KoolConnect Appoints Chet Smith as CTO
NEEDHAM MA, AUGUST 23, 2006. KoolConnect Technologies Inc., the hospitality industry's leading provider of advanced media on demand and high-definition in-room entertainment systems to luxury and upscale hotels worldwide, today announced that Chet Smith has been appointed as the company's new Chief Technical Officer (CTO). Mr. Smith joins KoolConnect from Bose Corporation, where he served as the company's Director of Software Engineering and was responsible for software development in their Home Entertainment Division, where during his tenure Bose created a number of award-winning solutions & products.
At KoolConnect, Mr. Smith will oversee all operational efforts of the technology department including systems integration, network engineering and system feature enhancements for both the Imagine TM and Intrigue TM solutions. Mr. Smith will also guide the company's long- term strategy related to product development and deployment.
Dave Tahan, Chief Operating Officer of KoolConnect commented," Over the last several years, KoolConnect has set the benchmarks in in-room entertainment with innovations such as the world's first HD solution. However, in technology, competitive advantage is short-lived and a company needs to continually innovate to maintain that competitive advantage. One of the keys to innovation in any business is finding the right people that will help set the vision and continue to move the company forward. We believe we have found that person in Chet Smith. Chet brings an unparalleled background to this industry and this key addition to our executive team further solidifies KoolConnect as the unquestioned technology leader in the hospitality entertainment marketplace. We look forward to him helping us to continue to enhance the entertainment experience for travelers both domestically and abroad."
With over twenty-five years of experience in software development including more than 15 years in senior management, Chet has also held executive level positions at Nortel and various technology start-up companies, where he developed diverse products including iris recognition solutions, DVD player reference designs and VOD servers.
An honors graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology, Mr. Smith holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science, is an active member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and won the Outstanding Scholar Award in 1981.
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