Nav3D's strength lies in its team of recognized leaders in Synthetic Vision system design, implementation, and operation. Our principals have a combined two decades of direct experience with Synthetic Vision systems. Our advisors are exceptional in their technical expertise and leadership experience.

Principals

Andrew K. Barrows, CEO and Co-Founder

Andrew Barrows has served as CEO of Nav3D since its founding in 1999. Prior to Nav3D, Barrows also co-founded GyroSat Corporation, developer of a GPS-aided aircraft attitude sensor technology ultimately acquired by Garmin Ltd. At Stanford University, he initiated and managed a flight test program in support of $2M/year in FAA research and nine Ph.D. theses. In 2002, he was honored by Technology Review magazine as one of 100 top young innovators creating the future. Barrows' Ph.D. research on inexpensive Highway-in-the-Sky displays, sensors, algorithms, and flight operations won the Ballhaus Prize for best dissertation in the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department at Stanford. He earned S.M. and S.B. degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics at M.I.T., and in 2000 was honored as one of that department's 16 alumni shaping the aerospace industry. He has won the MIT Goodwin Medal for Conspicuously Effective Teaching and Stanford's AIAA Outstanding Instructor Award. An instrument rated pilot with extensive flight test experience, he has been flying since 1984 and serves on the Technical Advisory Committee of the Hiller Aviation Museum.

Chad W. Jennings, President and Co-Founder

Chad Jennings' activities at Nav3D focus on business and product development. Dr. Jennings' Ph.D. thesis in the Stanford GPS Laboratory pioneered display concepts of nearby air and ground traffic on Synthetic Vision and HITS displays. His work focused on the application of Synthetic Vision to eliminating runway incursions and reducing the need for costly airport expansion projects. In March 2005, Dr. Jennings was awarded the RTCA's William E. Jackson Award for the outstanding Ph.D. thesis in the area of aviation electronics and telecomunications. He has authored 14 technical papers on topics from mosaicing images of supernova remnants to wind turbine control systems to Synthetic Vision for aviation. Dr. Jennings earned his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University and an A.B. degree in Physics and Astronomy from Vassar College. He is a private pilot and has been flying for the pure pleasure of it since 1997.

Keith W. Alter, Vice President of Aviation and Co-Founder

Keith Alter is responsible for aviation software and hardware development at Nav3D and manages projects for Nav3D customers. He was a research assistant in the Stanford University GPS Laboratory for five years, where his research centered on improving user GPS position information using the GPS Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) and on developing low-cost Synthetic Vision terrain and Highway-in-the-Sky (HITS) displays. Prior to attending Stanford, Dr. Alter spent five years at Boeing working in Avionics/Flight Systems on the High-Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) and 737-700 programs. Dr. Alter earned Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, all from Stanford University. He has been a pilot since 1985 and a certified flight instructor since 1988.

Michael Sears, Chief Strategy Officer

Michael Sears has worked with corporations, international standards committees, trade organizations, educational institutions and government bodies. Sears has served on the Board of Directoris of several technology corporations and charitable organizations. He spent four years as general manager in two public technology companies, has served as a corporate officer at Spyglass, Inc., and he was with Sun Microsystems for more than six years with progressive responsibilities leading to an executive position. Directly after graduate school, Mr. Sears served as a Venture Capitalist with a prestigious Sand Hill firm. Sears has been involved with technology businesses since the early 1980's beginning his career as an engineer in aerospace. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, and he holds both a Juris Doctorate and an MBA from Stanford University.

Board of Advisors

Ralph Eschenbach

Ralph Eschenbach is the Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Trimble Navigation Ltd. He has held this position since June 1994. Before that he was Vice President of Avionics. He started that division in 1989 and grew it to $35M in annual revenue. Eschenbach came to Trimble from Hewlett Packard Labs where he developed the first low cost, working GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver in 1976. That receiver became the basis for Trimble’s entry into the GPS market.

A leader in GPS technology, he has authored more than thirty papers on GPS receiver design and testing and has over twenty patents granted. Among his awards are the Institute of Navigation’s “Better Mousetrap Award” and Discover Magazine’s award for “Innovation in Computers and Technology”.

His expertise is sought by industry, community and government alike. He is currently on the Board of Directors of several high tech companies and community charities. He is an advisor to the FAA Administrator on research budget and a member of the NASA R&D Advisory Committee. He serves as a Venture Partner for Osprey Ventures.

Mr. Eschenbach received his BSEE from UC Berkeley in 1968 and MSEE from Stanford University in 1970. He is an instrument rated commercial pilot with over 3400 hours flight time.

General Richard D. Hearney USMC (Ret.)

General Hearney founded RDM Strategies to help innovative companies apply their technologies to protecting our homeland. Prior to his work with RDM Strategies, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Business Executives for National Security (BENS), a national, nonpartisan organization of business leaders. Until 1999, General Hearney was Vice President of Military Aircraft and Missile Systems Group for the Boeing Company. He served as the company's senior representative in Europe.

General Hearney retired from military service in 1996 as Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps. A highly decorated veteran, his personal decorations and medals include: the Defense Superior Service Medal; Legion of Merit with gold star; Distinguished Flying Cross; Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V”; Purple Heart; Air Medal with Combat “V” and bronze numeral “30”; and Navy Commendation Medal with Combat “V”.

General Hearney was commissioned a 2nd Lt. in the Marine Corps in 1962. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University and a Master of Arts degree from Pepperdine University. He is also a graduate of the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island. He is married to the former Margaret McCracken. They have three children: Brian, Brenden (1964-1994), and Meaghan.