Leadership Team

Current Position: Buki is currently the Quality Assurance Lab Manager at Barber-Nichols, joining BN as a Quality Assurance Engineer in March of 2018. His main objective is to lead the inspection team and ultimately validate the dimensional conformance of all parts moving through the factory.

History: Buki has accumulated over 20 years of Quality leadership and technical experience. As a Quality Assurance and Process Engineer at Vestas Blades, Buki expanded his composites knowledge for renewable energy applications. Prior to that at GE Aviation, he focused on composite parts for various commercial and military programs. Buki served for 9 years in the Marine Corps as a Rotary and Fixed-wing Aviation Mechanic (Powerplant and Airframes), then as a Training and Operations Manager. He was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq in support of various Operations (OIF and OEF).

Education: Buki earned an AA in Business Administration from American Military University before pursuing a BS at the University of Maryland. He also earned a Six Sigma Green Belt Certification.

Interests: Buki enjoys playing and watching Soccer, fitness, the outdoors, and mostly spending time with his son and daughter.

Current Position: Aaron has been at BN since October 2015, began in PIC, and was promoted to Supervisor about 3 years after starting at BN.

History: Previously, Aaron worked for Vestas Nacelles America in Brighton for six years. He started in purchasing and transitioned to production planning, where he coordinated the assembly of 3 different Nacelle models. Here he gained hands-on experience with JIT manufacturing, Lean principles, and Kanban.

Education: Aaron earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration focusing on Supply Chain Management and a minor in Economics at Colorado State University.

Interests: Aaron enjoys hanging out with his wife and 2 dogs, camping, mountain biking, tacos, and margaritas.

Current Position: Mike Burton is the Manufacturing Manager at Barber-Nichols, joining us in April 2019.  Mike leads a diverse group including manufacturing engineers, CNC programmers, machinists, and CNC maintenance personnel.  Together, they are responsible for all aspects of manufacturing process definition, production of machined components, and maintaining the manufacturing equipment at Barber-Nichols.  Additionally, Mike leads the specification and implementation of new manufacturing capabilities and capital equipment.

 History:  Mike has over 20 years of experience with rotating equipment, holding positions in service, engineering, and manufacturing leadership at Sundyne LLC, serving the API and industrial chemical markets with custom-engineered pump and compressor solutions.  Prior to Sundyne, Mike worked for Westinghouse Corporation’s Naval Nuclear Propulsion program as operations and test engineer supporting the United States Navy.  At Westinghouse, Mike led testing activities on prototype submarine propulsion equipment and trained junior officers in all aspects of propulsion systems operation.

Education:  Mike earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Texas Tech University, and completed advanced engineering and operations training at the Navy Nuclear Power School in Orlando, Florida.

Interests: Mike enjoys photography and spending time with his wife and their two schnauzers.

Current Position: Mike is the Defense industry sales and business development lead at Barber-Nichols, with oversight responsibility for business development, sales engineering, cost estimating, and contracts for other markets.

History: Prior to joining Barber-Nichols Mike spent the majority of his career as an Applications Engineer & Manager, responsible for sizing, selecting, and quoting high-speed integrally-geared API pumps and compressors used in the Oil & Gas industry. Before that he spent several years working as an Auto Repair Technician & Advisor with a focus on diagnostics, troubleshooting, and repair of passenger cars and trucks.

Education: Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Northern Illinois University

Interests: Outside of work Mike loves spending time outdoors with his wife and twin children, whether it’s a walk to the park, an afternoon at a festival, or hiking trails. When Mike has the free time it’s usually spent biking, snowboarding, or woodworking in his garage. Prior to having kids, they loved to travel the world, and they both look forward to getting back to that at some point in the future!

Current Position: Pete leads the Program Management team. His focus is refining his team’s skills and systems to maximize customer satisfaction and BN performance.

History: Pete operated teams in Quality, Supply Chain, Engineering, and IT across several space, aerospace, and defense organizations. His experience in mature FAA programs at the global aerospace level, agile development programs in startup space, and in programs at every stage in between provides a full lifecycle perspective. Pete acquired PMP certification in 2018 and continues to apply those valuable tools to drive program success.

Education: Pete earned a BS in Materials Science and Engineering and a BS in Applied and Computational Mathematics from Virginia Tech. He is Green Belt certified and completed his Black Belt project and training.

Interests: Pete enjoys time with his wife hiking, playing ultimate frisbee, or watching quality TV like Love is Blind or the Great British Bakeoff. He also has two dogs and two cats.

Current Position: Tanner Furno is the Services Engineering Manager responsible for leading the product services and production support team. Tanner started working at Barber-Nichols in 2018 as a member of the project engineering team.

History: Before joining BN, Tanner worked as a product engineer at Lord Corporation (now a division of Parker) for eight years. He designed and developed engine attachment systems, which include elastomeric elements, for fixed-wing aircraft. Lord mounts are used on multiple BN turbomachinery products, making Tanner’s experience especially relevant.

Education: Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Gannon University.

Interests: Tanner is a D&D Dungeon Master, plays basketball and traditional Irish music on the tin whistle, and enjoys skiing, hiking, and the cinema.

Current Position: Evan leads the electrical engineering department, including management of the teams designing, developing, and testing advanced motor controllers for rotating equipment.

History: Previously, Evan worked in new product development services as part of the Electronic Manufacturing Services industry. His previous roles have included Director of Engineering, Engineering Manager, Project Manager, and Analog Design Engineer. He brings 16 years of high compliance and safety design experience from the medical device industry.

Education: Evan earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from Colorado State University.

Interests: Evan enjoys time with his family, golfing, backpacking, fishing, and snowboarding.

Current Position: Gary Goodman is the Facilities and Maintenance Manager and manages the team for maintenance and upkeep of the Barber-Nichols entire campus, consisting of 7 buildings and expansion, including updating and implementing the safety program.

History: Overall, Gary has 35 years of aircraft, manufacturing, and facilities maintenance experience. Previously, Gary was employed with Continental Airlines as an Airframe & Powerplant Technician, specializing in advanced composite repair. He also worked for CoorsTek Inc. as a Manufacturing and Facilities Maintenance Manager for 15 years.

Education: Gary attended Colorado Aerotech and obtained his FAA A&P Licenses.

Interests: Gary plays guitar, enjoys competitive shooting, golfing, loves to cook, and most of all spends time with his wife, 3 children, 3 grandchildren, 7 brothers and sisters, 20 nieces and nephews, and 33 great-nieces and nephews all in Colorado!

Current Position: Justin Graves has been with BN since March 2015. He started at BN as the Shipping and Receiving Clerk and was promoted in 2018 to Shipping and Receiving Lead. In November of 2022, Justin was promoted again to Warehouse and Logistics Manager.

History: Previously Justin held a position as Driver for Fed Ex for 6 years. He has about 15 years of Delivery and Logistics experience. Justin holds certifications in Forklift and Crane Training, as well as Forklift Trainer Certification. In addition, Justin has completed BN’s Leadership Development Program.

Interests: Justin enjoys spending time with his two sons, playing any sports, doing outdoor activities, and working out.

Current Position: Since joining BN in 1998 as a Senior Technician, Ray has ascended to lead BN’s Product Technician team. In his current capacity, he manages the team’s operations, from assembly to testing, ensuring excellence and innovation in every step of the process.

History: Ray’s most recent role before BN was Manager of the Production and Maintenance Team at Rich Products from 1997-8. He also has extensive experience, spanning over 40 years building and testing turbomachinery products and subsystems, with significant roles at Lockheed, CU Boulder, and the U.S. Army. In addition to his career contributions and engineering expertise, Ray has shared his knowledge as a flight instructor for over three decades.

Education: Ray’s academic achievements include an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree and a comprehensive suite of FAA Licenses: Commercial Pilot, Multi-Engine Instructor (MEI), Certified Flight Instructor-Instrument (CFII), Advanced Ground Instructor, and Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) mechanic.

Interests: Outside of his professional life, Ray’s greatest joy comes from being a devoted father to his young son. He also enjoys white water rafting, fishing, camping, and most adventures outdoors!

Current Position: Jamie joined Barber-Nichols in 2012, leading teams and providing technical oversight of turbomachinery engineering and design as an Engineering Manager.

History: Jamie has over a dozen years of experience developing new turbomachinery products as a Design Engineer, Engineering Analyst, and Project Engineer.

Education: Jamie earned a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from The Ohio State University.

Interests: Jamie enjoys spending time with his family. He also likes to enjoy the Colorado outdoors, snowboarding, running, hiking, and biking.

Current Position: Rachel Jaakkola serves as the Director of Human Resources at Barber-Nichols, where she has been instrumental in the growth and development of the company’s HR department. Starting as the first HR employee, Rachel built the department from the ground up, creating a sustainable framework that has supported the company’s expansion. Under her leadership, Barber-Nichols has doubled its employee base in just four years and continues to grow.

History: Before joining Barber-Nichols, Rachel gained comprehensive experience at Tri-State Generation and Transmission as part of their Leadership Rotational Program. In this role, she worked across various departments, leading recruiting, onboarding, and employee benefits administration initiatives. After her time at Tri-State, she took a personal adventure, solo backpacking across 13 countries.

Education: Rachel holds an MS in Organizational Leadership with a focus in Human Resources from Regis University and a BS in Business Management with an emphasis in Human Resources from Colorado State University. She is also certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and has earned additional HR-specific certifications.

Interests: Outside of her professional life, Rachel enjoys traveling, hiking, attending concerts, and spending time with her kitten and Chiweenie.

Current Position: Matt joined Barber-Nichols in 2014 and currently is our Director, Operations. Matt leads, directs, and oversees all aspects of production operations directly and through managers who coordinate purchasing, supply chain management, production and inventory control, manufacturing engineering, manufacturing, assembly and test, and shipping and receiving.

History: Previously, Matt contributed over 15 years working in various positions at Sargent Controls & Aerospace, growing in responsibility and ultimately holding the role of Manager, Quality & Process Engineering. He provided strategic direction for the quality management system and annual objectives as the management representative for ISO9000/AS9100. He was also responsible for all aspects of the quality management function for the facility including advanced quality planning, contract/design reviews, failure mode analysis, process capability analysis and certification, tool and part qualification, advanced quality control plans, inspection sampling plans, measurement system analysis, and internal audits.

Education: Matt earned a BS, Aerospace Engineering from the University of Arizona. He also has earned his Six Sigma Black Belt and Lead Auditor Training Certifications.

Current Position:  Ryan oversees the technician teams, assembling and testing Navy products.

History: Ryan has worked in the aerospace industry for the past eight years. He started as a technician and most recently worked in Production Control, managing work for rocket engine and spaceship production.

Education: Ryan has a BS in Aviation Technology from Metro State University, Denver, CO.

Interests: Ryan enjoys the outdoor lifestyle, including camping, hiking, mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, soccer, tennis, and golf.

Current Position: Myles Lewis is the Director of Mission Assurance. He joined Barber-Nichols in November 2021, as Quality Assurance Manager. Myles provides the strategic direction and leads the Quality Management System at Barber-Nichols.

History: Myles’s most recent experience is from Flowserve where he was the quality manager for the North America Seals group. He provided strategic direction for the quality management system and annual objectives as the management representative for ISO9000/AS9100. Throughout his history, he has also led and implemented ISO 13485, ISO14001, and Nuclear Safety programs.

Education: Myles is an ASQ Certified Quality Process Analyst and Quality Technician. He also completed training for Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Interests: Myles enjoys spending time with his family, and exploring new technologies, including VR and AR.

Current Position: Matt Malone is the General Manager at Barber-Nichols (BN). Matt joined BN in 2015, as a Project Engineer, focused on rocket engine turbopump design and development. He was promoted in January 2018 to PMO Manager overseeing some of BN’s most strategic US Navy programs.  In January of 2020, Matt became our VP of Operations and led our team to be named Colorado’s 2020 Aerospace Manufacturer of the Year.

History: Previously, Matt worked at GE Transportation as a Turbomachinery Manager, Turbomachinery Engineer, and Edison Engineering Development Program. He led the turbomachinery design and development team for locomotives, off-highway vehicles, and marine engines. He also led the development of the state-of-the-art 2-stage turbocharger system for Tier 4 locomotive to meet more stringent emission standards and improved turbomachinery reliability through physics-based root cause analysis and design implementation. He also held roles in Diesel Engine Reliability, Engineering Finance, Engineering Quality, and Wind Engineering.

Education: Matt earned an MS in Mechanical Engineering with a focus in Turbomachinery from Georgia Institute of Technology and a BS in Mechanical Engineering with honors in design optimization from Pennsylvania State University.

Matt is involved in the Vistage Key Leaders Group, Colorado Office of Economic Development Grant Board, and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers specifically for the Additive Manufacturing Community.

Interests: Matt is a volunteer for the Cystic Fibrous Foundation and enjoys skiing, triathlons, inventing, and world travel.

Current Position: Aaron leads the sourcing and procurement teams. His main priorities are building strong relationships with suppliers and ensuring operations and programs have what they need to succeed.

History: Previously, Aaron worked as a Senior Director of Supply Chain for an aerospace startup company. He also was a Director of Supply Chain for a helicopter refurbishment company. Aaron has over 13 years of manufacturing industry experience, including 8 years at GE. He completed an executive development program and moved out to Denver as a Senior Sourcing Manager at GE Aviation in 2018.

Education: Aaron earned a BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology. He also earned his Lean Six Sigma Black Belt during his time at GE.

Interests: Aaron enjoys time with his family, playing all sports (basketball as a favorite), hiking, reading, and researching/experimenting within the health and fitness space.

Current Position: Lex McCoy is the Supervisor of the Offline Programming Team.

History: Lex has 12 years of experience in the CNC Metal Cutting Manufacturing Field.

Education: Lex earned his BS in  Manufacturing Engineering from Arizona State University. He also has an Advanced Lean Training Certificate, an Advanced NX CAM Automation, and Programming Training Certificate.

Interests: Lex enjoys Outdoor Activities including Mountain biking, Golfing, Hiking, Snowboarding, and Camping.

Current Position: John joined BN in July of 2021 and leads the product development teams at BN. He is responsible for developing the Engineering and Product Management strategic vision, team and process development, cross-functional business collaboration, and overall engineering execution.

History: John has over 25 years history of success in Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, and Product Leadership roles. Previous to joining BN, John held the position of Vice President of Technology Services at GE/Wabtec Transportation.

Education: John earned his MSME, Mechanical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and also has an MBA from Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. In addition, he earned a BSME, Mechanical Engineering from Grove City College. John has co-authored several patents and received numerous awards and honors in the industry.

Interests: John enjoys time with his family, skiing, mountain biking, and hiking in the outdoors.

Current Position: Nick manages the Quality Assurance team. He provides leadership, planning, development, and implementation of our Quality Management System to meet and exceed AS9100 requirements. He has a passion for team development and training.

History: Nick has held Quality and Technical Engineering roles in the aerospace industry for over 13 years. Nick has contributed significantly to Barber-Nichols over the past three years, specifically in continuous improvement and reducing our Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ). He has also been able to deep-dive with cross-functional teams, providing a data-driven approach toward improvements in our First-Pass Yield (FPY) for Manufacturing and Tech. He is currently leading our non-conformance forums (covering DMRs and CPARs), which have driven next-level improvements by identifying trends and opportunities for improvement.

Education: Nick earned a BS in chemical engineering from The University at Buffalo. He is Six Sigma certified and is trained in Agile Methodologies.

Interests: Nick enjoys time with his wife and dogs, travel, movies, snowboarding, working on his car, sporting events, and keeping in touch with family on the East Coast via gaming.

Current Position: Trang Pham started at BN in January 2018 as the Assistant Controller. She helped to successfully navigate the Accounting team through their first full financial audit, ERP upgrades, and acquisition with Graham Corporation. Trang was promoted to Controller in November 2019.

History: Trang has over 18 years of experience in Accounting and Finance with the last 10 years focused on Operations and Manufacturing. She previously worked at Sundyne as a Senior Financial Analyst, FP&A, and moved up to Operations Finance Manager before joining Barber-Nichols.

Education: Trang earned a BS in Accounting from CU Denver. She also passed the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Exam.

Interests: Trang enjoys spending time with family and friends, and loves trying new cuisines. Her hobbies include running, hiking, and volunteering.

Current Position: Jason Preuss is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) responsible for the vision and strategic planning to meet BN’s technical business objectives, business development for new growth opportunities, and providing high-level technical oversight across all product groups.  He is passionate about enabling BN teams to successfully deliver diverse, technically challenging, and well-engineered turbomachinery product platforms.

History: Jason joined Barber-Nichols in 2007, leading turbomachinery and advanced power system projects. He also contributed to design and engineering analysis in the areas of thermodynamic cycles, structural FEA, rotordynamics, bearings, seals, and motors.  Jason has managed the project engineering group and has been the Chief Engineer.  Prior to joining Barber-Nichols, he worked for Honeywell Aerospace in Torrance, CA.  He was responsible for rotordynamic and structural analysis of air cycle machines, ram air turbines, turbopumps, APUs, and motor-driven compressors.

Education: Jason holds a B.S. and M.S. in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University. During his time at Texas A&M, Jason was a research assistant in the Vibration Control and Electromechanical lab.

Interests: Jason enjoys spending time with his wife and two children.  He also enjoys hiking, traveling, and restoration projects for the family farmhouse in Round Top, TX.

Current Position: As the Assembly and Test Manager at BN, Andrew directs and coordinates the technician department’s activities in the assembly and test of components, products, and systems.

History: Before coming to Barber-Nichols, Andrew worked as a designer for Evergreen Research. In this role, he worked to develop, analyze, and cost the customer-facing side for a prototype home dialysis machine.

Education: Andrew received his MSME and BSME from the University of Colorado Boulder with an emphasis in Applied Mechanics and Design.

Interests: In his free time Andrew enjoys spending time with his wife, daughter, and two dogs in the great outdoors of Colorado

Current Position: Jim Saucerman is the Project Engineering Manager, joining Barber-Nichols in June 2021.

History: Over the past 16 years, Jim worked on rotating equipment at Flowserve Corporation, where he grew from being a Product Development Engineer to the North America Aftermarket Engineering Manager.  In his roles with Flowserve, he led design and engineering teams throughout North America, focusing on developing products for oil exploration, refining and transportation, nuclear power generation, and the aerospace and defense business sectors.  Two of the proudest moments in his career: Jim led the development of the Abeyance Seal, which was developed to prevent a nuclear reactor core meltdown during a station blackout event, and most recently celebrated the success of the mechanical seals that took flight on Virgin Orbit’s Tubular Bells launch.

Education: Jim earned his MBA from Redlands University and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. He also holds a Professional Engineering License in California.

Interests:  During his free time, Jim’s family is most important to him, and he enjoys time with his wife, three children, and a little French bulldog.  They all enjoy outdoor adventures and look forward to building their first snowman as a family in Colorado.

Current Position: Mark oversees the torpedo ejection pump programs for Ohio, Virginia, and Columbia class submarines. He started working at Barber-Nichols in 2021, managing the Navy Overhaul Depot program.

History: Mark has over 15 years of experience in the manufacturing industry in heavy-duty rotating equipment. Before joining BN, he was the manufacturing manager at A.R. Wilfley and Sons.

Education: Mark earned a BA at Brunel University, London, UK. He also earned a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification.

Interests: Mark enjoys spending time with family and being in the mountains.

Current Position: Tyler Shaw is an IT Manager who leads the team and manages all IT infrastructure and systems. Driven by a deep passion in leadership and information technology, he takes pride in supporting the business through his very successful team and in-depth technical knowledge. Tyler manages the infrastructure and supports our 9-building campus. He ensures Barber-Nichols stays on the forefront of technology.

History: Previously, Tyler was employed with Wahl Clipper Corporation as a global Network Security Engineer. Before that, Tyler was an IT Specialist for Lee County, Illinois. Tyler brings a wealth of knowledge from his technical schooling and nine years of experience working in an IT department. Tyler has three years overseeing IT resources.

Education: Tyler has a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from Illinois State University and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Texas A&M.

Interests: Tyler enjoys spending time with his newly adopted Goldendoodle named Kona. They enjoy hiking, running, and exploring beautiful Colorado. Tyler enjoys golfing, cooking, and spending time with friends and family. He is currently learning Kotlin for iOS and Android development and hopes to begin a Doctorate degree in Business Administration in the coming years.

Current Position: Matt joined Barber-Nichols Inc. on October 30^th, 2017 as a CNC Lathe Machinist. He was promoted in December of 2020 to Night Shift Production Supervisor. Matt strives to provide support, structure, and enjoyment to both night shifts.

History: Matt began his career as a machinist in July of 2010 at Burris Optics Inc. He worked here from 2010 until 2017. At this company, he manufactured scopes for military, hunting, and sport shooting firearms. Initially, Matt operated manual and single-function machines and later moved to more complex, automated CNC machines. Matt has learned most of what he knows about machining from on-the-job training, self-teaching, and exploration of the industry. He has taken classes that taught him the fundamentals of the CNC programming software, MasterCAM. Matt transformed this knowledge into the ability to program and set up a focused selection of CNC Machines here at Barber-Nichols. Toward the end of his employment at Burris Optics, Matt began to find an interest in helping, training and coaching employees. This interest later developed into the acquisition of the promotion to Night Shift Production Supervisor.

Education: Completed an Associates of Applied Science in Marketing and Management from Aims Community College in Greeley, Colorado.

Interests: Matt enjoys building off-road vehicles, exploring off-road trails, rock climbing, spending time with his dogs, and being creative. He is always game for a good brain teaser or a complex challenge.