ROKMETRO connects universities with their communities.
We help universities create and operate a single campus wide app to streamline the student and staff mobile experience.
The team has been integral in the development of the Illinois app at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
ROKMETRO has expert developers and people that can operate the ROKWIRE ecosystem from the Univeristy of Illinois.
From planning and development to operations – we can develop a customized application for your campus that connects not only your IT systems but also your students and staff.
John Paul
Founder, Chairman ROKMETRO
Chief Innovator, ROKWIRE
John Paul has been the driving force for the ROKWIRE platform. Working side by side with the University of Illinois staff, John has realized the ROKWIRE vision with the team from his alma mater. John brings 40 years of experience as a leader in engineering, product development and technology. John has been instrumental in developing and delivering large scale consumer hosted applications, including Netscape, Roku, Sling, and the leading mobile stadium application. Recently, John was named one of the 60 Most Powerful People in Sports by Worth Magazine for his innovative contributions to the sports industry. Paul graduated magna cum laude from the University of Illinois with a B.S.E.E. in 1976.
Stephen Hurwit
Chief Operating Officer
Software Architect
Stephen is passionate about finding creative approaches towards software design and development. He has dedicated the past 10 years to learning and applying software principles, with an emphasis on mobile technologies and artificial intelligence. During this time, he has overseen the development of multiple consumer mobile applications, as well as an AI-powered platform that augments human decision-making. Stephen graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. and MEng in Computer Engineering in 2020.
SANJAY PATEL
Chief Technology Officer
Sanjay Patel is a seasoned technologist, entrepreneur, and researcher who has worked in a variety of domains from chip design, computer vision, 3D imaging, and streaming video. He was CTO of AGEIA Technologies, a pioneer in the development of multi-core chip technology for real-time physics simulation. AGEIA was acquired by Nvidia in 2008. He co-founded and was CEO of Personify, Inc, which was a leader in immersive video, pioneering real-time virtual green screen and volumetric video technologies. Personify was named by Crain’s Business as one of the Most Innovative Companies in Chicago in both 2018 and 2019. Personify was acquired by Foxconn in 2019. He is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he has been on the faculty since 1999.
MALLORY SIMONDS
Director of UX and Brand
Mallory joined the ROKMETRO ranks in August 2020. She came to ROKMETRO with 10 years of agency experience focusing on brand strategy, UI/UX design, designing visual identities (logo design, print materials, digital campaigns, environmental design), art direction, print and web design, as well as video & animation work. She enjoys helping others find their voice, telling stories through design.
Mallory oversaw the UX & Design team for the creation of the Illinois App in 2018, and continues to consult with the ROKWIRE team at the University of Illinois. In her free time, Mallory also works closely with husband, Dylan Simonds, on video and animation projects, such as the title and credit sequences for the documentary film, Sriracha. Together with a friend, they also collaborated to create and design Hack Ex, a virtual hacking simulator game for Android & Apple devices.
Ryan Oberlander
Software Engineer
Ryan spent the last 6 years learning software development, with a recent focus in mobile development and machine learning related to developing tools that aid in human decision-making processes. In the last two years, Ryan was part of the development team for ROKWIRE platform. He is dedicated to continuously learning new software techniques and paradigms. Ryan graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. in Computer Engineering in May 2020.
Raghav sangam
Chief DevOps and
Cloud Software Architect
Raghav brings to the table the experience of over 18 years in various streams of Enterprise Product Development. He is a technologist, a polyglot, and an adventurous innovator who brings in the best-in-class solutions for business needs. He is specialized in bringing applications stack to Cloud, handling end-to-end Cloud Infrastructure and Application deployment life cycle management, automation, monitoring, notification, and alert management. He has played various roles as a Product Developer, DevOps engineer, and Cloud Software Architect in various Fortune organizations helping them build highly scalable, fault-tolerant applications. In his previous engagement, he worked as CTO at JVIT-Labs.
MANAV MODI
Software Engineer
Manav is focused on software design and development, specializing in mobile applications and tools that enhance user experiences and decision-making. He has contributed to projects like implementing key features on high-profile apps and co-founding GrayKea, a platform connecting students and alumni. Manav is passionate about leveraging technology to create impactful and user-centric solutions. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. in Computer Engineering in 2023.
AKshad PAI
Software Engineer
I graduated from UIUC with a degree in Mathematics & Computer Science (1 major) in May 2024. I'm also working towards a Masters in Computer Science at UIUC which I started this summer. I got into mobile development by creating an app called WOMT, an attendance tool for student organizations. During my internship, I worked on various full-stack projects and took ownership of a project that generates code to reduce development time when creating new APIs. My main focus now is working with Vogue to implement new features in the Vogue app. My hobbies are weightlifting and gaming.