Antonio Mugica

Chief Executive Officer

Antonio Mugica is the founder and CEO of the Smartmatic Group. Since the year 2000, he has defined the corporation’s vision and its goals. Mugica believes in a hands-on approach to management, and accordingly he actively participates in the strategic planning of all areas and departments. He is responsible for Smartmatic’s growth and international recognition as a leading supplier of technology and services related to Elections, ID Management, and Smart Cities. Mugica envisioned many of the technological solutions and breakthroughs which Smartmatic has made over time. As of 2009, he held 6 issued and 6 pending patents in the United States, with more under way. He has an Engineering Degree in Electronics from the Simon Bolivar University in Caracas (Venezuela).

One of Antonio Mugica’s strengths has been the ability to balance being both a leader and a team player. When he founded Smartmatic, Mugica wanted to create the kind of technology that could help improve societies around the world. The Elections Solution was created to eliminate voting fraud and solidify democracy. The ID Management Solution was designed to help governments provide their citizens with secure and agile identification means. The Public Safety Solution aims at solving crime prevention issues and at improving the response times of safety agencies. The Public Transport Solution uses various technologies to improve the quality of life of the people who use public transit services, and fulfilling crucial commitments of environment sustainability.

Antonio Mugica is always seeking ways to complement his work with other interests, such as music and writing. He enjoys playing and composing music and he wrote a children’s book that was recently awarded with the prestigious Moonbeam Children's Book Gold Medal in the Spanish Language category.

Armando Yañes

Chief Financial Officer

Armando Yañes oversees the business development of the company worldwide. In his role as CFO, his task is to design and implement financial strategies for the global expansion of the Smartmatic Group.

As a leader, Mr. Yañes has proven to be an important asset for the company and its subsidiaries. He has built a first-class finance team that is fast advancing to achieve current corporate goals. He is in charge of financial functions, treasury, mergers & acquisitions, as well as strategic planning.

Yañes has been in charge of establishing Smartmatic’s subsidiaries in new markets, such as the UK, the Philippines, Taiwan and Panama offices; where he has implemented financial, accounting and management reporting systems. In addition, he has overseen personnel recruitment and process adaptation to local laws and fiscal regulations.

Yañes has a 32-year international experience in Finance and Strategic Planning in Verizon (a U.S. telecommunications corporation) where he held executive positions in the USA, China, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela. He has a MBA degree from Tampa University, USA.

Roger Piñate

Chief Operations Officer

A co-founder of Smartmatic and an inspiring source of its Vision, Roger Piñate is responsible for the execution of strategic efforts and key operational functions worldwide, encompassing business units, sales, marketing, information technology, and other service areas. His experience and skills contribute to improve Smartmatic's operational focus and enhance the company's performance across all business areas.

 
 
Piñate also plays a key role in the continued development of the strategic relationship with Smartmatic's customers, and guides the many important initiatives that are advancing the company's Mission. Moreover, he sets the production strategy and industrial design processes for Smartmatic's products.
 

Mr. Piñate supervises all the projects and services that Smartmatic offers around the world and has been responsible for carrying out successful projects in the USA, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. He has a degree in Electronic Engineering from the Simon Bolívar University.

Robert Cook

VP - Global Administration Sales Operations

Robert Cook leads the company's efforts toward attaining the market share required by our strategic goals. He’s a focused, charismatic leader who uses creativity and passion to motivate employees to achieve critical business objectives.

Cook has over 36 years of experience in the areas of technology and general management, leading regional and subsidiary operations in the systems integration, services and high technology marketplace. He also has a unique insight into the Latin American markets with sales and financial expertise, business strategic development in managing turn-arounds, mergers and acquisitions.

Before joining Smartmatic, he was President of the Unisys Corporation's Latin America and Caribbean Division, in addition to his former other positions as President of Unisys Brazil, Unisys Mexico and Vice-President of Marketing Operations for Asia/Pacific and the Americas.

As President of Unisys Corporation's Latin America, Cook saw its market share increased in all industries and business units, while in charge of $700 million in revenues, 5,000 professionals, and overseeing operations in 15 countries. He was also responsible for coordinating the efforts to implement a matrix organization within Unisys.

Robert Cook is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese. He has a degree in Business Administration from Wittenberg University, Ohio, USA.

César Flores

President - Smartmatic Asia Pacific

César Flores is responsible for developing opportunities for the three Business Units of the company in Asia and the Pacific Region in accordance with the aggressive expansion plans Smartmatic has for the continent. Mr. Flores has been part of Smartmatic since 2005; he started out in the Sales Department, where he participated in bidding processes in countries such as Belgium, the Philippines, Colombia, among others.

Flores has led successful sales projects around the world. His international business skills led him to be President of Smartmatic Asia Pacific, where his first large scale project, the Philippines General Elections was a success. Mr. Flores has also been a key spokesperson for Smartmatic and he maintains a solid relationship with the media in the Philippines.

César Flores is fluent in four languages and has been known to adapt quickly to diverse cultures. He has also been a collaborator for newspapers and magazines. Flores has Economy studies from the Munich and Augsburg Universities in Germany.

Nick Sandoval

VP – Global Services

In Smartmatic, Nick Sandoval overlooks the deployment of large scale critical projects around the world.

Before joining the company, he was VP of Active Global Services in SAP, where he successfully led the onsite teams of Technical Quality Managers. Prior to that he worked 25 years in Unisys where he held both managerial and technical roles.

Sandoval has technical and electronic studies from DeVry Institute of Technology and Sierra College.

Fernando Jodra

President - Smartmatic Andean Region and Central America

Fernando Jodra is responsible for developing opportunities for the business units of the company in the Andean Region and Central America in accordance with the expansion plans Smartmatic has for the continent.

During his broad career, Mr. Jodra has held important positions in the business area, among which are: Indra Sistemas (1997 - 2005), where he led the commercial management activities as General Sales Manager for the Andean Community countries, overseeing the administrative and technical aspects of purchases and deliveries of the company's products and systems.

Jodra has a degree in Telecommunication Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and has a Masters Degree in Business Management from the Business School in the same city. He also has studies in Quality Assurance Management and Financial Analysis.

Luis Vecchi

President - Smartmatic MERCOSUR

Luis Vecchi is responsible for planning the business strategy and developing opportunities for our Business Units in the Mercosur area (including Ecuador), the Caribbean and Mexico.

During his successful career, Mr. Vecchi has held important positions in the marketing, operations and distribution and business areas, among which are: Director of Acer Computer Latin America, where he successfully led the sales and customer service team and boosted the company's profit rates, completing also the projects for expansion and mergers for Latin America.

He subsequently served as Vice President of Compuquest Computers, coordinating the marketing division and developing strategies of distribution for the brand Olivetti.

In 2006, Vecchi started his own company, Compre Su Negocio, a website for Latin American adn Spanish business groups in the United States focused on franchising.

Luis Vecchi has a Electronic Engineering degree from Universidad Simón Bolívar. He also has other business and commerce studies from the American Management Association.

Victor Reis

President – Smartmatic Brazil

Victor Reis is responsible for leading Smartmatic's sales and marketing strategies in Brazil.

Before joining the company, Reis was president of Unisys Brazil and held key positions in the Public Sector, Banking and Retail/Industry line of business.

Reis is an electronic engineer graduated from the Mackenzie University of Sao Paulo and has a specialization in Industrial Security from the University of Sao Paulo. Also, he has attended executive and sales and services courses at Harvard University and the Wharton School.

David Melville

Corporate Executive Office Legal Counsel

David Melville is responsible for managing Smartmatic's global response and approach to all strategic legal matters, such as Intellectual Property, Mergers and Acquisitions, Competition, and Dispute Resolution.

Mr. Melville has some 25 plus years experience as a Solicitor of The Supreme Court of England and Wales. He is an acknowledged senior technical and strategic advisor, having worked as Director and General Counsel in a variety of Global companies such as France Telecom (where he was Director of Regulatory Affairs) and Amazon (UK Legal Director).

David has significant global experience in litigation and dispute resolution, business operations, corporate transactions, legal and regulatory compliance. He joined Smartmatic in September 2011 after a period working as an Independent Legal Consultant in the Middle East.

David Melville graduated with an Honors’ Degree in law from the University of Wales and also studied at the College of Law, Chester. He is an alumnus of the Babson College Retail Management Programme, and is a qualified Arbitrator.

Marco Huberts

President – Smartmatic EMEA

Marco leads our efforts to develop business opportunities in Europe, Middle East and Africa. He was previously CEO for companies such as Cyclomedia and Anteryon.

Before that, Marco spent 22 years with Alcatel-Lucent, where he held many roles, including President Northern Europe, President of the Business Division Optical Transmission and CEO of Alcatel Benelux.

Marco has an engineering degree from The Hague University in the Netherlands and a 'cumlaude' MBA from Bradford University in the United Kingdom.