Management Team

Fred Yentz, President & CEO

Fred Yentz joined ILS Technology as senior vice president and chief operating officer in January 2007, bringing with him more than 20 years industry experience in the technology solution market.

Prior to ILS Technology, Fred Yentz served as Vice President and General Manager of RadiSys Corporation, a leading provider of embedded solutions for the telecommunications, enterprise data, medical equipment and the industrial automation marketplaces. While at RadiSys Corporation, Fred served in many capacities including the oversight of World Wide Sales, Marketing, Professional Service, Business Development in addition to General Manager of Enterprise, Communication and Commercial operating divisions.

Fred also worked for IBM where he held various positions with responsibility for Engineering, New Business Development and Management. Mr. Yentz is named as an inventor on two U.S. patents and has received IBM’s First Level Plateau Invention Achievement Award.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), National Science and Technology Education Program (NSTEP), and is chairman of the Industry Advisory Board for Florida Atlantic University's College of Engineering.

Mr. Yentz holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Michigan Technological University (1988), a Master of Business Administration (1996) from the University of Miami, and a Master of Science in Computer Information Systems (1997) from the University of Miami.

John Keever, Executive Vice President & CTO

John Keever founded ILS Technology and began serving as executive vice president and chief technology officer in October 2000, bringing with him more than 24 years of experience in automation software engineering and design. Mr. Keever came to ILS Technology from IBM Corporation where he was IBM global services principle responsible for e-Production solutions architectures and deployment. Mr. Keever enjoyed over 18 years of plant floor automation experience with IBM, and is the former world-wide development and support manager for Automation Connection, Distributed Applications Environment, PlantWorks and Data Collection hardware and software products. His prior experience within IBM includes lead marketing and solutions architecture responsibilities for General Motors, BMW, Chrysler, Tokyo Electron, Glaxo-Wellcome, and numerous other global manufacturing companies. Keever has been awarded both hardware patents and software copyrights.

Mr. Keever holds a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University, a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering with minors in both Electrical Engineering and Mathematics from North Carolina State University and has completed postgraduate work in Computer Engineering and Operating Systems design at Duke University.

Lawrence Latham, Chief Customer Officer

Mr. Latham started his career in the military and attended the US Army Communications School in FT Gordon, GA where he was trained in Communications Security (COMSEC). Fields of study included advanced encryption, TEMPEST, and digital technologies. After honorably completing his military service, Mr. Latham attended the University of North Texas majoring in Business and Finance. After college, Mr. Latham became Operations Director for Business Records Corporation, a publicly-held conglomerate, which provided technology and services to government. Mr. Latham has served as CEO of several successful technology companies, including Aera, a market leading Semiconductor Equipment Component Manufacturer. Mr. Latham has a proven track record of technology commercialization including founding several successful technology companies including Uptime Devices, a network appliance company and Stealth Networks, a secure, high-performance network technology company. He holds a patent for a nano-technology gate array and has developed several successful digital media properties.

Advisory Board

Joe Cestari, Advisor

Joe Cestari joined ILS Technology as president and chief executive officer in January 2004, bringing with him more than 20 years of semiconductor industry experience, including device design, process and equipment engineering, advanced technology development, and supply chain management. Prior to joining ILS Technology, Cestari was senior vice president and general manager of Kinetic Systems, a provider of capital equipment and critical process infrastructure solutions for semiconductor and other regulated industries. Prior to this role, Cestari was president of a joint venture between Kinetics Electronics and Air Products and Chemicals and has also held senior management positions with Applied Materials, Tylan General, and Advanced Micro Devices.

Mr. Cestari earned a Bachelor's of science degree in computer engineering from Baylor University and also holds graduate degrees in international business and technology management.