Founder, CEO, and Chief Engineer

Jon Alexander is the founder and CEO of Great River Technology and has led the company since its inception in 1996. He was a member of the ARINC standard committee that first introduced the original ARINC 818 standard and was involved with the subsequent updates to the standard. Jon brings over 15 years of ARINC 818 experience to the table and holds a BSEE in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University, an MSEE in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Mexico, and an MBA from the University of Texas. 

In his spare time, he enjoys spending time in the great outdoors of New Mexico.

Chief Technology Officer

David Cole is the Chief Technology Officer of Great River Technology, and joined the company in 1997. His specialized training includes tools and design techniques relevant to vendor-specific FPGAs such as Intel and AMD FPGA high-speed timing and simulation. Prior to joining GRT, David spent 9 years at Honeywell Defense Avionics division, designing and producing military flight controls for systems on avionic vessels. While at Honeywell, David worked on the AV-8 Harrier, CH-47, QS-55, QF-106, QF-104, and C130 Autopilot Simulation.

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With his background in electronics engineering and specialization in high speed digital FPGA design, David has led the design and development at GRT of various hardware platforms used in digital video transmission and reception.

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In David’s free time, he enjoys a variety of outdoor activities in New Mexico including mountain biking, rock climbing, snowboarding, hiking, and kitesurfing.

Technical Director of Airborne Products

Tom Odegard joined GRT in 2017 as the Technical Director of Airborne Products, developing and managing the flyable products group. Prior to joining GRT, he worked for 25 years at Honeywell Defense Avionics in product development for C-17 Multifunction Display, F15 Digital Map System, F15 Advanced Display Core Processor (I & II) systems, and B-2 Digital Disk Unit. While at Honeywell, he served as the primary Project Engineer for both F15 ADCP and B2 DDU development and worked closely with Boeing and Northrop Grumman on system architectural designs. After leaving Honeywell, Tom also served as the Director of Engineering at ZTEC/Litepoint developing high-end RF test equipment for the wireless market.

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Tom holds a BSEE from Montana State University, and enjoys kiteboarding, snowboarding, snowkiting, and mountain biking.

Senior Engineering Manager

Steven Sanderson joined Great River Technology as the Senior Engineering Manager in 2021. Prior to joining GRT, he worked for 23 years at Honeywell Defense and Space Division and Bendix King developing avionics equipment for military and commercial aircraft.  While working at Honeywell, he served various roles including Hardware Design Engineer, Technical Manager, Project Engineer, and Lead Systems Engineer. His most memorable program at Honeywell was the F-15 Advanced Display Core Processor II where he was the Lead Systems Engineer and work closely with Boeing to field the ADCP II which at the time was considered the fastest mission computer in the world.

Steven holds a BSEE from the University of New Mexico and a MBA with an emphasis on Technical Management from the University of Phoenix. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with family and friends and improving his handicap at disc golf.

Director of Marketing

Tim Keller joined GRT in 2005 and serves Great River Technology as the COO. Prior to joining GRT, he worked at Honeywell Engines and Honeywell Power Systems for 17 years, where he was responsible for FADAC development and certification, system design, and system integration. Tim holds an MSEE from Arizona State University and is a former marathon runner now turned mountain bike racer.

Quality Manager

Aaron Gilbert became a member of the Great River team in January of 2012. Before working at Great River Technology, Aaron served as a United States Marine, deploying to Iraq in 2003. Aaron's methodical approach and meticulous attention to detail, attributes synonymous with the Marine Corps, seamlessly integrated into the Great River team. Taking on the role of Quality Manager, Aaron was responsible for the company’s pursuit of Quality Management System certification to International Aerospace Standard AS9100, to which Great River was certified to in June of 2021.

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Multiple professional trainings and certifications have been completed and acquired throughout Aaron's time at Great River, which include: SAI Global ISO 9001-2015 Lead Auditor training, BSI AS9100D Internal Auditor training, inspection of electronic assemblies to IPC-J-STD-001, US Department of Commerce, Complying with US Export Controls, etc.

Aaron was born and raised in New Mexico and enjoys hunting, fishing, and playing music.