Founded in 2002, Q-Track Corporation commercialized the unique Near Field Electromagnetic Ranging (NFER®) technology for Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS).
In 2019, Geeks and Nerds (GaN) Corporation acquired Q-Track’s NFER® technology. Key Q-Track personnel, including NFER® co-inventors, Dr. Hans G. Schantz and Bob DePierre joined GaN, and GaN transferred Q-Track’s laboratory and manufacturing capabilities to GaN’s own facility.
Since its inception, GaN has been known as an innovative solution provider, challenging tough technical and programmatic problems in the areas of weapons testing, cybersecurity, high performance computing, space exploration, automation, software integration, and modeling and simulation.
GaN is now the sole provider of this unique approach to indoor location. Our products are unparalleled in providing high accuracy at a fraction of competitor costs in the most complex environments. Our commitment is to provide end-to-end solutions that reduce cost and enhance performance with measurable return on investment. Many of GaN’s customers are Fortune 500 companies that specialize in manufacturing, logistics, energy production, and defense.
LEFT TO RIGHT: SCOTT FAULKNER, DR. HANS SCHANTZ, DR. JONN KIM, STEPHEN WERNER, JERRY GABIG
The GaN/Q-Track Team
Dr. Jonn Kim is the CEO for GaN. He founded the company in 2004. Dr. Kim has been honored as the 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year by The Catalyst Center for Business and Entrepreneurship; the 2014 winner of the Russell G. Brown Executive Leadership Award from the Huntsville/Madison Chamber of Commerce; and the Business Fellows Award Winner in 2014 from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Dr. Kim received his BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from UAH, and his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Vanderbilt University.
Dr. Hans Schantz is Principal Scientist for GaN. Schantz is a co-inventor of NFER® technology. He was CTO and a co-founder of Q-Track Corporation. With twenty-five years of experience in applied electromagnetics, he is a co-inventor of NFER® technology and over forty other U.S. patents. His many inventions include antennas, RF systems, and RF-based location systems including some of the first commercial UWB antennas. Schantz earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Texas at Austin. He also holds degrees in both Industrial Engineering and Physics from Purdue University.
Bob DePierre is a Senior Electrical Engineer for GaN. He was a co-founder of Q-Track, and served as Q-Track’s Vice President of Engineering. A Vietnam air combat veteran (AC-130 & B-52) and retired Air Force officer, DePierre spent 7 years working with the joint Air Force/Navy Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation system where he simulated and analyzed aircraft tracking performance including Kalman Filter design and design of hardware upgrades. DePierre is an inventor on three US patents and was a co-inventor of NFER® technology. DePierre has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, an M.B.A. from Michigan Tech University, and an M.S.E.E. from the University of Florida.
Learn More
Q-Track’s innovative indoor location solutions have featured prominently in trade press and elsewhere. Here are some outside links if you’d like to learn what others have to say about us:
- “Geeks and Nerds Acquire Q-Track“, January 17, 2019.
- “RFID Journal Announces Winners of its Eighth Annual Awards” [Q-Track wins for “Coolest Demo”], RFID Journal, April 10, 2014.
- “Urban Warfighters Train With RTLS,” RFID Journal, January 14, 2014.
- “Q-Track Corporation Wins $1.7 million contract award from Lockheed Martin,” Huntsville Times, December 26, 2013.
- “New Indoor Navigation Technologies Work Where GPS Can’t,” IEEE Spectrum, November 20, 2013
- “Huntsville-based Q-Track working on safety for elderly” The Huntsville Times, September 6, 2012.
- “RFID Helps Halt Collisions Between People and Robots,” RFID Journal, May 25, 2012.
- “When rescuers need rescuing,” Boston Globe, August 30, 2010.
- “Q-Track’s tracking system prototype successful in exercise,” The Huntsville Times, August 10, 2010.
- “Rocket town: Huntsville, Alabama,” CNNMoney, October 14, 2009.
- “Nuclear Plant Operator Uses RFID to Promote Safety,” RFID Journal, May 18, 2009.
Contact GaN
Geeks and Nerds Corporation
11247 S. Memorial Parkway
Huntsville, AL 35803
Phone: (256) 489-2471
Email:
Social Media: YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+
For fastest response, click here to contact us.