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AeroSat's management team is led by Dennis Ferguson (CEO), William McNary (Vice President Business Development), Frank Blanda (CTO), Grayson Allen (Vice President Finance), and Donna Saber (Director of Operations). This team possesses strong knowledge of aviation and satellite communications and has a track record of managing technology development, negotiating and contracting with large strategic partners, and delivering complex products to market.
In addition to the senior management team, AeroSat's engineering and development team has a diverse background in aviation, satellite communications and antenna theory. Their experience includes all phases of aircraft subsystem development, including system design, prototype development, flight safety testing, and military and commercial system certification.
Dennis Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Ferguson has more than 30 years experience in aviation and has a significant track record transitioning entrepreneurial companies into market leaders. He most recently served as President and CEO of Mooney Airplane Company and prior to that was President of Airshow, Inc., an avionics manufacturing company that introduced the first passenger connectivity application that used an airborne telephone data link. He served as Corporate Vice President at Dynatech/Acterna Corp., where he was responsible for strategic alliances, acquisitions and growth of the aviation business unit. He took Intercon Security, Inc. from startup to $4.5 million in sales in four years, forging relationships with industry giants such as Kraft Foods. He held a variety of positions with Sunstrand Corporation in their Turbomach, Trans Com Systems and Global Systems divisions. Mr. Ferguson earned his BS in engineering science from the United States Air Force Academy and his Masters of Science in Systems Management from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Mr. Ferguson served as a chief navigator, flight examiner and instructor for the U.S. Air Force.
Frank Blanda, Chief Technology Officer
While at the Sanders division of Lockheed Martin, Mr. Blanda was a senior systems engineer for communications programs. His experience includes managing a team from Motorola, Telcordia Technologies, L-3 Communications, Northrop Grumman's Xetron Corporation, ViaSat Inc., Scientific Research Corporation, Lockheed Martin, and Sanders. The team, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, designed airborne wireless networks that provide personal communication and Internet-like services to mobile subscribers. Earlier, Mr. Blanda was chief architect on a team, headed by Motorola that developed the software definable radio architecture that served as the foundation for the U.S. government's Software Definable Radio initiative. Mr. Blanda has over 25 years of experience in designing, installing and testing airborne communication and intercept equipment for many military systems. Frank Blanda earned his BS in electrical engineering from Ohio State University and completed engineering graduate studies at MIT.
William McNary, Vice President Business Development
Mr. McNary has a proven record of managing complex and diverse operations. Most recently, he directed the government business unit at Sanders, Lockheed Martin's advanced electronics development and manufacturing unit. While at Sanders he was recognized by Vice President Gore for reducing costs without layoffs and improving procurement efficiency. In addition, Mr. McNary was recruited as a leader for the Defense Acquisition Reform Team, which rewrote certain Department of Defense policies. Prior to joining Sanders, Mr. McNary held numerous high-level military positions, including business manager of the Naval Air Systems Command; strategic business planning and budget manager for the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations; inventory manager for the Naval Supply Center (Norfolk, Virginia); and advisor to the Director of Logistics of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces during the U.S. military mission to Saudi Arabia in 1982 and 1983. Mr. McNary earned his BA in economics from the University of Minnesota, attended the Armed Forces Staff College, and received his MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia.
D. Grayson Allen, Vice President Finance
Prior to joining AeroSat as its Vice President of Finance, Mr. Allen was a principal at Citizens Capital, Inc., the $500 million private equity arm of Citizens Financial Group, the Rhode Island-based bank holding company and parent company of Citizens Bank. Mr. Allen was involved in analyzing, structuring and monitoring private equity investments. Before joining Citizens Capital, Mr. Allen was an analyst at US Trust Bank, where he underwrote commercial loans and other structured debt facilities for a broad array of middle-market companies based in New England. Mr. Allen graduated with high honors from Dartmouth College.
Donna L. Saber, Director of Operations
Ms. Saber oversees Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Quality Control. She is a Six Sigma Black Belt Professional with an extensive and diversified management background in operations and project management. From 1984 to 2008 she held successive management positions at Millipore Corporation as Industrial Engineer, Quality Engineering, Six Sigma Black Belt Mentor, Project Manager, and Operations Manager. While at Millipore Ms. Saber successfully led her departments to the company's goal in manufacturing, successfully streamlined and improved the supply chain's MPS accuracy, inventory accuracy, and increased warehouse storage by implementing a new layout and integrating new material handling equipment. Ms. Saber successfully implemented and upgraded ISO certifications in a number of different facilities and developed, supervised, trained and mentored employees to engage in disseminating the lean manufacturing approach using the DMAIC methodology. Ms. Saber received a BS in Industrial Management from Purdue University and a JD from Massachusetts School of Law.
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