Executive Management

Jason Whitaker has been our Chief Technology Officer from October 2009 to September 2017, President and Chief Technology Officer from September 2017 to December 2019, and President and Chief Executive Officer from January 2020 to date. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Whitaker served as Co-Owner at Thunder Heart Performance Corp. with varying roles in Operations and Engineering between 1994 and 2009. Mr. Whitaker holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tennessee Technological University. Mr. Whitaker was nominated to serve on our board of directors because of his extensive senior leadership experience and comprehensive knowledge of our business and perspective of our day-to-day operations.

Dr. Philip Garton joined the Company as Chief Financial Officer in December 2017 with more than 25 years of experience in senior financial roles at numerous global organizations. Prior to joining the Company, Dr. Garton served as the Chief Financial Officer for several manufacturing and distribution companies, including JM Swank, LLC between 2016 and 2017 and Springs Window Fashions between 2009 and 2015. Dr. Garton is a Certified Public Accountant and a Chartered Global Management Accountant. Dr. Garton holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from Southern Methodist University, a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance from Southern Methodist University, a Master of Business Administration degree from Cornell University’s Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, and a Doctor of Business Administration degree from the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business.

John White joined the Company as our Chief Operating Officer in 2018. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. White served as Director of Manufacturing/Business Development at Synapse Wireless from 2008 until 2018, as Vice President of Engineering and Manufacturing Operations at Modular Process Technology from 2000 until 2008, as Senior Manager of Network & Storage and Director of Manufacturing and Director of US Field Service Engineering at Intergraph from 1994 until 2000, as Principal Application Engineer at Conner Peripherals from 1993 until 1994, as Director of Engineering/Operations at Disc & Tape Services from 1991 until 1993, as Senior Quality Engineer at Wang Laboratories from 1988 until 1991, and as Electrical Engineer at Disc Technology from 1986 until 1988. Mr. White holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering with a concentration in Computer Science from the University of Lowell, and is also an inventor in 3 patents.

Alan Neal joined the Company as our Chief Technology Officer in November 2020. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Neal served as Engineer at Motorola GEG from 1983 until 1988, as Lead Software Product Engineer at Allen-Bradley from 1988 until 1990, as Engineering Manager at Cincinnati Milacron from 1990 until 1998, as Director of Engineering at Square D Schneider Electric from 1998 until 2004, as Division VP Engineering at Ametek from 2004 until 2009, as VP Engineering & Technology at Thomas & Betts from 2009 until 2017, as VP Engineering at Leviton Manufacturing Company from 2017 until 2019, and most recently, as Managing Director at Pinpoint Manufacturing Company from 2019 until November 2020. Mr. Neal holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from The Ohio State University, a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering degree from Arizona State University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Duke University.

Mehgan Peetz joined the Company as our General Counsel in December 2020. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Peetz served as the Deputy General Counsel & Assistant Corporate Secretary at SmileDirectClub from August 2019 until December 2020 and as Commercial Counsel at Current, powered by GE, and GE Lighting from September 2015 to June 2019 (known as GE Lighting and Current, powered by GE, between September 2015 and March 2016). Prior to her service as in-house counsel, Ms. Peetz was an associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP from June 2008 to July 2014 and Ropes & Gray LLP from July 2014 to July 2015. Ms. Peetz holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Pre-Medical Studies and Psychology from the University of Notre Dame and a Doctor of Law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.