 2016, now serving as an advisor to various clients in the energy industry.

Prior to his appointment as President & CEO at MHPSA, Mr. Walsh had been Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Projects and Services. Mr. Walsh joined the company in 2001, and initially established the service and manufacturing business for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in the Western Hemisphere.

Previously, Mr. Walsh had been a senior executive at Westinghouse Electric Corporation in both power generation and industrial service roles as General Manager and Chairman of the Westinghouse global industrial and power generation service subsidiaries, with primary operations located in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Poland, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, Thailand and Australia. He later became the senior executive and Vice Chairman responsible for the Westinghouse Electric power joint ventures in China, in partnership with the Shanghai Municipal Government and with the Chinese Ministry of Electric Power.

Mr. Walsh received his BS Commerce degree from The University of Virginia, and did Graduate Study in Finance at The University of Pittsburgh and at Northwestern University.

Mr. Walsh was an Enterprise Florida Board Member, and has previously been a Board Member of the Seminole County Foundation for Public Education, and served on the Seminole State College of Florida Foundation Board. Mr. Walsh has also been appointed Honorary Consul Japan, Orlando, by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2016, Governor Scott appointed Mr. Walsh to the University of Central Florida Board of Trustees with a term ending January 6, 2021.

 

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