Noted innovators and thought leaders in the field
Co-Founder, CEO & Chief Engineer
President & CFO
Vice President of Operations
Vice President of Sales
Vice President of Marketing
Vice President of Strategy and Business Development
Co-Founder & Senior Software Architect
Head of Customer Success
Director of Engineering
Director of Programs
Eric Bechhoefer is a retired Naval Flight Officer who has worked in aviation for over 35 years. He served in key engineering roles at MITRE Corporation and Goodrich Sensors & Integrated Systems, where he was a senior contributor in research and development for helicopter condition-based maintenance systems. He is a Fellow at the Prognostic and Health Management Society, IEEE Senior Member, and sits on both the Vertical Flight Society’s HUMS Technical Committee and the SAE Aerospace HM-1 Committee covering Integrated Vehicle Health Management.
Bechhoefer holds a degree from the University of Michigan. He has an MS in Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a PhD in Engineering (specializing in digital signal processing) from Kennedy Western University. His credits includes 150+ journal papers and 33 patents in the field of condition monitoring.
Jed Kalkstein has a diverse background that includes operating roles in executive management of startup and growth-stage companies, turnarounds, and venture capital investing. He has served on several corporate and non-profit boards of directors, and held positions at or partnered closely with technology companies including SmartEquip, Inc., Perimeter Internetworking Corporation, Pwnie Express and the venture capital fund, Connecticut Innovations.
In addition to GPMS, Kalkstein currently serves on the Board of Managers for the VSJF Flexible Capital Fund (a $3M socially oriented investment fund) and served as the Treasurer for the Northern Forest Canoe Trail and on the Board of the Mad River Glen ski area.
Kalkstein graduated with honors from Hobart College with a BA in Philosophy and Political Science, and holds an MBA from the School of Management at Yale University. He lives in Vermont with his wife and two active teenagers. He spends his free time either on skis or mountain biking, depending on the weather.
Julia has worked in technology for over 30 years in Sales, Technical Support, and Operations management roles. Previously she was part of the executive team of NRG Systems, a supplier of equipment to the global renewable energy industry. While at NRG, she was responsible for scaling their manufacturing, maintaining quality standards, reducing supply chain risks, and providing industry-leading technical support to customers.
Julia has a BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Vermont and serves on the board of the Vermont Huts Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing access to exceptional outdoor recreation experiences in Vermont. She spends her free time mountain biking and backcountry snowboarding with her husband Jeff and their dog Nikki.
Todd Powers is the Vice President of Sales at GPMS. With a career spanning more than three decades, he is a recognized leader throughout the rotorcraft industry. Utilizing expert product knowledge and vast industry experience, Powers has led, managed, and flown for aviation programs in the corporate, charter/tour, and air medical segments, including time as the chief pilot for REACH Air Medical Services.
Most recently, Powers completed an 18-year career with Airbus Helicopters as one of the top, global sales leaders. With more than 500 aircraft sold and sales revenue eclipsing $2.5 billion, he was consistently responsible for between 30-50% of annual sales volume for North America.
In his role as Vice President of Sales at GPMS, Powers will drive the company’s efforts to expand the footprint of Foresight MX and champion the adoption of HUMS as standard equipment in rotorcraft operations.
Todd lives in Utah with his family and enjoys golfing during his downtime.
Ronnie Ries is the VP of Marketing at GPMS. Ronnie has led the promotion and sales of military, commercial, and aftermarket for nearly 20 years. Previously, he served as Head of Commercial Marketing & Customer Experience at Bell where he led the digital transformation with projects includes an immersive digital marketing experience, a new customer portal, development of configurator tools, deployment/management of Salesforce.com and more. He ran a global marketing team covering all the commercial products and services across the regions.
Ries is a graduate of Texas A&M University-Kingsville and has an MBA from Texas Christian University (TCU). He previously served as Chair of the Transportation Research Board – Civil Helicopter Subcommittee and is a certified Six Sigma Green and Black Belt. He lives in Fort Worth, Texas with his wife and 4 children, though that tends to grow throughout the year as they are a foster/adoption family. He enjoys spending his free time playing video games (with or without his kids!) and binge-watching shows while BBQing.
Andrew is an experienced B2B marketer with a deep understanding of the IoT sector. Previously he served as the head of marketing and business development for the industrial computer manufacturer Logic Supply. There, he oversaw the company’s relationship with Intel’s Internet of Things Group as well as AWS and Azure. He ran a global team covering everything from branding through demand generation and helped grow the company 3X (to nearly $50M) in under seven years. Andrew is a graduate of Williams College and has an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
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With more than thirty years’ experience as a software engineer in the aerospace industry, Jack Taylor has been an individual contributor and a project team leader in the specification, design, and implementation of real-time embedded software and data visualization systems for aerospace applications. He is an expert in the unique challenges of developing real-time software systems including hardware-software interfaces, real-time operating systems, and memory and timing constraints.
Taylor has a BS in Computer Science from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Long Beach, CA, where he has a long list of woodworking and home improvement projects.
Josh is head of Customer Success at GPMS. Josh is a licensed aircraft mechanic with 19 years’ experience in the helicopter industry. He has worked on many different airframes including Bell 206,407,427,430,412; Sikorsky S76, AS350 and EC145. He has experience in Oil and Gas, EMS and Commercial Air Charter industries. Prior to GPMS Josh held roles in Field Maintenance, Quality Assurance, Training, Reliability, Tech Support and as the Director of Maintenance for a part 135 Helicopter Operator. He specialized in HUMS analysis and program implementation. Josh’s hobbies are fishing, woodworking and home remodeling. He lives near Galveston TX with his wife and 12 yr old son.
With over 35 years in the aerospace industry as a mechanical engineer, Joe Colucci has experience on various military, commercial and business fixed wing and rotorcraft programs. From full scale development to flight test engineering, he has been extensively involved in all aspects of the design and project management process. With a primary focus on manufacturability and cost optimization, Joe can design the most accurate and streamlined solutions possible. His involvement on numerous STC programs has been an invaluable asset.
Joe received his Bachelor of Engineering from Hofstra University in New York. He currently lives in Texas and enjoys reading, hiking and balances his work by practicing yoga.
Dale Hinds is a retired UK Ministry of Defense technical program manager with 32 years of experience working in Commercial and Defense technical programs, including aviation and ground platform systems. He has worked with major OEMs and their subcontractors, gaining extensive program/project experience in helicopter and fixed wing TSO/STC and PMA FAA and EASA certification.
He studied at Glamorgan University in South Wales and has a BS in Electronic Systems Engineering. Hinds is a certified Project Manager in Controlled Environments II (PRINCE 2) Practitioner/Facilitator and a Member of the Association for Project Management (MAPM).
Hinds has extensive recent program/project experience in helicopter and fixed wing STC Certification. He excels at delivering complex technical initiatives and projects to on-time, on-budget conclusions within high-pressure environments. To decompress, he indulges in the time-honored British pastimes of rugby and throwing darts.
Brian Flynn co-founded Volaris (NYSE: VLRS), Mexico’s second largest airline. He also co-founded Casino Marketing Alliance, a travel analytics and marketing firm. Mr. Flynn helped form The Metropolitan Bank and build it to $1.3B in assets. Among other investments, Mr. Flynn led the acquisition and turnaround of Victory Refrigeration which led to a 13x return for investors.
He previously was a Managing Director at Bachow & Associates, the then largest private equity fund in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with investors such as CalPERS and the Ford Foundation. At Bachow, he identified, negotiated an investment in or acquisition of, built, grew, and sold companies in a variety of industries.
Mr. Flynn served as CEO of Innova Corporation (now Harris Corporation: HRS), a leading telecom equipment company that resulted in a 22x return for investors. Prior to Bachow, he was a consultant at Bain & Company where he met Mr. Donovan. Mr. Flynn also worked for DLJ in investment banking and GE Capital in finance.
He is a Beta Gamma Sigma graduate of Columbia Business School and a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Williams College, and he also studied at the London School of Economics. He sits/sat on various public and private company boards of directors
Kenneth A. Bronfin is senior managing director of Hearst Ventures, the corporate venture capital unit of Hearst.
Bronfin joined Hearst in 1996 and has held a number of leadership positions at the company. He previously served as president of Hearst Interactive Media and Technology Group, which led Hearst’s efforts in digital media alongside the company’s media operating groups.
Under Bronfin’s leadership, Hearst Ventures has grown to become one of the most active and successful corporate venture funds in the world with more than $1 billion invested to date. Hearst Ventures currently operates in the United States, China, Europe and Israel. In addition to Bronfin’s role driving the growth and success of Hearst Ventures, he acts as a strategic resource to Hearst businesses as they pursue their own digital operational and M&A strategies.
Previously, Bronfin was with NBC for over 10 years, where he served as general manager of NBC’s digital television group, a founder of the Interactive Media Group and vice president of NBC Cable and Business Development. Bronfin began his career as an engineering manager at an early-stage marine technology business in New Orleans.
In addition to his responsibilities serving on the boards of Hearst Ventures’ portfolio businesses, Bronfin also serves on the board of directors of Hasbro Corporation, as well as a broad array of civic, educational and not-for-profit social services boards.
Bronfin holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in business from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Tom Benson has spent more than 25 years developing and directing high-tech hardware and software projects, and leading companies focused on monitoring, collecting data, and developing and delivering maintenance management solutions to the business aviation industry. Most recently he was the Chief Strategy Officer at CAMP Systems International where he oversaw significant company growth, resulting in a multibillion-dollar private equity exit transaction. Prior to that, he was the Executive Vice President and General Manager at AMSTAT where he oversaw a transformation of the business to a modern, web-based SaaS platform, along with a customer-driven mindset.
Eric Bechhoefer is a retired Naval Flight Officer who has worked in aviation for over 35 years. He served in key engineering roles at MITRE Corporation and Goodrich Sensors & Integrated Systems, where he was a senior contributor in research and development for helicopter condition-based maintenance systems. He is a Fellow at the Prognostic and Health Management Society, IEEE Senior Member, and sits on both the Vertical Flight Society’s HUMS Technical Committee and the SAE Aerospace HM-1 Committee covering Integrated Vehicle Health Management.
Bechhoefer holds a degree from the University of Michigan. He has an MS in Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a PhD in Engineering (specializing in digital signal processing) from Kennedy Western University. His credits includes 150+ journal papers and 33 patents in the field of condition monitoring.
Jed Kalkstein has a diverse background that includes operating roles in executive management of startup and growth-stage companies, turnarounds, and venture capital investing. He has served on several corporate and non-profit boards of directors, and held positions at or partnered closely with technology companies including SmartEquip, Inc., Perimeter Internetworking Corporation, Pwnie Express and the venture capital fund, Connecticut Innovations.
In addition to GPMS, Kalkstein currently serves on the Board of Managers for the VSJF Flexible Capital Fund (a $3M socially oriented investment fund) and served as the Treasurer for the Northern Forest Canoe Trail and on the Board of the Mad River Glen ski area.
Kalkstein graduated with honors from Hobart College with a BA in Philosophy and Political Science, and holds an MBA from the School of Management at Yale University. He lives in Vermont with his wife and two active teenagers. He spends his free time either on skis or mountain biking, depending on the weather.