Mark E. Rodgers, Chairman & CEO
Co-founder of Samarion, Mark E. Rodgers serves as Chairman and CEO. Mark brings more than two decades of telecommunications and technology experience to the healthcare technology company, most recently serving as President, CEO and board member of AIR2LAN. Under his watch, AIR2LAN grew into a leading national wireless Internet broadband network. After spearheading the sale of AIR2LAN to U.S. Wireless Online, which resulted in the nation’s largest wireless broadband provider, Mark teamed up with longtime collaborator Samer N’Ser to establish Samarion.
Before joining AIR2LAN, Mark founded SmartSynch, an energy technology wireless telemetry company providing commercial and industrial (C&I) automated meter reading services across the northern hemisphere. Under his guidance as President and CEO, SmartSynch raised more than $36 million USD in venture capital-backed funding, including the lead investment by J.P. Morgan. Twice, SmartSynch was recognized as Energy Venture Fair‘s "Most Promising Company." SmartSynch developed and marketed the Smart Meter System, which captured more than 80 percent of the C&I automated smart metering market.
Prior to SmartSynch, Mark was a founding member of the management team for SkyTel, a global telecommunications company. As Corporate Vice President of Business Development, Mark was responsible for SkyTel's Fixed Wireless Division, which provided wholesale data services to telemetry application developers across multiple vertical markets, and SkyTel’s international business development in Asia and Europe. He was one of only three management founders to oversee the company through 11 years of revenue and earnings growth, and ultimately its sale to WorldCom for approximately $2 billion USD in 1999.
Also at SkyTel, Mark led partnerships with The Coca-Cola Company to monitor vending machines during the 1996 Olympics, created one of the first in-vehicle GPS systems in a partnership with Prince Corporation, and led other partnerships in the medical, security, cathodic protection, and home monitoring telemetry vertical markets.
Early in his career, Mark honed his skills in the energy and telecommunications sectors as an Engagement Manager with Arthur Andersen's Management Information Consulting Division, later Accenture. He was twice named to the prestigious list of Mississippi’s Top 40 Under 40 business leaders.
An active member of the American Health Care Association, American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, Center for Aging Services Technology, and multiple state and national elder care advocacy organizations, Mark has also served in leadership positions with the Mississippi Technology Council, Wireless Communications Association International, Personal Communications Industry Association and Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association. He serves on the External Advisory Research Committee for Mississippi State University, where he earned a chemical engineering degree.
An expert on healthcare technology in the long-term care industry, Mark’s speaking engagements in 2007-08 have included "Leveraging Technology to Achieve True Fall Prevention and More" for the National Association of State Veterans Homes Conference, "Enterprise Quality Improvement" for the Senior Healthcare Professionals Conference and Mississippi Health Care Association (MHCA)’s executive committee, and "Quality Improvement and Technology" for MHCA’s Nursing Summit Conference.
Samer N’Ser President & CTO
Samer N’Ser co-founded Samarion, Inc., where he serves as President and CTO. Samer brings to the company a wealth of expertise in all aspects of operations and development with more than 20 years of experience in the telecommunications and technology sectors. Samer served as Senior Vice President of Operations at AIR2LAN until the company was sold to U.S. Wireless.
Before joining AIR2LAN, Samer was Vice President of Product Development at SmartSynch, Inc., where he championed the development of two innovative wireless products for commercial and industrial electricity meters, from concept to commercial production. Previously, over his 11-year tenure at SkyTel, Samer played several key roles in the company’s success, including the rollout of international paging systems, management of the development support organization for SkyTel’s Fixed Wireless division, and helping third-party developers accelerate time-to-market of their telemetry applications.
Samer earned an engineering degree in computer science from the Institute of Applied Science & Technology of Damascus, and a master’s degree in telecommunications from the National Graduate School of Telecommunications (Sup-Telecom) in Paris, France.