The GBS Group - The GBS Group - Consulting & Technical Services

Bob founded The GBS Group in November 2005 and serves as Chairman/CEO. His experience includes eight years of executive and leadership experience in the defense and engineering industry. Previous to that experience, Bob spent 15 years in Defense Department field engineering and engineering management positions within the NAVSEA community.

Bob has a diverse background in field service and reliability engineering, engineering and project management, business administration, mergers and acquisitions, finance and accounting, and business formations. He has extensive knowledge of reliability engineering and field service engineering best practices; government contracts management, Federal Acquisition Regulations, financial administration and business finance, etc. Bob has served as propulsion systems field service engineer, vibration analysis & machinery alignment engineer, and eventually Head of Propulsion and Electrical Machinery at NAVSEACENLANT in Norfolk, VA. At SAIC/AMSEC of Virginia Beach, VA, Bob held the positions of CIO, CFO, and COO. He founded Advanced Internet Marketing, Inc., a start-up Internet services firm in 1996, which now does business as The GBS Group.

Bob holds an MBA from the College of William and Mary and a BS in Marine Engineering from the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point NY. He is a member of the National Passenger Rail Association, the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO), and the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO).

Sarah has 20 years of engineering experience in computer/software engineering and expert systems development, computer assurance services and consulting, website and E-Commerce website development, custom programming, and Internet marketing.  She oversees all administrative and financial functions for The GBS Group and is the principal shareholder and a member of the company's Board of Directors.  Sarah is also former CEO and owner of Advanced Internet Marketing, Inc., a website design and marketing company.  Previously, she held technical positions within the Defense Department and Deloitte & Touche, LLC.

Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from Old Dominion University, graduating Magna Cum Laude.

George brings over 20 years of field engineering and engineering services management experience in the defense and transportation industries. He is a recognized expert in propulsion and mechanical power systems on ships and locomotives. He has an outstanding track record utilizing root cause analysis tools to solve extremely difficult problems for commercial clients and government agencies. George solves problems at the machinery and never tires while working with client personnel until problems are understood and practical solutions are developed and implemented.

Prior to joining The GBS Group in late 2005, George was with Wärtsilä Lipps, Inc., AMSEC LLC., Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Naval Sea Support Center, Atlantic, and John Crane Marine, Inc. He gained his BS in Marine Engineering Systems from the United States Merchant Marine Academy and completed the executive development program at the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University. He is a member of the American Society of Naval Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Passenger Transportation Association, and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.

In addition to his work with the high-speed rail, George works with clients across the marine, naval, and transportation industries. He serves as President of his son’s Chesapeake, VA Great Bridge Crew team and lives in Chesapeake with his wife Karen and two sons.

Brian has over 20 years of experience supporting Navy In-Service Engineering (ISE) Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) and Life Cycle Engineering Management (LCEM) issues. At The GBS Group, he leads the Environmental Planning Program Support, Environmental Acquisition Program Support, Warfare Center Support, Pollution Prevent (P2) Program Support, and Administrative Support for NAVSEA 04RE SeaPort-e prime contract. Brian is leading teams on the LCU and LSV Army Watercraft Service Life Extension Programs working to extend the life of army watercraft. Even before joining GBS, Brian supported NAVSEA Headquarters, Naval Surface Warfare Centers, and other Navy and Department of Defense commands in the environmental policy arena. He has also supported the development of the environmental protection chapter of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) Naval Vessel Rules (NVR) and the complimentary NAVSEA Design Supplement (NDS). Brian also advised the CVN-78 NAVSEA Program Office by assisting in the development of the CVN-78 Hazardous Material Minimization Complex (HAZMIN Complex) Design Analysis.

Brian, has reviewed, analyzed, and provided recommended changes to various Navy policy instructions including; OPNAVINST 5090.1 and OPNAVINST 5100.19 He has also reviewed Hazardous Materials Management Program (HMMP) Plans for the DDG 1000 and LCS programs, managed tasking support shipboard sampling and working groups for the Uniform National Discharge Standards (UNDS) legislative development, and evaluated the impact of Navy discharges in the marine environment against existing regulations (e.g., Marine Mammal Protection Act, Coral Reef Act, Endangered Species Act).

Brian earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware and an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Drexel University. He is a member of the American Society of Naval Engineers.

Tim brings over 10 years of engineering experience with Department of Defense engineering and expertise in controls and automation. Tim joined The GBS Group in 2010, supporting the Machinery Controls branch of Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division (NSWCCD).designing various improvements as well as baseline controls systems for the LPD 17 class of U. S. Navy ships. In 2011, Tim began working for Ideal Technical as a contractor for the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) reviewing control systems and electrical systems for a variety of Maritime clients. Tim began his career with Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, designing critical electrical and controls systems for U. S. Navy ships. In 2005, Tim worked for Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems as a system engineer, analyzing and identifying risks for various military contracts. This role provided Tim significant experience in a program management role. Tim also worked with Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems division as the company's lead on-site engineer for the Engineering Control System onboard the LPD class of Navy ships.

Tim earned his B. S. degree in Electrical Engineering with a concentration in control theory from the University of South Alabama in 2001. Tim has also completed the Experiential Systems Engineering Program from UCLA in 2006. He is also currently completing his M. S. degree in Systems engineering degree from the University of Alabama, Huntsville.

As Vice President of Business Development at The GBS Group, Lang focuses on cultivating business and extending services to clients in the rail transportation and defense industries. Before coming to The GBS Group, Lang founded Trinity Solutions, LLC, a Virginia Beach-based company helping growing technology companies meet business and marketing goals.

Lang has extensive experience developing and restructuring programs to better support and capture business opportunities, improve performance, increase profit and deliver quality customer service. Her experience includes managing both federal and non-federal programs, developing customer relationships to include project management; system analysis and design; risk and cost management; research and development; quality assurance; system implementation and integration; user training, and strategic planning. She also has experience in developing marketing/sales materials.

In addition to working with The GBS Group, Lang is an active member and past chair of Technology Hampton Roads and participates as a volunteer and judge with the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Program and the church. She received her B.S.in Psychology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).

Connie has over ten years' experience in contract administration, finance and accounting for government contracts. She has also had experience in managing cost plus fixed fee, time and material, and firm fixed price contracts. At The GBS Group, Connie is responsible for contracts administration and management, including compliance, budget adherence, FAR regulations, team member and subcontractor agreements and terms, and company finances and budgets. She also develops cost proposals in support of technical proposals.

Before joining GBS, she worked at both WRSystems, Ltd as a Contracts Administrator and AMSEC LLC as Senior Contracts Administrator. As a Senior Contracts Administrator at AMSEC, Connie was responsible for monitoring and ensuring contractual compliance for contracts assigned which included multi-million dollar IDIQ CPFF contracts, T&M and FPP type contracts. She also reviewed contracts for FAR clauses, issues and other requirements, oversaw option exercises, funding, deliverable coordination, key personnel, LOE requirement and Wage Determination compliance. Finally she was responsible for responding to RFPs and prepared estimates as required, negotiated subcontract agreements and contract terms and conditions, and reviewed revenue data, and identified potential financial problems. She earned her B.A. from the University of Toledo in Business Administration.

Mike is the Connectivity and Solutions Architect for GBS Connected, a division of The GBS Group.  He provides integration services for the digital life to residential and commercial customers.  His areas of work extend from homes and office buildings to trains and yachts. Prior to joining GBS, Mike worked at Audio Connection in Virginia Beach, providing integration services for computers and handheld devices (iPod, iPads, Androids, etc.), home networks, distributed audio, video, and much more. Mike earned his Associate Degree in Electronic Communication from the U.S. Army and has been in the consumer electronics industry for more than 20 years.