About Us

James A. Luksch serves as Chairman on the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc., which he co-owned in 1989 with Mr. Palle. In 1995, BT became a publicly owned company and currently trades as ticker BDR on NYSE Amex. Under Jim’s guidance, BT has become a highly recognized technology-development company that engineers, manufactures, and sells digital encoding (SDTV, HDTV, IPTV), digital transport, and broadband product solutions. Prior to purchasing Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. in 1965 Jim co-founded Texscan, a CATV equipment manufacturer. He has authored numerous patents and served on the NCTA Engineering Advisory Committee. His career began as a Radar Design Engineer with the Missile & Surface Radar Division at RCA. After completing his Army service in the Korean War, he earned his BSEE from the University of Buffalo, Magna cum Laude, and a MSEE from the University of Pennsylvania.

Robert J. Palle, Jr. serves as President of Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc., which he became co-owners of in 1989 with Mr. Luksch. Bob combines both vision and strategy to provide owners and operators with advanced digital product solutions that deliver the highest quality performance for fewer dollars. Bob drives BT’s sales, marketing and engineering using over 30 years of industry experience. He started his career in the Air Force as a communications operator in the Vietnam War. From there, he continued on to Texscan, a CATV equipment manufacturer and held several positions including Vice President and General Manager of the Theta Com CATV Division for 12 years.

Emily M. Nikoo serves as Executive Vice President of Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. and has been part of the executive group since 2004. Emily is a leader in developing the Company's product strategy utilizing her electronic engineering background and over 16 years in the industry to help operators solve their technological challenges. In addition, she leads the manufacturing operations for the Company's complete line of products. Previously, Emily designed Space Shuttle and Space Station communication systems. She holds a BSEE from Purdue University and MSEE from the University of Houston.

Eric S. Skolnik serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. As CFO, he oversees the controller, treasury, investor relations, tax, internal audit, and facility functions. Eric joined BT as Corporate Controller in 2000, was promoted to CFO in 2001, and then Senior Vice President in 2003. Prior to Blonder Tongue, Eric worked as a CPA/Audit Manager for six years with BDO Deidman, LLP, which is the Company’s independent auditor. Eric earned his BS in Accounting from Rutgers University.

Norman A. Westcott serves as Senior Vice President of Operations of Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. since 1999 after joining the Company in 1994. Utilizing his skills in production planning, Norrie leads the team of people that ensures product availability and delivery to meet customers’ expectations and needs. In 1985, Norrie served as Vice President of Operations at Tecma, Inc. for nine years. Prior to Tecma, he held several positions over the course of 20 years at Texscan, including Vice President and General Manager of the Test Equipment Division. He earned his degree in Mechanical Engineering from London University and got his career start at KDG Instruments.

Allen Horvath serves as Vice President of Manufacturing of Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. He is a long time BT veteran, beginning employment at the Company in 1976. Allen has steadily moved up through the BT ranks first in production testing, then engineering, quality control, and ultimately head of manufacturing. Being named Vice President of Manufacturing in 2003, Allen plays a vital role in sustaining total product quality while continually enhancing BT’s capability to keep up with ever changing technologies including fine-pitch BGAs requiring automated optical inspection.

Kant Mistry serves as Vice President of Engineering of Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. since 2003 after being named Chief Technical Officer in 2000. Kant specializes in the art of RF and translating that knowledge into BT’s latest electronic innovations. He has been employed at BT for over 34 years, beginning as Chief Engineer of STV and CATV products. He holds a BSEE from Birla College of Engineering in India and a MSEE from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Nezam Nikoo serves as Vice President of Advanced Digital Technologies of Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. since 2009 after being named Chief Digital Engineer in 2000, and Senior Design Engineer in 1995. Nez leads the team of engineers responsible for design innovation, creation, and deployment of all the Company’s latest Digital CATV, SD and HD Encoders, and EdgeQAM & IPTV solutions product lines. After earning a BSEE from Purdue University and MSEE from the University of Houston, he got his career start at Lockheed Martin Corporation and held several positions over the course of 7 years before joining BT.

Jeffrey Smith serves as Vice President of Sales of Blonder Tongue Laboratories, Inc. after joining the Company in January 2006. Using his technical and distribution background, Jeff listens to the customer’s needs and assists the engineering team in translating those needs into products. He served as the Director of Engineering for WSNet, and also as the Director of Commercial for Dish Network; nevertheless his relationship started as a Blonder Tongue customer dating back to 1988 and was instrumental in initiating several products over the years.