Frontgrade Executive Staff
Mike Elias
Chief Executive Officer
Mike Elias serves as Chief Executive Officer. In this role, Mike oversees the company’s operations with the assistance of the leadership team.
Prior to Frontgrade, Mike spent over 30 years at Honeywell International, where he recently served as Vice President and General Manager for the Space Business. He holds both a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Computer and Electronics Engineering from the California State Polytechnic University.
In addition, Mike is Six Sigma Green Belt certified, Black Belt trained.
Ricardo Gonzalez
Vice President, Microelectronics
Ricardo Gonzalez serves as Vice President, Microelectronics. In this role, Ricardo leads product development and production for Custom and Standard Products business areas and also manages customer engagements and marketing and sales strategies across the Microelectronics portfolio.
Prior to Frontgrade, Ricardo served as the Senior Director, Space Systems within BAE Systems’ Electronic Systems Sector.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from University of Puerto Rico and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from The Catholic University of America.
Ted Damaskinos
Vice President, Power Solutions
Ted Damaskinos serves as Vice President, Power Solutions. In this role, Ted oversees the power products portfolio at the Plainview, New York site, which consists of devices focused on power management, regulation and conversion and a synthesizer product line that supports Radio Frequency (RF) generation.
Prior to Frontgrade, Ted most recently served as Vice President and General Manager of the Electronic Defensive Solutions division in L3Harris.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from St. John’s University and a Master of Business Administration from Long Island University, CW Post.
Thomas Charpied
Vice President, Electro-Mechanical Systems
Tom brings over 14 years of Aerospace and Defense expertise to the business, having held positions of increasing responsibility across multiple disciplines. He joins us from his prior role within Frontgrade as the Site Lead/Product Line Senior Director for the Motion Control business located in Hauppauge, NY.
Tom holds an MBA from New York University and both a Master's of Science and a Bachelor's of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Stony Brook University.
Tim Lynch
Chief Strategy Officer
Tim Lynch joins Frontgrade as the Chief Strategy Officer coming from L3Harris where he had begun working in 2000. Previous to Frontgrade, Tim was the Vice President of the Multi-Domain Architecture Group within the Space and Airborne Systems Segment. Prior to that, he was the Chief Mission Architect for L3Harris Space Sector and the Senior Director of Advanced Programs with the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance business unit.
Tim holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Florida State University. He is a graduate of the Wharton executive leadership program.
Neil Dial
Chief Operations Officer
Neil has 30+ years of manufacturing operations and supply chain management experience in the semiconductor and electronics market sectors. Most recently, Neil served as the Chief Operating Officer of ABACO Systems, a Veritas Capital portfolio company. Before joining ABACO Systems, Neil held senior level global positions at Benchmark Electronics, Plexus, Dell Computer, and Motorola Semiconductor where he was the plant manager for Motorola’s assembly and test manufacturing facility in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Neil has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in business and is a certified Lean – Six Sigma Black Belt.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and Marketing from Florida Southern University, Program Management certification from Carnegie Mellon and a Black Belt certification in Lean Six Sigma.
Conrad Gagnon
Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Gary Keymont
Program Management Officer
Gary Keymont serves as VP, Program Management Office (PMO). In this role, Gary is responsible for supervising daily business operations, leading key initiatives, and implementing company-wide strategies. Prior to Frontgrade, Gary served as the Vice President, Programs at DRS Technologies and held various leadership roles at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and Marketing from Florida Southern University, Program Management certification from Carnegie Mellon and a Black Belt certification in Lean Six Sigma.
Frank Peloso
Chief Human Resources Officer
Frank Peloso serves as the Chief Human Resources Officer. In this role, Frank is responsible for all aspects of our human resources strategy, including talent management, leadership development, compensation and benefits. He works closely with the Executive Committee to ensure we continue to build a culture that attracts, retains and develops the best team.
Before coming to Frontgrade, Frank most recently worked for 20 years at the Sierra Nevada Corporation, finishing his time there as the Vice President of Human Resources. Prior to that, he was the Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer of Vectrus, Inc. where he led the creation of the HR organization, infrastructure and talent acquisition for the company during the spin off from Exelis.
Casey Mertens
Senior Director, Human Resources
Casey Mertens serves as Senior Director, Human Resources. In this role, Casey leads the develop and execution of HR strategy in support of the overall business plan, specifically in areas of Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, Performance Management, and Total Rewards. Prior to Frontgrade, Casey held a variety of HR positions at CoBank and DaVita, both Denver based companies.
She holds a Master of Science in Management from University of Colorado, Denver and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Business Management from University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
Roger Hardy
Vice President, Quality & Mission Assurance
Roger Hardy serves as Vice President, Quality & Mission Assurance. In this role, Roger leads the company’s Quality teams, the Lean Promotion Office team and Business Operations & Analytics team.
Prior to joining Frontgrade, he led teams in Operations, Quality and Continuous Improvement at Leonardo – DRS.
He is a distinguished graduate of the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Physics and went on to serve in the United States Marine Corps for 22 years.
Paul Rutt
Chief Technology Officer
Paul Rutt serves as the Chief Technology Officer. In this role, Paul leads the creation, execution, and evaluation of the technology roadmap with a direct focus on driving the product vision and growth strategy.
Prior to Frontgrade, Paul spent over 16 years at SEAKR Engineering where he previously served as Chief Technology Officer. He previously held the position of Chief Scientist at Granville-Phillips.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics from Xavier University, a Master of Science in Physics from Michigan State University, and Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Nuclear Physics from the College of William and Mary with research at the Bates Linear Accelerator Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Len Anthony
Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel
Len Anthony joins Frontgrade as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel from Ball Corporation (Ball), where he served as Asst. General Counsel and lead counsel for Ball’s subsidiary, Ball Aerospace, providing legal support for its aerospace, national defense, and civil/commercial businesses. Prior to Ball, Len was a government contracts attorney with the Department of the Navy’s Office of General Counsel and a government contracts associate with Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich (now DLA Piper), a global full services law firm.
Early in his career, Len honorably served in the U.S. Navy as an Operations Specialist onboard the USS Jouett (CG-29) within its Ops/Intel Division. He also served as a contracts negotiator and administrator for the Naval Supply Systems Command’s Fleet and Industrial Supply Center. Len holds a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the University of San Diego School of Law and a B.A. in English from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
Allegra Campbell Gray
Senior Director, Contracts
Allegra Campbell Gray serves as Senior Director, Contracts. In this role, Allegra leads legal, contracts, trade compliance, and ethics. Prior to Frontgrade, Allegra served as a Director of Contracts Compliance at Vectrus and as a civil service contracting officer for the U.S. Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command. Allegra is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and holds a Master of Arts in English from Virginia Tech University.