OUR TEAM'S BACKGROUND
The FFW scientific team has over 70 years of combined experience in Cognitive Science, Biology, Mathematics, and Psychology, including appointments at Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine, University of Maryland, and the University of Houston.
Drs. Avci and Konstantinidis have authored numerous professional publications, and won numerous federally funded grants, as well as funding from private foundations.
Executive Team
Greg Hambrick
CEO & Co-Founder
Thomas G. Hambrick (Greg), President and CEO of Fast Forward Works, has over 38 years of business experience in Houston, Texas. The majority of that experience is in the midstream oil and gas sector. He has successfully started two energy related companies, Verus Energy Company and Pipestem Energy Company. Greg has also been a founding board member of two nonprofits: Archway Academy, the nation’s largest high school for adolescents in substance abuse recovery, and Evergreen Urban Farms, a social enterprise using aquaponics as sustainable business training and employing marginalized students and adults in the agriculture business.
Tatjana Papo Kusic
COO
Tatjana Papo Kusic, COO of Fast Forward Works, has over 25 years of international business experience. She holds Master of Science in Engineering from University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing. During her career, her primary focus was on operational development and management of companies operating in high tech Information and Communication Technology. She presently owns and operates five companies in Europe and the US.
Research Team
Dr. Gunes Avci
VP Research and Development
Dr. Gunes Avci is a Research Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Houston. Dr. Avci obtained her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology with a specialization in learning and memory from Rice University in 2011, where she received the prestigious Gardner Award for the best dissertation in Social Sciences. She completed her postdoctoral training in the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory in the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Avci’s research spans different facets of human cognition, with a particular focus on ways to enhance memory functions in the laboratory and in real-world settings, which she examines in both healthy and clinical populations (e.g., traumatic brain injury and HIV patients). Recently her research interests have expanded to include cognitive risk factors interfering with daily functioning (e.g., health behavior).
Business Development
Laurel Rutledge
Laurel Rutledge is a senior HR Executive, Consultant, strategist and career navigation guru. Her global experience in risk management, strategic hr, audit and business enable her to help organizations connect their people strategy with their business strategy. Laurel also has a passion for education and student achievement believing fully in her late father’s mantra that “all kids can learn.”
Jaime A. Ruiz
Jaime has been an Energy Trading & Risk Management Professional / Consultant, both domestically and internationally, with over twenty years’ experience serving in various leadership, consulting, business development and commercial commodity trading and logistics operation roles at many leading energy companies and ETRM software vendor worldwide.
Jaime has a bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of Notre Dame, with a minor in Government/International Studies. He has also received a Concentration in Financial Management Certification for post-graduate work done at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
IT Team
David Feil
VP Software Development
David Feil, VP of Software Development, has worked professionally as a web application developer since founding a boutique consulting business in 2013. He has worn many other hats in his career as an educator and artist. He holds an MA in Literature and is currently studying to become a licensed clinical mental health counselor.
Marko Gluhak
Software Development
Marko resides in Zogreb, Croatia and studied at the Faculty of Organization and Informatics. He has worked professionally as a software developer for over eighteen years specializing in custom web applications for a range of companies across industry and multiple platforms.