Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Advisory Committee

Andrew McCandless is a proven business leader with extensive experience with both start-ups and large companies. His experience includes business development, product development, engineering, and operations. Mr. McCandless is the Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Bascom Hunter.  Headquartered in Baton Rouge, Bascom Hunter supplies aerospace and defense products of the highest performance, engineered for resilience while meeting extreme requirements. Bascom Hunter has two distinct divisions: one supplying environmental control systems and components through Xcelaero brand, and advanced defense electronics through BH Tech brand. The company was founded in 2010 and has grown rapidly since its start.

Mr. McCandless is also the Co-Founder and Chairman of SBIR Consortium a trade organization standing for and supporting SBIR companies. He has previously served as a commissioner and Chairman of the Baton Rouge Airport Commission. Prior to Bascom Hunter, Mr. McCandless was Director of Business Develop at a US division of Airbus and the President and Co-Founder of Mezzo Technologies, which successfully used the SBIR program to develop multiple commercial products.

He received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana State University. 

Dr. Ramón Barquin III is a highly reputed Senior Executive, Civic Leader, and Entrepreneur with more than 30 years of success spanning both the public and private sectors. Leveraging extensive experience in global leadership and civic advocacy, Barquin is a serial entrepreneur that founded and managed several IT, technology, and management consulting companies and has direct experience in all business cycles, including initial growth, capitalizing, and managing start-ups and multimillion-dollar enterprises. His broad areas of expertise include foreign markets, turnaround, M&A, government contracting, public affairs, sales and marketing, finance, information systems and technology, executive coaching, retail, arbitration, supply chain, and global expansion.

Barquin is President at Barquin International Corporation, working extensively with the US Federal Government, as well as managing major businesses, publications, and organizations around the world. He currently serves as the Chairman of Atlantic University; Chairman of Bluetide Puerto Rico; President of National Student Parent Mock Election, the largest civic education program in the US; Chairman of Instituto de Formacion Democratica; and President-Elect of Centro Unido de Detallistas de Puerto Rico, the territory’s oldest and largest chamber of commerce. Barquin is the former editor of Mercados & Tendencias, ComputerWorld and PC World in Spanish magazines. He was President of the Puerto Rico Institute for Public Policy, the territory’s first think tank, and advised state and local government leaders. He was President of the National Association of State Latino Chambers of Commerce.

Barquin holds a dual Ph.D. in Management and Organizational Leadership with Specialization in Information Systems & Technology, an MBA in Global Management, and a BS in Politics, Economics, and BA in Latin American Studies from Brandeis University, as well as numerous professional certifications and licenses. A true industry thought leader, he has published over 200 articles on IT, economics, politics, and business, and received numerous awards over the years.

Mr. Carroll was the founder of Innovative Defense Technologies, LLC (IDT.  IDT provides innovative automated testing, analysis, and cyber defense of commercial aircraft, complex infrastructure, and defense software systems.

Under the Navy’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and affirmed by the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) in 2013, IDT demonstrated Automated Testing of Complex Weapon System Software which had proven to dramatically reduce the time, cost, and quality for adding new capabilities to the Navy’s Fleet of Surface, Subsurface and Air Assets. This game changing technology was recognized as an “unprecedented success for an SBIR Technology” by the Under Secretary of Defense in January 2016 showing an 85% efficiency improvement over current methods. Subsequently, IDT has been selected to provide ATRT inn several defense markets and the commercial aerospace market.

Prior to IDT, Mr. Carroll founded Digital System Resources, Inc. DSR was a system integration and software company specializing in technology critical to national security.  DSR became one of the top 100 largest prime Department of Defense contractors for Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation.  DSR introduced a new software model to Navy Combat Systems which grew to become a central element of the Navy’s Open Architecture Initiative. For just the submarine sonar information processing application, this initiative is credited with saving the Navy approximately $4.5B between 2000-2010. In addition, DSR provided information processing for electronic warfare, combat control, and computer-based training and simulation. In 2003, DSR was acquired by General Dynamics Corporation.

Mr. Carroll was a co-founder and Chairman of the Small Business Technology Council (SBTC), the high-tech arm of the National Small Business Association.
Mr. Carroll was a co-founder of Commonwealth Academy. Commonwealth Academy is a school for high school students with learning differences in Alexandria Virginia.