Meet the Team
CEO / Founder
Steven Grabenheimer
Steven, as Covspect's CEO, leverages his successful 20 years of technology and SaaS sales to tackle real-world infection control challenges. Steven architects Covspect's growth. Drawing inspiration from advancements in UV-C technology and his own expertise in technology procurement, Steven embarked on this ambitious project with a vision to empower industries worldwide with an industry leading biosafety marketplace and a revolutionary API tool that ensures effective UV-C dosing for disinfection. His continuous drive to push boundaries redefines how we view indoor public health and AI. A second-time founder with a successful previous exit, and a global UV market expert, Steven ensures Covspect's pathogen control solutions reach far and wide. Beyond business, he advocates for safer indoor environments, and enjoys family time with his newborn son Mateo, while hiking and cycling.
CSO-GM
Arely Guerrero Valderrabano L.C.N.
Results-oriented, entrepreneurial, and innovative Clinical Nutritionist with a track record of operating within a Municipal Puebla, Mexico-based state-funded government institution recognized at the national level for providing care to people susceptible to vulnerability, through programs that lead to nutrition-based clinical counseling, while promoting values and actions as a means to consolidate a better society. As a climate tech and sustainability advocate, Arely was immediately drawn to the notion of improving IAQ standards in food and beverage production by deploying UV-C over traditional chemical sprays. You can catch Arely practicing meditative yoga when she’s not contributing to the growth of Covspect.
Co-Founder
Dr. Tatiana Koutchma Ph.D.
Dr. Tatiana Koutchma is a Research Scientist at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Guelph Research and Development Centre where she leads research in novel food processing and safety engineering. Previously, she has worked as a Research Associate Professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology, National Center for Food Safety and Technology in Chicago, IL. Tatiana’s activity focuses on application of novel processing technologies to enhance microbial safety and functionality of foods and feed, addresses issues of chemical safety including regulatory approvals, validation and technology transfer. Tatiana initiates, directs and performs integrated fundamental and applied research, interacts extensively with international government agencies and collaborates with industry and academia partners. Tatiana is an active promoter of novel food processing and science-based regulations. She is a Scientific Editor of the Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, Journal of Food Process Engineering, Food Science and Technology International, and Frontiers. She is a Co-Founder of UV4Good non-profit organization, and a member of the advisory committee of UV Solutions magazine. Tatiana is a Past Chair of Nonthermal Processing Division of Institute of Food Technologies (IFT), a former member of IFT leadership committee and a lead in food engineering track of Annual Meeting Scientific Program Advisory Panel (AMSPAP). She authored and co-authored 9 books, 14 book chapters, and more than 100 publications in peer reviewed and trade journals.
Co-Founder
Richard Mariita, MSc., Ph.D.
Richard Mariita holds an M.Sc. in Medical Microbiology, a Ph.D. in Molecular Microbial Physiology and Bioinformatics, and did his postdoctoral fellowship (President’s fellow) at Brown University in Biological Chemistry. He spearheaded scientific and biosafety activities for Crystal IS, an Asahi Kasei Company located in Upstate New York that manufactures UVC LEDs. He managed projects in water, air, and surface disinfection with a client base ranging from the automobile, HVAC, hospital surface disinfection, medical device, and water disinfection sectors. Richard has won numerous awards and has several scientific publications in the fields of UVC and infectious diseases. He is a member of the NSF/ANSI 55 committee (water disinfection standards), IEEE (air disinfection standard development), ASHRAE, and the American Society for Microbiology. Richard is fascinated by the potential of UVC to curb infectious diseases, especially in marginalized communities, as well as Climate Tech strategies and molecular imaging. His innovations are centered around this potential. He is a co-founder of Airbuild, Maji Safi UV Organization, UV4Good, and Microbial BioSolutions. Currently, Richard works at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) as a Principal EHS Specialist/Biosafety Compliance Supervisor. He also consults for the UVC LED industry. Richard loves traveling with his beautiful wife and daughters, walking everywhere as much as possible, reading, trying food from different cultures, watching MMA, listening to classical music and African Jazz, and supporting his favorite soccer team, Arsenal FC.
Chief Technology Officer
Taras Teslyuk Ph.D.
Taras holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and touts over a decade of leadership and experience in software engineering. Having spearheaded the design and development of over 80 projects, he embodies a great blend of academic prowess and practical expertise. Driven by a passion for innovation and a desire to revolutionize safety standards, Taras embarked on a mission to create the world's first UV-C dosing database API tool with Covspect. Fascinated by the potential of ultraviolet light’s disinfection prowess, Taras recognized the need for a comprehensive database tool to optimize UV-C dosing targeting various vectors. With a keen eye for innovation, Taras has established himself as an expert in product development, mobile app development, and hardware development. When Taras isn’t woking as an engineer he lectures at Universities and mentors junior Engineers. Taras founded TetaLab LLC, a pioneering technology firm specializing in Mobile, IoT, web, and product design. Under his leadership, TetaLab grew into a team full of leading software developers across the EU and North America.
Advisor/Software Engineer
Philip Chmalts B.A.
Philip has 9 years of experience building top-notch software engineering teams and delivering high-quality software. As Head of Engineering at Shef, he led a team to deliver thousands of home-cooked meals across the US. At Chegg, he reimagined homework help for millions of students and developed machine learning systems for writing assistance. Growing up as the son of food scientists, he was surrounded by UV technology and attended the IFT conference as a kid. Philip is also on the board of UV4Good, advocating for UV technology as a core future solution for sterilization and disinfection in the food and beverage industry. He currently resides in San Francisco but has also lived in Hawaii, NYC, and Chicago.
Board Advisor (Senator, ND 2006-2012)
Curtis Olafson
Curtis Olafson was raised on the land homesteaded by his pioneer immigrant grandparents who came from Iceland in 1883. He joined the family business at the age of 16 as a partner in the operation with interests in farming, ranching and earthmoving construction and is now retired from the operation. He is a graduate of NDSU with a bachelor’s degree in animal science. He became involved in the political arena at a young age in the District Republican Party and became District Vice Chairman, followed by many years of service as District Chairman. He also served on committees for the State Republican Party. In 2006, he was appointed to the District 10 State Senate seat and was elected to the position in 2008 and served until 2012. He was twice named the “Legislator of the Year” by the North Dakota Township Officers Association for his dedication to grassroots government and to local control. In his three legislative sessions, he was the prime sponsor of 26 bills; 23 of them passed. His political experience led him to many subsequent ventures, including serving as the National Spokesman for the National Debt Relief Amendment, the Vice President of State Alliances for the Compact for America Balanced Budget Amendment effort, and as an Article V Educational Consultant for the Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force. He has traveled the United States extensively educating state legislators on the Article V Amendment process and is widely known in the national Article V Advocacy community. For more than two years, he was engaged in extensive work on opioid litigation consulting and within the consortium of the three large national law firms he represented he signed on 29 counties and cities in North Dakota and Minnesota for the National Multi District Opioid Litigation. In March of 2022, Curtis’ firm Omni Ventures formed a joint venture with the service-disabled and woman-owned small business VoxOptima to form UniVox, a company that is an integrator of smart technology for buildings. Curtis is an aircraft owner and has been a private pilot since 1972. He was married to Bjork Eiríksdóttir, a native of Iceland. She passed away unexpectedly on June 5 th , 2021, after a 7-year battle with cancer. Curtis has two grown children and 3 stepchildren. His daughter Renata is an Assistant State’s Attorney in Cass County and was the Fargo City Prosecutor prior to joining the State’s Attorney’s staff. His son Drew is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the United Valley Bank system. His step-daughter Linda is an Implementation Manager for Central Payments Company in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and his step-sons Heimir and Einar live and work in Iceland.
Board Advisor
Merritt Hamilton Allen
Merritt Allen is a successful entrepreneur, strategic communicator and advocate. As a small business owner, she has built more than $30 million in federal business for her firm since 2005. She is passionate about growing opportunities for small businesses, improving continuing educational opportunities in New Mexico, and improved care for New Mexico’s Veterans. Merritt grew up in Silver City and attended the University of Notre Dame on NROTC and National Merit scholarships. After graduating from Notre Dame in 1991, she served as a Navy public affairs officer for eight years. While on active duty, she led Department of the Navy communication strategy for environmental, personnel, medical, and acquisition issues. Retired from the Navy in 1999 as a service-disabled veteran, Merritt joined the Washington, D.C. office of CES, Inc. as Director of Communications. At CES, she grew its public affairs practice from a one-person shop to a ten-person business unit with over $1.2 million in annual revenue. While at CES, Merritt was contracted to stand up the brand and image campaign for The Veterans Corporation, a publicly funded non-profit. She launched a national brand campaign and wrote numerous documents to assist in The Veterans Corporation’s advocacy in the passage of Public Law 108-183, which established federal contracting set-aside guidelines for service disabled veteran-owned small businesses. Moving back to New Mexico in 2005, Merritt started her own service disabled veteran-owned small business, Vox Optima, and closed that year with a $1 million task order from Naval Sea Systems Command (that work has grown into a five-year contract with a total value of $16 million). Vox Optima currently has twenty employees, and its client roster includes the Small Business Administration, Defense Acquisition University; DoD Research and Evaluation Office; U.S. Fleet Forces Command; Navy Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems; NATO; the Census Bureau, and the Veterans Administration. She was named New Mexico’s Veterans Business Champion by the Small Business Administration in 2008. Merritt spent 9 years on the board of ReadyOne Industries, a $100 million non-profit agency in El Paso employing the severely disabled. She was named the top-performing media and marketing CEO in the state of New Mexico in 2013 by Albuquerque Business First. She is a regular panelist on the New Mexico public affairs program New Mexico In Focus produced by New Mexico Public Television, and also is a frequent guest and substitute primetime host on local talk radio. She recently was appointed to the New Mexico Redistricting Task Force where she joined a panel of 25 New Mexicans to work out recommendations to make Congressional and Legislative redistricting more transparent and equitable. Merritt lives in Tijeras with her husband Darrell, an attorney in private practice, along with their standard dachshund and orange tabby cat. She is the daughter of retired Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel John Hamilton and retired State Representative Dianne Hamilton of Silver City.